A 6-year-old boy northern California boy kidnapped in 1951 has been found living on the East Coast, where he reportedly raised a family of his own and retired as a firefighter after serving in the Marine Corp during the Vietnam War.
“Thank you for finding me,” Luis Armando Albino told his 63-year-old niece Alida Alequin, who tracked him down with the help of an online ancestry kit, old newspapers and local and federal law enforcement officials.
According to the the Mercury News, a woman promising candy abducted Albino from an Oakland park where he was playing with his older brother Roger — who died in August — on Feb. 21, 1951. The boys’ mom died in 2005.
Alequin came to suspect her uncle was still alive after a DNA test taken in 2020 showed a 22% match with Albino, whom she was unable to contact. In early 2024, Alequin and her daughters continued searching for Albino by perusing old news articles at the Oakland Public Library. That research yielded evidence compelling enough to pique the interest of local police, which led to the involvement of U.S. Justice Department and the FBI.
Authorities found Albino, who submitted a DNA sample matching one provided by his biological mom’s sister on the West Coast. Investigators confirmed the connection on June 20, according to CBS News.
Four days later, Albino, now a grandfather, returned to Oakland with his family to meet the biological relatives who tracked him down. He was also reunited with his brother, who was still alive in Stanislaus County, Calif. Roger and Luis Albino spent their time together talking about the day they were separated and discussing their time in the military, according to Alequin.
Roger, who was 10- years old when his little brother was abducted, reportedly spoke to investigators multiple times over the years. He maintained that a Spanish-speaking woman with a bandana around her head walked off with the boy.
Oakland police confirmed to CBS News that Albino’s missing persons case was closed, while the FBI’s kidnapping investigation remains active. Where on the East Coast Albino was raised or currently resides wasn’t reported.
