Anthony Connington shakes hands with Milton Police Department Sgt. Todd Ulrich, who helped to crack a kidnapping case involving Connington and his brother, Jamey, 13 years ago.

MILTON — As he shook hands Friday with Sgt. Todd Ulrich in front of the Milton Police Department, Anthony Connington noted that individuals who find themselves in situations like he and his brother did 13 years ago often don’t experience a positive outcome.

“Statistically, they say this is impossible,” Connington said. “Most cases with kidnapping, they don’t end well.”

Connington returned to Milton this past week to reconnect with old friends, and to thank those who helped when he and his brother Jamey became swept up in a case that made headlines across the country.

As children, Connington explained that his mother Jill Haugen was constantly moving across the country, with he and his brother.

“She told my brother and I it’s a safety story,” Connington recounted. “My dad (William Connington) was a big, bad bully. He sexually abused my brother and I. Why would doubt that story?”

Haugen told her sons that they had to keep moving so William Connington couldn’t find them.

“My dad is not an abuser at all,” Anthony Connington said.

Haugen’s world, and that of her two sons, crumbled just a few days after Christmas 2009. Connington was 16 at the time, and his brother was 15.

Connington said he, his brother and mother had lived in Milton for about three years. That was about the longest he can remember staying in any location.

“We were living at 42 N. Front St.,” Connington recalled. “A few months before my mom got arrested, she went on a trip, with drugs and alcohol.”

Several days after Christmas 2009, Connington said Haugen locked him out of the house. He went to a nearby payphone and called police.

Ulrich picked Connington and his brother up, and placed them in the care of Child Protective Services.

Connington credits Ulrich and CPS caseworkers with cracking the decade-old kidnapping case which he and his brother were at the center of.

A CPS worker found a missing child webpage for Jamey Connington. As Anthony Connington related, she called the Spokane County, Washington, sheriff’s office and learned Haugen was wanted for kidnapping her two sons approximately 12 years prior.

“We were put into foster care,” Connington said. “I had no idea what was going on.”

Eventually, Haugen was convicted of kidnapping her two sons and sentenced to jail time in Washington. A judge gave the Connington brothers the option of either going to Washington to live with their father, or being placed in foster care.

“I was mad,” Connington said. “I was angry. I’m like ‘I’m not living with my dad.'”

However, the brothers ultimately decided to try to get to know their father, whom Connington said was thoroughly investigated. The allegations Haugen made against William Connington were found to be false.

“I thought if I did not (go to live with my dad) I would not be honoring my dad,” Anthony Connington said. “I’m very thankful I did (go to live with him).”

However, the transition was a difficult one.

“The first year was rough,” Connington recalled.

The brothers’ relationship with their mother was also, initially, stormy after she went to prison.

Connington “forced” his younger brother to visit Haugen while she was locked up.

“She was not very sorry (for the kidnapping),” Connington said, of his mother. “When she got out a year later, I wanted to reconcile. Jamey never did.”

After her release from prison, Haugen returned to living what Connington described as a reclusive life, in the Lewisburg area. She passed away in 2013.

When he was 18, Connington forgave his mother for what she did.

Connington credits a strong connection to the church with helping he and his brother get through a difficult time, and with molding them into them men they’ve become.

While living in Milton, Connington said he, his mother and brother attended Revival Tabernacle near Watsontown. There, they made many strong connections, including with one member who drove the brothers to church services every Wednesday and Sunday.

Once the brothers returned to Washington, they started attending Crossover Church, in Mead.

In particular, Connington credits Pastor Terry Little with being a mentor to him.

“I felt like God wanted me to get involved (in the church) and not run from my problems,” Connington said. “I needed people that would love me. That’s what I lost (as a child), experiencing unconditional love.”

At the church in Washington, Connington said mentors taught him how to study the scriptures and “spend time with God as a friend.”

“They also challenged me, the men in the church,” Connington said. “They challenged me to grow into a man of God… and they never gave up on me.”

While noting that he could’ve easily chosen to follow the wrong path, Connington said there was never really a choice which direction he should travel.

“I had nowhere else to go,” he said. “God has always been faithful. To me. Where else do I go? Nowhere. I have nothing else.”

Connington credits his walk with God with helping him to build his relationship with his father, and to find his career path.

Anthony and Jamey were married in a double wedding May 14, 2017.

Anthony and his wife Jessica have four children: Victoria, 4, Gloria, 3, Lydia, 1, and Jehoiada, 3 months.

Jamey and his wife Dixie have two young children, Stephan and Liam.

After graduating from high school in Washington, Anthony Connington enlisted the Army National Guard, serving six years on active duty and two years inactive.

He trained in California, Oregon, Montana and Canada. He was deployed to several natural disasters, including wildfires, floods and a landslide.

The decision to enter the ministry field was a natural one for Connington.

“A couple of years before (enrolling in classes)… the Lord was weighing on me, saying ‘you should be a pastor,'” Connington said.

He is enjoying his studies, and being a father.

“It’s my greatest joy,” Connington said. “I get to be the father I never had.”

He’s also enjoyed reconnecting with the individuals that helped he and his brother 13 years ago, particularly those in law enforcement, the courts and Child Protective Services.

“People, they never get to hear the end of the story,” Connington said. “They never know how things turn out.”

Ulrich said he was glad Connington stopped by the Milton Police Department to share with him how he and his brother turned out.

“It’s a cool experience,” Ulrich said. “It’s awesome when you get to hear a positive ending.”

Connington also visited with Dan Embeck, a former Milton police officer who is now the chief of police in South Williamsport. Both Ulrich and Embeck were instrumental in the case involving the Conningtons.