His mother spent her entire life as a missing child no one knew was missing. Her son vanished the same way — until a confession, twenty years later, finally explained why.
Michael Anthony Hughes, 6, was kidnapped from his Oklahoma elementary school on September 12, 1994, by Franklin Delano Floyd, the man who had also abducted, raised, and later married Michael's mother without her ever knowing her own true identity. Michael was never found alive.
A Mother Who Was Never Who She Seemed
Michael's mother lived under the name Sharon Marshall, believing Franklin Floyd was her biological father. In reality, Floyd had kidnapped her as a young child in 1975 from North Carolina, along with her siblings, after abducting all of them while their mother served a brief jail sentence. Floyd raised her under a series of false identities across multiple states for years, and eventually married her. Michael was born in 1988; DNA testing later confirmed Floyd wasn't his biological father, despite Floyd's own claims. In April 1990, Michael's mother was killed in a hit-and-run that investigators have long suspected, but never definitively proven, was orchestrated by Floyd.
Foster Care and Progress
Following his mother's death, Michael was placed in foster care in Oklahoma. His foster parents reported he initially had limited muscle control and was non-verbal, but made significant developmental progress in their care over the following years, and adoption proceedings were underway by 1994.
Taken at Gunpoint
On September 12, 1994, Floyd entered Michael's elementary school in Choctaw, Oklahoma, and held the school principal at gunpoint, forcing him to lead Floyd to Michael's classroom. Floyd then forced both the principal and Michael into the principal's truck and drove them into a rural area, where he handcuffed the principal to a tree before fleeing with Michael. The principal was found and rescued roughly five hours later. Floyd was arrested in Kentucky two months later. Michael was not with him and was never found.
Conviction, But No Answers
In April 1995, Floyd was convicted of kidnapping Michael and sentenced to 52 years without parole. For years afterward, he refused to say what had happened to the boy, at times claiming Michael was still alive somewhere. Floyd was separately convicted in 2002 of the earlier murder of Cheryl Ann Commesso, a friend of Michael's mother, and sentenced to death.
A Confession, Two Decades Later
In 2014, following renewed investigative interest sparked by a book about the case and the eventual identification of Michael's mother's true identity — Suzanne Sevakis — through DNA testing, FBI agents interviewed Floyd again. He admitted for the first time that he had shot and killed Michael on the day he abducted him and had disposed of his body along Interstate 35. Despite extensive searches of the area based on Floyd's account, Michael's remains have never been found.
Where Things Stand Now
Franklin Delano Floyd remained on death row in Florida for the murder of Cheryl Commesso until his death in January 2023. Michael's case, along with the broader story of his mother's hidden identity, was the subject of the 2004 book "A Beautiful Child" and the 2022 Netflix documentary "Girl in the Picture."
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Michael Hughes ever found?
No. Despite Floyd's 2014 confession to killing him and disposing of his body, extensive searches never recovered his remains.
Is Franklin Delano Floyd still alive?
No. He died in January 2023 while on death row in Florida.
How was Michael's mother's true identity discovered?
Through DNA testing in 2014, after one of her children who had been placed for adoption years earlier came forward, ultimately confirming she was Suzanne Marie Sevakis, herself a childhood kidnapping victim of Floyd's.