PORT ANGELES — Lance Hering threw a wide smile in his father’s direction as the young AWOL Marine entered Clallam County Superior Court on Monday.
Hering, 23, was arrested with his father, Lloyd Hering, by Port Angeles police Sunday as the two prepared to leave William R. Fairchild International Airport in a rented Cessna airplane.
The younger Hering went absent without leave — AWOL — in 2006 while home on leave in Boulder, Colo. He had just completed a tour in Iraq with his California-based Marine Corps unit.
Based on a warrant from Boulder County, Port Angeles police received an alert from Boulder on Sunday and made the arrest as the Herings were preparing to fly away from the airport.
The elder Hering is a private pilot, and it wasn’t clear where the two were flying.
Lloyd Hering, who was released on a misdemeanor charge Sunday, was in the courtroom at the county courthouse in Port Angeles for his son’s appearance on Monday, but only said:
“I love my son. I’m very happy to see my son. It’s an amazing gift.”
He declined to comment further.
Seated next to Lloyd Hering in the courtroom was an unidentified young woman and an unidentified young man. The woman declined to give her name when asked by a Peninsula Daily News photographer.
Lance Hering was saying goodbye to a woman at the airport Sunday, but it wasn’t clear Monday whether the woman in the courtroom was the same person.
Stands up before judge
Earlier, Lloyd Hering stood up in the courtroom on behalf of his son, offering to provide his Colorado address for Lance Hering to use in the bail proceedings.
“We haven’t seen him in a couple years,” Lloyd Hering told Superior Court Judge Ken Williams.
Lance Hering has been in exile since he vanished on Aug. 30, 2006.
Colorado authorities believe he faked his disappearance at Eldorado Canyon State Park, about 30 miles northwest of Denver, after the largest search investigation in Boulder County history.
The case is making big headlines in the Denver area this week.
Port Angeles police are conducting their own investigation.
Lance Hering served one tour in Iraq in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
He is scheduled to reappear in Clallam County Superior Court on Friday on a charge of being a fugitive from another state.
Cash bail was set at $5,000, and he is confined to Western Washington should bail be posted.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
