A boy kidnapped in California in 1951 when he was 6 years old appears alive more than 70 years later

Oakland, California (AP) — Luis Armando Albino was 6 years old in 1951 when he was abducted while playing in a park in Oakland, California. Now, more than seven decades later, Albino has been found thanks to the help of an online ancestry test, old photos and newspaper clippings.

The Bay Area News Group reported This Friday, Albino’s niece in Oakland — with the help of police, the FBI and the Department of Justice — located her uncle who lived on the East Coast.

Albino, a father and grandfather, is a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam, according to his niece, Alida Alequin, 63. She found Albino and reunited him with his family in California in June.

On February 21, 1951, a woman took 6-year-old Albino out of the West Oakland park where he had been playing with his older brother and promised him in Spanish — Albino was born in Puerto Rico — that she would buy him candy.

Instead, the woman kidnapped the boy and flew him to the East Coast, where he ended up with a couple who raised him as their own son, the news group reported. Authorities and family members did not say where on the East Coast she lives.

For more than 70 years Albino remained missing, but he was always in his family’s hearts and his photo hung in the homes of his relatives, his niece said. His mother died in 2005, but she never gave up hope that her son was alive.

Oakland police acknowledged that Alequin’s efforts “played an integral role in the search for his uncle” and that “the outcome of this story is what we are fighting for.”

In an interview with the news group, she said her uncle “hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for finding me,’ and gave me a kiss on the cheek.”

Oakland Tribune articles at the time reported that police, soldiers from a local military base, the Coast Guard and other city employees joined a massive search for the missing boy. San Francisco Bay and other waterways were also searched, according to the articles. His brother, Roger Albino, was questioned several times by investigators but remained steadfast in his story that a woman with a bandanna around her head had taken his brother.

The first inkling that her uncle might be alive came in 2020 when, “just for fun,” Alequin said, she took an online DNA test. It showed a 22% match with a man who eventually turned out to be her uncle. A more thorough search at the time yielded no answers from him, she said.

In early 2024, she and her daughters began searching again. On a visit to the Oakland Public Library, she saw microfilms of Tribune articles — including one that had a photo of Luis and Roger — that convinced her she was on the right track. That same day, she went to Oakland police.

Ultimately, investigators agreed that the new lead was important and a new missing persons case was opened. Oakland police said last week that the missing persons case is closed, but both they and the FBI consider the kidnapping to remain an open investigation.

Luis was located on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample, as did his sister, Alequín’s mother.

On June 20, investigators went to her mother’s home, Alequin said, and told them both that they had found her uncle.

“We didn’t start crying until the investigators left,” Alequin said. “I grabbed my mother’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was ecstatic.”

On June 24, with the help of the FBI, Luis arrived in Oakland with family members and met with Alequin, his mother, and other relatives. The next day, Alequin drove his mother and his newfound uncle to Roger’s home in Stanislaus County, California.

“They hugged each other and gave each other a long, strong hug. They sat down and started talking,” says Alequin, who talks about the day of the kidnapping, his military service and other things.

Luis returned to the East Coast, but came back in July for a three-week visit. It was the last time he saw Roger, who died in August.

Alequin said his uncle did not want to speak to the media.

“I was always determined to find him, and who knows, with my story out there, I might be able to help other families going through the same thing,” Alequin said. “I would tell them not to give up.”