Mother reunited with son Dad, stepmom held after 14-year hunt

Sunday, January 14th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEWBURY, Mass. â€“ A woman who hadn't seen her son since his father picked him up for a visit 14 years ago has been reunited with the 16-year-old after her hunch led authorities to a boxing club.

The boy's father and stepmother were arrested in Newbury on kidnapping charges and extradited to Oneonta, N.Y., where they were arraigned. Daniel Greene, 48, and his wife, Rosemary, 39, were held on $7,500 bail each.

Susan Hirsch last saw her son, Ryan Patrick Greene, when his father picked him up in Oneonta on Feb. 13, 1987. She had been granted custody after the couple split up, and Mr. Greene was given overnight visitation rights.

Ms. Hirsch and Ryan were reunited Friday and drove to her home in Otego, N.Y., about 40 miles east of Binghamton.

"He seems like a really good kid," Ms. Hirsch told The Boston Globe.

"He's very upset," she said. "He had what seemed like a normal family, a mom and a dad. He was aware that there were warrants out for them, that his birthday had been changed at school. He told me his dad did it in his best interests."

Newbury Police Chief Roger Merry said Ryan told officers he was aware that his mother lived in New York.

"He was very quiet," Chief Merry said. "I don't know what his father has told him about his actual mother."

The Greenes, who had been using the name Grein in Massachusetts, were charged with kidnapping Ryan â€“ then 2 years old â€“ four days before they were due in court for a custody hearing.

Ms. Hirsch had offered a $1,000 reward for information about her son and posted his photograph on the Web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

According to The Globe, Ms. Hirsch believed members of Mr. Greene's family might have known where her son was.

Last month, she had a chance encounter with a 19-year-old cousin of Mr. Greene and became suspicious because he would not tell her where he was living. After he told Ms. Hirsch's daughter he had taken up boxing, Ms. Hirsch developed a hunch and went to the police detective who had worked the case for 14 years.

Oneonta police searched the files of the National Boxing League and found a reference for a 16-year-old Patrick Grein living in Newbury.

Police Lt. Gregg Frappier in Newbury said it took about a week for police to confirm what Oneonta police Sgt. Joseph Redmond found and to coordinate the arrest with the FBI.

"[Sgt. Redmond] spent 14 years tracking this down with a bunch of dead-end leads, and he stayed on it," Lt. Frappier said.