A man who was abducted as a six-year-old boy over 70 years ago has been found alive on the East Coast of the United States. Luis Armando Albino disappeared on February 21, 1951, from a park in West Oakland, California. He was lured away by a woman who promised to buy him sweets while he played with his 10-year-old brother, Roger. For decades, his whereabouts remained a mystery, until this year, when DNA testing and family efforts revealed the truth.

The Mercury News first reported the discovery, which came after Mr Albino’s niece, Alida Alequin, set on a quest to find her uncle. Using DNA testing, newspaper clippings and help from the Oakland Police Department, FBI and Department of Justice, Ms Alequin, a 63-year-old Oakland resident, tracked her uncle down. Luis Albino He is now a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran, having served two tours in Vietnam.

In June, Mr Albino, now 79, 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 Mr Roger’s death, with Alida Alequin describing the moment, “They grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug. They sat down and just talked.”

Ms search began in 2020 when she casually took an online DNA test. The results revealed a 22 per cent match with Albino, leading her to dig deeper into family history. Along with her daughters, Ms Alequin sifted through newspaper archives and microfilm at local libraries, ultimately finding pictures of Luis Albino that confirmed her suspicions. Her determination was key to solving the decades-old mystery.

Mr Albino recalls parts of his abduction and journey to the East Coast but shared that those around him at the time refused to provide answers. Now, he prefers to keep some of his experiences private. 

Unfortunately, their mother, who died in 2005 at the age of 92, never lived to see the mystery solved.

Ms Alequin described Roger’s final days as peaceful. She said he “died happily” and was “at peace with himself, knowing his brother had been found.”

Pune:

Three people were arrested for allegedly kidnapping 14-year-old boy and demanding a ransom of Rs 30 lakh from his family near here on Tuesday, said police.

The boy was also rescued by the police.

According to the police, the boy, the son of a scrap dealer, was kidnapped by three people on Tuesday morning from the Tathawade area of the adjoining Pimpri-Chinchwad township.

“On receiving a complaint from the family, a team were formed and during investigation, it was revealed the kidnappers had taken the boy to Saswad. The kidnappers had earlier called a relative of the boy and demanded Rs 30 lakh and threatened to kill him if the ransom money was not paid,” said an officer of the Pimpri-Chinchwad crime branch.

He said after tracing the location of the kidnappers, a police team was dispatched and they were arrested from Saswad and the boy was rescued from their clutches.

The accused were identified by the police as Tejan Lokhande, Arjun Rathod, and Vikas Mhaske.

The police said the trio knew that the boy’s father was financially well-off and targeted him for quick money.

“The accused wanted to open a hotel and for that they needed money. This led them to plan the kidnapping,” said another police officer.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)