Police: San Jose man kidnapped grandchildren 20 years ago in Tenn.
By Sean Webby, Linda Goldston and Mark Gomez


Mercury News

Posted: 02/04/2009 11:52:41 AM PST


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San Jose police arrested Marvin Maple, aka John Bunting, on charges,  (San Jose Police Department)«1»
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For years, John Bunting lived in South San Jose, homeschooling his pretty girl and handsome boy, living his townhouse life as a model citizen.

This week, San Jose police knocked on his Banff Springs Court townhouse door and quickly confirmed John Bunting was neither a model citizen, nor was he John Bunting.

The friendly retired car salesman admitted to them that he was actually 73-year-old John Maple, a fugitive wanted on charges of kidnapping his two grandchildren 20 years ago from their parents in central Tennessee.

The grandchildren, Christi and Bobby Baskin, now 28 and 27 respectively, are known as Jennifer and Jonathan Bunting. They are fine, investigators said, and also live in San Jose.

Maple was being held Wednesday on a federal warrant in San Jose Main Jail, awaiting extradition to Murfreesboro — a bedroom community just south of Nashville.

But many of his friends said they believed Maple and his late wife had the best of intentions when they came to California with their two grandchildren.

"He's a great person," said Angela Reimer, bar manager at Southside Cafe in San Jose, where Maple was a regular, though not much of a drinker, ordering a juice cocktail — a mix of cranberry, orange and pineapple juice — instead of alcohol.

"He referred to them as his kids, not his grandkids," said Reimer, who has known Maple for several years. "He's such a kindhearted person. He put them through college


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and they're both successful, as far as I know."

Maple was heartbroken when his wife died, but became very attached to his little white dog, Elvis.

His friends found out about the arrest on the news Wednesday morning or walked into it cold when they went to the Southside Cafe, at the intersection of Bernal Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard, on Wednesday night.

"It makes you feel bad," said Tom Merritt. "Maybe he was right to take the kids."

Police, however, worked this week to piece together the story of a child abductor who almost got away with it.

Police arrested the grandfather Monday after getting several tips that John Bunting, living on the 7000 block of Banff Springs Court, was actually Maple.

Maple's daughter and her husband, a Baptist minister, burst into tears when they heard their children had been found 2,000 miles away and two decades after they disappeared, investigators said.

"They are very glad to know they are alive,'' said Sgt. Dan Goodwin of the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, who is in San Jose to bring back Maple. "They haven't known that for a long time.''

Mark and Debbie Baskin, who now live in Georgia, are not planning to immediately come visit their long-lost children, Goodwin said.

"They are hopeful they can have a relationship with these kids,'' Goodwin said. "Of course it remains to be seen if the children would like to speak with them.''

Tennessee authorities had been searching for Maple, his wife, Sandra, and the children since March 1, 1989. That was when Maple is suspected of kidnapping the two young children from their Murfreesboro home under the belief that they were being neglected and sexually abused by their parents.

The grandparents had failed to gain court custody of the children just before the kidnapping. Tennessee authorities investigated Maple's claims of neglect and abuse and found no evidence of problems.

There were sightings over the years. At one point, a suspect had been seen in Santa Clara under another assumed name.

Photos were flashed on national television shows and Web sites for missing children.

Authorities got the most recent tips after a San Diego newspaper wrote an article about the kidnapping under the impression that Maple may have settled in the area.

But it turns out that for most of the past two decades, John and Sandra Maple and their two "children" have been in San Jose.

Sandra Maple — who went by the name of Frances Bunting — has since died.

Asked why the children had not tried to contact their parents even after they reached adulthood, Goodwin said: "I'm not sure what they think or what they have been told. They were 7 and 8 when they were taken.''

The detective said he was not sure how the Maples successfully managed to create new identities — complete with driver's licenses — that lasted until this week.

"They live in a large urban area where not a lot of people ask too many questions,'' Goodwin said.

John Maple — who was retired and reportedly sold cars for a living while in the South Bay — lived in a small townhouse complex near Santa Teresa Boulevard and Bernal Road in South San Jose.

He often took some of his friends to dinner at the China Palace and then a nightcap at the Southside Cafe, where Maple liked shooting pool.

"I've known John for 10 years," said Michelle Bergholz, who was at Southside on Wednesday night. "He was always very caring." Bergholz invited Maple to her house for Thanksgiving but he said he had other plans.

Carl Avery said he had known Maple for four years and had dinner with him on Friday night.

"We played some pool," Avery said. "He would do anything for anybody."

Avery and others said Maple would always be the self-designated driver for his friends who drank alcohol instead of the fruit juice Maple ordered.

"He was an upstanding guy, and I consider myself a good judge of character," Avery said. "This is all very surreal."

Contact Sean Webby at swebby@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5003.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11626789