Luis Armando Albino was reunited with his biological family more than seven decades after he was abducted
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A woman has helped solve the abduction of her long-lost uncle, an incredible 73 years after he was taken as a child from a park.
Luis Armando Albino, now 79, has finally been reunited with his biological family.
This was all thanks to his niece's dedication and determination, which played a key role in solving the mystery of what happened to him all those years ago.
In 1951, Luis was just six years old and playing in Jefferson Square Park with his 10-year-old brother Roger.
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This was in West Oakland, California. A woman approached the two boys and lured young Luis away by promising him sweets.
Luis was then flown all the way across the country to New York, where he was raised by a local couple as their own son. Meanwhile, his real family had no idea what had become of him.
Luis Armando Albino was abducted when he was six years old
NBC Bay Area
Luis' mother never gave up hope that her son would come back home. Sadly, she passed away in 2005 at the age of 92, never finding out what had happened to him.
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However, it seems that determination runs in the family. Luis’ niece, Alida Alequin, decided to take on the case herself and figure out the truth.
Thank goodness she did. The Oakland Police even said that Alida "played an integral role in finding her uncle."
Alida, now 63, stayed in Oakland to work closely with the police. She also worked with the FBI and the Department of Justice to piece together what happened after Luis was taken.
At the time of the abduction, authorities had mobilized cops, soldiers, and the Coast Guard to help search around the San Francisco Bay for the missing boy.
Unfortunately, they found no trace of Luis.
Hoping for a lead, investigators turned to Roger, the 10-year-old brother who had been with Luis that day. Roger was questioned several times.
He always told the same story, describing the woman who took Luis as wearing a bandana around her head. Sadly, the case went cold.
Alida explained that her grandmother visited the police’s missing person bureau every single day, hoping for news about her son.
Eventually, those visits became weekly, then monthly, and finally annual.
"She always felt he was alive," Alida told Mercury News. "She took that with her to her grave.
All this time the family kept thinking of him. I always knew I had an uncle. We spoke of him a lot."
"My grandmother carried the original article in her wallet, and she always talked about him," Alida added.
His mother never gave up hope that her son would return, but she sadly passed away before he was tracked down
Oakland Tribune Archives
"A picture of him was always hung at the family home."
In 2022, Alida set off a chain of events that would finally bring Luis back to his family. She decided to take an online DNA test for fun.
The results revealed that she had a 22 percent match with a man. That man turned out to be her missing uncle.
After reaching out to him, though, Alida didn’t hear back. It wasn’t until earlier this year that she decided to dig deeper into Luis’ kidnapping with the help of her daughters.
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Her children searched their missing relative’s name online and uncovered pictures of him on microfilm at the Oakland Public Library.
They believed these pictures confirmed that Luis was still alive.
They took their findings to the FBI and the Department of Justice, which reopened the missing person case. Luis was soon found on the East Coast.
Luis (right) was finally reunited with his brother Roger after a whopping 73 years
Alida Alequin
He provided a DNA sample, and it confirmed his identity.
Officials then visited Alida’s mother’s home to share the news: Luis had finally been found.
"In my heart I knew it was him and when I got the confirmation, I let out a big 'YES!'" Alida said, beaming.
"We didn’t start crying until after the investigators left. I grabbed my mom’s hands and said, 'We found him.' I was ecstatic."
Although the case was officially closed, the FBI said the investigation into Luis’ abduction is still open. The couple who raised him in New York has since passed away.
Luis went on to become a firefighter in New York. He also served in the Marine Corps and later became a father and a grandfather.
In August this year, Alida’s long-lost uncle was finally able to reunite with his brother Roger, now 83.
It was a bittersweet reunion because Roger had been diagnosed with cancer and passed away just a month later.
When they met for the first time, Luis hugged Alida, kissed her on the cheek, and said with emotion, "Thank you for finding me."
"I’m so happy that I was able to do this for my mom and uncle," Alida shared.
"It was a very happy ending. 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. I would say, don’t give up."