A missing boy has been found alive and well 73 years after his abduction, bringing closure to a decades-old unsolved case.
Luis Armando Albino, born in Puerto Rico, was 6 years old when he was kidnapped from a park in West Oakland, California in 1951.
According to several reports, thanks to DNA testing and newspaper clippings, Albino was tracked down and found alive on the east coast of the United States.
According to an article in the Oakland Tribune at the time, Albino was playing with his brother Roger in Jefferson Square Park near his family home in February 1951 when he was poached.
His niece told the press that Albino was brought to the East Coast by a couple who then raised him as their son.
Albino’s mother, who died in 2005, kept a newspaper clipping with the article about the kidnapping in her wallet until her death.
“She always had hope that he would come home,” Alequin told the Times.
The long-missing boy was found after his niece took a DNA test in 2020 and matched a man who turned out to be her uncle, Albino.
With the help of the FBI and the Department of Justice, Alequin was able to track down Albino and reunite him with his family.
A DNA sample from Albino is said to have proven his identity.
Albino reconnected with his brother Roger, who died shortly afterwards.
Alequin told the Times that her uncle had some memories of his kidnapping but was never able to find out the truth.
After his discovery, he was unwilling to speak to the media.
A missing person report about Luis Armando Albino has now been removed from the California Department of Justice website.