A missing person who was abducted from a California playground when she was six years old was found alive on the East Coast 73 years later. Associated Press reported.
Luis Armando Albino disappeared from a playground in Oakland while playing with his brother Roger on February 21, 1951. A woman wearing a bandana apparently lured Albino with the promise of buying him candy. Instead, she drove him to the East Coast and gave him to a couple who raised him as their biological son.
Seventy years after the albino vanished without a trace, his biological niece Lydia Alequin, 63, found her uncle with the help of old photos, newspaper articles and genealogy tests. The search began in 2020, when Alequin decided to take a genealogy test on a whim “just for fun.” It showed a 22% match to the albino, but she did not respond to questions at the time.
Earlier this year, Alequin and her daughters continued their search. They were able to convince investigators to reopen the case. On June 20, they received a knock on their door from two officers who informed them that Albino was indeed their uncle. On June 24, Alequin, his mother and other relatives took Albino to his brother's house for a long-awaited reunion. Sadly, Albino's mother died in 2005, but he always held out hope that she was still alive.
“They hugged each other and had a really tight, long hug,” Alequin said of the brothers. “They sat down and just talked,” he said, “discussing the day of the kidnapping, their military service and more.”
Albino left a few days later, but returned to California for a three-week stay in July. It was the last time he saw Roger, who died in August, shortly after his brother returned home.
Oakland police acknowledged that Alequin's detective work “played an integral role in finding his uncle.” The department added, “The outcome of this story is what we are striving for.” Alequin reported that when they first met Albino, “he hugged me and said, 'Thank you for finding me,' and kissed me on the cheek.”
Although his uncle didn't want to talk to the media or reveal his exact location on the East Coast, Alequin felt compelled to share his family's story if it could give hope to others in a similar situation. “I was always determined to find him,” he said, “and who knows, once my story is out there, it might help other families going through the same thing. I just say, don't give up.”