Abducted mum reunited with her children
By Colin James and Sean Fewster
February 21, 2008 07:37am
A MISSING mother will be reunited with her children after surviving a high-speed car crash in which her terminally ill former partner was seriously injured.
Police had been searching for Donna Anne Pridham, 38, of Salisbury North, since she was allegedly dragged from her Mitsubishi Magna in Adelaide's northern suburbs on Monday night by her former de facto partner, Fred Walkuski.
Walkuski, 56, of Parafield Gardens, tonight was airlifted in a critical condition to the Royal Adelaide Hospital after he rolled his vehicle at high-speed 15km west of Swan Reach while trying to evade police.
They had publicly appealed for Walkuski to surrender two hours earlier as they identified him as the person suspected of abducting Ms Pridham while she was driving in her car with her six-year-old son.
Ms Pridham, who was uninjured in the accident, has been taken to an undisclosed location, where she is being interviewed by detectives before being reunited with her two youngest sons.
Her eldest son, Joshua, 17, yesterday posted messages on his personal website appealing to his mother or Walkuski to contact him as he was concerned for her welfare.
Inquiries by The Advertiser revealed the District Court issued a warrant for Walkuski's arrest last Friday after he failed to appear for a hearing involving multiple rape charges from 2001 to which he had pleaded guilty.
Earlier court hearings had heard Walkuski was suffering from terminal bowel cancer and had told relatives he wanted to commit suicide.
His sister and bail guarantor, Sophia Hamiton, told Judge Paul Rice three weeks ago that he had told her he "doesn't want to live anymore".
"He said: 'I can't take it no more'. He doesn't want to go to hospital and suffer.
"He told me, the family, the best thing for him is that he is going to commit suicide, no matter what."
According to court records, Walkuski allegedly abducted Ms Pridham for the first time in late December.
The District Court heard that police had questioned Walkuski about allegations he had kidnapped Ms Pridham and had threatened to kill her before driving her back to Adelaide.
The Advertiser understands he drove to the Yorke Peninsula in his Holden Commdore loaded with full jerry cans of petrol and LPG gas bottles.
Neighbours yesterday told The Advertiser they saw Ms Pridham get out of the car early on December 28 in a highly-distressed state and dressed in her pyjamas near her house.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...49-662,00.html
