In a remarkable turn of events, Luis Armando Albino, who was abducted at the age of six from an Oakland, California park in 1951, has been found more than seven decades later. As per the information, an online ancestry test, old photos, and newspaper clippings led to his finding. The Bay Area News Group reported on Friday that Albino’s niece, Alida Alequin, with the help of local police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Justice Department, tracked down her long-lost uncle who was living on the East Coast.
Albino, now a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam, was reunited with his California family in June. The abduction occurred on February 21, 1951, when a woman lured the 6-year-old Puerto Rico-born boy away from a West Oakland park, where he had been playing with his older brother, by promising him candy in Spanish. Instead, the woman kidnapped him and flew him to the East Coast, where he was raised by a couple as their own son. Officials and family members have not disclosed Albino's exact location on the East Coast, but the discovery marks the end of a 73-year mystery.
What did Oakland police say?
For more than 70 years Albino remained missing, but he was always in the hearts of his family and his photo hung at relatives' houses, his niece said. His mother died in 2005 but never gave up hope that her son was alive. Oakland police acknowledged that Alequin's efforts “played an integral role in finding her uncle" and that “the outcome of this story is what we strive 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.”
The first notion that her uncle might be still alive came in 2020 when, “just for fun,” Alequin said, she took an online DNA test. It showed a 22 percent match with a man who eventually turned out to be her uncle. A further search at the time yielded no answers or any response from him, she said. In early 2024, she and her daughters began searching again. On a visit to the Oakland Public Library, she looked at microfilm of Tribune articles -- including one that had a picture of Luis and Roger — which convinced her that she was on the right track. She went to the Oakland police the same day.
Albino was located on the East Coast
Investigators eventually agreed the new lead was substantial, and a new missing persons case was opened. Oakland police said last week that the missing persons case is closed, but they and the FBI consider the kidnapping a still-open investigation. Albino was located on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample, as did his sister, Alequin’s mother. On June 20, investigators went to her mother’s home and told them both that her uncle had been found, Alequin said.
On June 24, with the assistance of the FBI, Luis came to Oakland with members of his family and met with Alequin, her mother and other relatives. The next day Alequin drove her mother and her newfound uncle to Roger’s home in Stanislaus County, California. “They grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug. They sat down and just talked,” she said, discussing the day of the kidnapping, their military service and more. Luis returned to the East Coast but came back again in July for a three-week visit. It was the last time he saw Roger, who died in August.
(With inputs from AP)
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