A judge has reduced the bond for Bruce Jorgensen, the father accused of deserting his teenage son, even though there's been no sign of his son since December.
It took defense attorneys less than two minutes Wednesday to sufficiently prove Jorgensen wasn't a flight risk. A key piece of evidence was an airline itinerary, which was shown to the media in court.
"You're seeing a round trip ticket on Cathway Pacific Airlines," they explained.
Jorgensen was arrested in January at Miami International Airport. The international lawyer had court proceedings on Mariana Island.
Detectives claimed the ticket was one-way to New Zealand, and charged the father with deserting his 16-year-old son Aage.
On Dec. 27, Jorgensen and Aage had a dispute in the car near their Plantation home. Jorgensen stopped the car, told Aage to get out and then left. Aage hasn't been seen since.
For over a month, Jorgensen never notified police of his missing son. Attorneys and Jorgensen's private investigator said there's good reason for that.
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"It should be noted that each time that this child has run away, it's Mr. Jorgensen who found him, not the authorities," said Dan Riemer, private investigator.
Aage's grandparents, who took care of the teen for a time in New Jersey, said he's perfected a disappearing act, gone for months at a time.
Newspaper clippings of Aage's frequent runaways from around the world were presented in court. In addition, further documentation showing that Bruce intended to come back from court appearances in the South Pacific, convinced the judge to reduce bond from $1 million to $5,000.
"A full year paid tuition in advance at American Heritage, a lease for a whole year on an apartment, all his applications for college which he made for his kid," said Glenn Roderman, Bruce's lawyer.
Jorgensen's attorneys now say their goal is to get the charges against him dropped.
