A man who was abducted at the age of 6 while playing in a California park in 1951 has been found after more than 7 decades, thanks to the help of an online dating test, then based on old photos and newspaper clippings,
the Bay Area News Group reported that Luis Armando Albino's granddaughter in Oakland — with the help of the police, the FBI and the Justice Department — found her uncle living in the US. Albino, who is now a father and grandfather, is a former firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam, according to his granddaughter, 63-year-old Alida Alequin. She found Albino and reunited him with his family in California in June of this year.
On February 21, 1951, a woman kidnapped six-year-old Luis from the park in West Oakland, where he was playing with his older brother. She promised the little boy that she would buy him candy. But she kidnapped him and took him miles away. Luis ended up in a family who raised him as their own son.
For more than 70 years, Luis remained missing, but he was always in the hearts of his family. The baby's photo was always hanging in the homes of his relatives. His mother passed away in 2005, but she always had hope that her son was alive. Oakland police acknowledged that Alequin's efforts "played an important role in locating her uncle."
Alequin described meeting her uncle: "He hugged me and said, 'Thank you for finding me,' and kissed me on the cheek," she said.
Oakland Tribune articles at the time reported that police, local troopers, the Coast Guard and other city employees joined in an extensive search for the 6-year-old. Roger Albino, the brother of the missing boy, was questioned several times, but he again confessed that a woman in a headscarf kidnapped her brother.
The first inkling that her uncle might still be alive came in 2020 when "just for fun I took a DNA test online," Alequin said. The test showed she was 22% similar to a man, who turned out to be her uncle. A further search at the time didn't yield an answer, but earlier this year, she and her cousins ??began searching again. During a visit to the Oakland Public Library, she saw the Oakland Tribune articles — including one that had a picture of Luis and Roger (the Albino brothers) that convinced her she was on the right track. She went to Oakland police the same day. Investigators reopened the missing person's case
last week
past that the missing persons case was closed, but they and the FBI considered the abduction investigation still open.Luis was in the eastern U.S. and provided a DNA sample, as did his sister, Alequin's mother On June 20, investigators went to her mother's house," Alequin said, adding that they were both told that Luis had been found.
"We didn't start crying until after the investigators left," Alequin said. "I grabbed my mom's hands and said: 'We found it!' I was so happy!", she said.
On June 24, with the help of the FBI, Luis came to Oakland with his family members and met with Alequin, her mother and other relatives. The next day, Alequin took her mother and newfound uncle to Roger's house in Stanislaus, California.
"They hugged tightly for a long time. They sat down and just talked," said his granddaughter, adding that they discussed the day of the abduction.
Luis returned to his country again, but again went to his brother in California. Some time later, Roger passed away.
