Luis Armando Albino was kidnapped as a child from a park in Oakland, California in 1951. Seven decades later, his niece took an online DNA test that led authorities to his home on the East Coast.

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A boy abducted from a California park in 1951 has been found alive and well on the East Coast thanks to a DNA test and the persistent efforts of his family.

Luis Armando Albino was just six years old when he was kidnapped from the Oakland park where he was playing with his older brother. He was lured by a woman who promised to buy him candy.

Instead, “she took him out of the state and eventually to the East Coast,” the Oakland Police Department (OPD) told NPR.

After his disappearance, state and federal authorities searched intensively for Albino but were unable to find him or his remains.

His mother, Antonia Albino, who had only moved here with her family from her native Puerto Rico the year before, never gave up hope that he was alive.

She visited the police missing persons department to request information, initially almost daily, then weekly, then monthly and finally annually, according to the Mercury Newswhich first reported the news his discovery last week.

The family resumed their search 15 years after the abduction, when Albino would have been 21 years old. SFGATE reportedThey traveled several times to Puerto Rico, where Antonia suspected her son had been abducted, but they found nothing.

“This is a rare case where a boy disappears and never reappears – alive or dead,” said Oakland Police Lt. Dominic DiFraia The Oakland Tribune in 1966. “I would give a lot to find out why.”

It took seven decades for this mystery to be solved. Earlier this year, long after his mother died and his case fell apart, it was Albino’s niece who finally tracked him down.

DNA tests and newspaper clippings led investigators to the East

Alida Alequin, 63, knew her uncle was missing because her family talked about it. Her late grandmother always carried a newspaper clipping about his abduction in her wallet and displayed his photo in her family home.

Alequin decided to take an online DNA test in 2020 “just for fun,” as she recommended to Mercury News.

Among the results was a 22 percent match with a man she had never met before. The Oakland resident contacted him but received no response and did not pursue the matter further – until she saw a documentary earlier this year that inspired her to restart her search.

Alequin and her daughters searched for the man’s name online, looked through microfilms of old Oakland-Tribune They read articles in the public library and became increasingly convinced that the man in the DNA database was their long-lost relative.

According to OPD, she contacted the missing persons office in March to inform them of the DNA test results and the possible identity of her uncle.

Armed with new clues and new technology, the police reopened Albino’s case.

They searched public records for the possible match and, with assistance from the California Department of Justice and the FBI, collected DNA samples from Albino’s living siblings.

According to police, investigators were unsuccessful in their numerous attempts to contact Albino and his family. They finally managed to send FBI special agents to contact him at his home.

The FBI confirmed to NPR that it helped Oakland police “by having access to … resources across state lines.” Authorities did not specify where on the East Coast Albino had lived.

The agents finally managed to question Albino and take a DNA sample.

His testimony and genetic testing confirmed what police called “the best possible outcome”: He was indeed the boy who had been kidnapped from the park 73 years earlier.

“We only started crying after the investigators left,” said Alequin Mercury News“I took my mother’s hands and said, ‘We found him.'”

A “family reunion that took over 70 years to prepare”

Details about Albino’s life on the East Coast are relatively scarce, and police say his case remains under investigation. They ask anyone with information to contact OPD. Missing Persons Unit.

Mercury News says Albino is a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Vietnam. For most of his life, he believed he was “some other couple’s son,” according to SFGate.

In June, Albino flew to California to meet Alequin and his other relatives. Police said the visit was arranged and funded by OPD investigators, FBI victim advocates and the California Department of Justice.

“It was an emotional moment for all involved and a family reunion that had been hoped for for over 70 years,” they added.

Alequin said her uncle hugged her, kissed her on the cheek and said, “Thank you for finding me.”

Although he could remember the kidnapping and the journey across the country, she added, he never received answers from the adults in his life.

During this trip, Albino met his brother Roger, who had been with him on that fateful February day.

Alequin said the two “grabbed each other and hugged each other for a long time,” then sat down and talked about the kidnapping, their military service and more.

Their reunion came at a bittersweet time: Roger died two months later, in August.

“I think he died happy,” said Alequin. “He was at peace knowing that his brother had been found.”

She said she was happy to have closure with her mother and uncle and believed her grandmother – who died in 2005 – would be happy too.

“And who knows, maybe my story will help other families who are going through the same thing,” Alequin added. “I would say don’t give up.”