By GARY HENDERSON
Staff Writer

UNION, S.C. (10/29/94) -- As area law enforcement launched a massive search for two little boys, the children in Judy Cathcart's care knelt by a sofa and prayed: "Help this man bring Michael and Alexander back to play with us."

But the boys, 3-year-old Michael Smith and his 14-month-old brother, Alexander, have not returned.

And so, Cathcart and the parents of the boys' day-care playmates have had the task of explaining why Michael and Alexander are missing.

The morning after the boys' disappearance was perhaps the toughest.

"It was tearful," Cathcart said, "when the mothers dropped off their children Wednesday morning."

After the mothers left, Cathcart talked to the children and tried to explain what had happened to Michael and Alexander.

"The children asked if they could pray for the boys," said Cathcart, her voice choking. "I asked if they'd like to hold hands while we prayed. But they said `Can we get on our knees?'"

Cathcart, who cares for children in her home, has known the boys' mother, Susan Smith, all her life and had baby-sat for the boys since they were infants.

Michael and Alexander were regulars at the home of Cathcart and her husband, Carol. The boys were there Tuesday, the day they were abducted along with their mother's burgundy Mazda Protege near Monarch Mill.

A man, armed with a gun, jumped into Mrs. Smith's car and forced the 23-year-old Union woman to drive a few miles on Highway 49 before making her get out of the car and driving off with the boys.

"The children (at the day-care center) knew all about it," Mrs. Cathcart said. "Their parents had talked to them and told them Michael and Alexander wouldn't be here."

Cathcart said there's nothing sweeter -- or sadder -- than a child's prayer for a playmate.

"They all knelt in front of the sofa, and each one of them said a little prayer," Cathcart said. "But we had to stop a few times to dry away the tears."

Cathcart said one 5-year-old boy prayed this way:

"God, please help Alex and Michael. I hope the man has it in his heart to bring them back."

The families whose children stay in Cathcart's home each day are close to one another. The children have grown up together, Cathcart said, and they sometimes behave like brothers and sisters.

"One of my 2-year-olds didn't want to start lunch one day," Cathcart said. "She said, 'We can't eat until Michael and Alexander get here. They're just late.' "

Cathcart said when the parents come to pick up their children each day, they usually visit with one another.

Now, many are wearing a small yellow ribbon and a laminated photograph of Michael and Alexander.

On Thursday, the children in Cathcart's care hung two yellow ribbons -- one for each of the boys -- on a tree in front of Cathcart's home.

"All this week I've been trying to tell the children things they should do to be safe, you know, like stay with their mommy," Cathcart said.

But Cathcart, who has two grown children herself, said one little boy gave her a grim reminder.

"He said, `Michael and Alexander were with their mommy, when something happened to them.' "

[Home] [Latest] [Nine Days in Union] [Photos] [Staff] [About]