Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Teenager Escapes, Tells Tale Of Torture

Associated Press

Laine Sumner missed a lot of school. For three days last month, his mother said the 15-year-old boy had the flu. When school officials kept calling, his stepfather finally said he had run away.

But the teenager had not run away. Instead, authorities contend, the boy was being tortured by his mother, stepfather and others in an effort to recover $32,000 in drug money they thought he stole.

Last week, the boy escaped from his brother-in-law’s house in Oklahoma City and told police he was shocked with an electrical device, burned with an iron and doused with bleach among other things during an eight-week ordeal.

Authorities said the boy, who is now in the custody of the state Department of Human Services, had two black eyes, burn marks and other wounds on his body consistent with torture.

Ten people have been arrested since the boy escaped, including Sumner’s stepfather, Eddie McCombs; mother, Jamie Wilson; and brother-in-law, Gary Gammel. All three were charged with solicitation for murder, kidnapping for the purpose of extortion, maiming, child abuse and drug violations.