When Luis Armando Albino was kidnapped in 1951 while playing in a park in Oakland, California, he was only 6 years old. Thanks to the assistance of old photos, newspaper clippings, and an online ancestry test, Albino has been located more than seven decades later.
According to a story published by the Bay Area News Group on Friday, Albino’s niece in Oakland was able to locate her uncle who lived on the East Coast with the help of the FBI, the Justice Department, and the police.
According to his niece, 63-year-old Alida Alequin, Albino is a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. Albino is also a grandfather. In June, she located Albino and brought him back to his family in California.
A woman enticed the 6-year-old Albino, who was playing with his older brother in a park in West Oakland on February 21, 1951, saying in Spanish that she would buy him candy. Albino was born in Puerto Rico.
Rather, the news group said, the woman abducted the child and flew him to the East Coast, where he was adopted by a couple and raised like their own son. Where on the East Coast he resides has not been disclosed by officials or relatives.
Albino went missing for more than 70 years, but according to his niece, his picture was always hung at relatives’ homes and he was always in his family’s hearts. Even after his mother passed away in 2005, she never lost faith in her son’s survival.
Alequin’s efforts “played an integral role in finding her uncle,” according to Oakland police, who also stated that “the outcome of this story is what we strive for.”
She said that her uncle “hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for finding me,’ and gave me a kiss on the cheek” in an interview with the news organization.
At the time, police, soldiers from a nearby army base, the Coast Guard, and other city employees were said to have joined a massive search for the missing boy, according to Oakland Tribune articles. The articles also state that searches were conducted in San Francisco Bay and other waterways. Despite being questioned by detectives multiple times, his brother Roger Albino maintained his account of his brother being taken by a woman wearing a bandana around her head.
Alequin claimed that she took an online DNA test “just for fun” in 2020, which is when she first had the idea that her uncle might still be alive. It revealed a twenty-two percent match with a man who was eventually identified as her uncle. She claimed that at the time, more searching turned up nothing and that he didn’t respond.
She and her daughters started looking again in the beginning of 2024. She was certain she was on the right track after seeing microfilm of Tribune articles at the Oakland Public Library, one of which included a photo of Luis and Roger. That same day, she went to the Oakland police.
After some time, investigators concluded that the new lead was significant, and a new case for missing persons was initiated. Although Oakland police and the FBI still view the kidnapping as an ongoing investigation, they declared last week that the case involving the missing person was closed.
Both Alequin’s mother and Luis, who lived on the East Coast, submitted a DNA sample.
Alequin stated that on June 20, detectives visited her mother’s house and informed them that her uncle had been located.
Alequin stated, “We didn’t start crying until the investigators left.” “We found him,” I exclaimed, grabbing my mother’s hands. I was jubilant.
Luis traveled to Oakland on June 24 with family members and met Alequin, her mother, and other family members with the FBI’s help. Alequin took her mother and her recently discovered uncle to Roger’s house in Stanislaus County, California, the following day.
They seized one another and gave each other a long, intense hug. They took a seat and had a casual conversation about everything from their military service to the day of the kidnapping, according to her.
Luis went back to the East Coast, but he made a three-week visit back in July. It was the final time he saw Roger before his August death.
Alequin stated that her uncle was reluctant to speak with the press.
“With my story out there, it could help other families going through the same thing,” Alequin remarked. “I was always determined to find him.” “I would advise you to persevere.”
