By Jerald Jimenez
Sep 23, 2024, 10:34 AM EDT
A Hispanic man of Puerto Rican origin gave his relatives an unexpected surprise after being found alive following his kidnapping in Oakland, California, in 1951. An online ancestry test, newspaper clippings and old photos were the key to the historic discovery.
The man, identified as Luis Armando Albino, was just six years old at the time of his abduction, the Bay Area News Group reported. Albino’s niece in Oakland, with the help of police, the FBI and the Department of Justice, was able to locate her uncle living on the East Coast.
Despite the nature of his disappearance, Albino is now a retired firefighter and Marine veteran who served in Vietnam. The long-awaited reunion with his family took place last June, the aforementioned media outlet noted.
Circumstances of Albino’s kidnapping
On February 21, 1951, a woman lured little Albino from the West Oakland park where he was playing with his older brother by promising him candy. Instead, she kidnapped him and took him to the East Coast, where he was raised by a couple as their own son.
Albino went missing for more than 70 years, but he was always in the hearts of his family. His niece, Alida Alequin, 63, played a crucial role in the search. In 2020, Alequin took an online DNA test “just for fun,” which yielded a 22% match with a man who turned out to be her uncle.
The search for Alequin resumed in early 2024. On a visit to the Oakland Public Library, they found a microfilm with a photo of Luis and his brother Roger, confirming they were on the right track. Oakland police accepted the new lead and opened a new missing persons case.
Luis was eventually located on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample, as did his sister, Alequin’s mother. On June 20, investigators informed the family that Luis had been found.
“We cried until the investigators left,” Alequin said. “I grabbed my mother’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was ecstatic.”
Luis also met up with his brother, Roger, before returning home. However, he returned in July for a three-week visit, a month before his brother died.
With information from The Associated Press