Inside the Touching Moment When Man Abducted 73 Years Ago at Age 6 Reunited with Brother: 'Tight, Long Hug'

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Getty

Getty

More than half a century after a 6-year-old boy was lured away and kidnapped while he played in an Oakland park with his brother,he was stunningly found living on the East Coast as a grandfather.

Luis Armando Albino, who was kidnapped in February 1951, was miraculously located after his niece took a DNA test that first revealed that he was possibly alive. When the FBI helped Albino travel back to California 73 years later, the long-lost boy-turned-grandfather was able to reunite with his brother, Roger, months before the latter died, theAssociated Pressreported.

“They grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug, they sat down and just talked,” Albino’s niece Alida Alequin, who spoke toThe Mercury News,said of the brothers’ reunion.

The test revealed a 22% match with a man that she had never met, the outlet reported.

In 2024, there was finally a break in the case. After Alequin searched through old news clippings at the Oakland Public Library, she contacted police about her potential uncle.

“On March 18, 2024, a woman contacted OPD’s Missing Persons Unit regarding the possible location and identity of her uncle, Luis Albino, who had been missing for more than 70 years,” the Oakland Police Department told PEOPLE in a statement. “The woman told our investigators that her online DNA test results matched an individual believed to be her uncle, who was kidnapped in 1951.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Roger died in August, the outlet reported.

“Lots of hugs and tears,” Alequin said. “He hugged me really tight and he said, ‘Thank you for finding me.’ And he gave me a kiss on the cheek.”

source: people.com