Viral News: A man who was kidnapped 70 years ago as a six-year-old has been found alive on the East Coast of the United States. Luis Armando Albino was 6 years old in 1951 when he was abducted while playing at an Oakland, California park.
He disappeared on February 21, 1951, after a woman lured the 6-year-old Albino from the West Oakland park where he had been playing with his older brother, promising the Puerto Rico-born boy in Spanish that she would buy him candy.
Instead, the woman kidnapped the child, flying him to the East Coast, where he ended up with a couple who raised him as their own son.
His whereabouts remained unknown for decades until he was found this year with the help of an online ancestry test, old photos, and newspaper clippings.
Albino’s niece, Alida Alequin, set out on a mission to find her uncle with the help of police, the FBI, and the Justice Department, ultimately locating her uncle living on the East Coast.
Alida, a 63-year-old resident of Oakland, said Albino is now a father and grandfather, as well as a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. She found Albino and reunited him with his California family in June.
Albino was reunited with emotional family members, including his older brother, Roger, who died from cancer last month at the age of 82. The brothers shared a heartwarming reunion before Roger’s death, with Alida describing the moment: “They grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug. They sat down and just talked.”
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.”
Roger Albino had been interrogated several times by investigators but stood by his story about a woman with a bandana around her head taking his brother. The first notion that her uncle might still be alive came in 2020 when, “just for fun,” Alequin 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 she was on the right track. She went to the Oakland police the same day.
Investigators eventually agreed that 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 an open investigation.
Luis was located on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample, as did his sister, Alequin’s mom.
On June 20, investigators went to her mother’s home, Alequin said, and told them both that her uncle had been found. 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.
Alequin said her uncle did not want to talk to the media.
“I was always determined to find him, and who knows, with my story out there, it could help other families going through the same thing,” Alequin said. “I would say, don’t give up.
