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An Oakland, California woman’s perseverance paid off after a decades-long investigation helped reunite her family with her uncle, who was abducted from a park in West Oakland in 1951, according to reports.
The East Bay Times first reported the story about Luis Armando Albino, who at the age of 6 was playing at Jefferson Square Park near Seventh Street with his older brother Roger on Feb. 21, 1951.
That day, the publication reported, a Spanish-speaking woman offered to buy him candy and lured Albino away from the park before abducting and taking him to the East Coast, where he was raised.
The woman who abducted Albino, according to family members who spoke with FOX 2 in San Francisco, has since died.
Luis Armando Albino (R) with his late brother Roger (L). Luis Armando Albino was 6 years old in 1951 when he was abducted while playing at an Oakland park. Now, more than seven decades later, Albino has been found thanks to help from an online ancestry test, old photos and newspaper clippings. (COURTESY: ALIDA ALEQUIN)
Albino’s niece, 63-year-old Alida Alequin, spoke with FOX 2 and shared details about the story of her missing uncle, even after efforts to find him had been made by the Oakland Police Department and FBI.
Alequin said her family never gave up trying to find Albino, nor did she.
In fact, in 2020, she took an online DNA test "just for fun," and matched with a man on the East Coast.
The test Alequin took showed a 22% match with the man who turned out to be her uncle.
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Luis as a child with his father Marcial in Puerto Rico during the 1940s. (COURTESY: ALIDA ALEQUIN)
After learning of the match, she tried to find out who the man was and reached out, though she never received a response.
"My daughter found a lot of pictures of this man, and we started comparing," Alequin told the station. "The resemblance was so strong… how much he looked like my other uncles. And then another picture where he looked so much like my grandmother, that one gave me chills, and I said, ‘there’s something here.’"
Albino was ultimately found and provided a DNA sample. Also providing a DNA sample was Alequin’s mother and her uncle, Roger.
The DNA samples were compared, and it was confirmed that Luis Albino was their missing relative, family members told the station.
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DNA samples were used to confirm the family relation. (iStock)
The information was provided to the Oakland Police Department, which was forwarded to the FBI. Oakland police said Alequin’s investigation "played an integral role in finding her uncle," adding that "the outcome of this story is what we strive for."
Last week, police said the missing persons case for Luis Albino was closed, though the kidnapping is still under investigation by the FBI and police.
Investigators reportedly questioned Albino’s brother Roger multiple times, though his story about a woman wearing a bandanna on her head taking her brother remained unchanged.
With the help of the FBI, Albino traveled to Oakland on June 24, 2024, with members of his family and met with Alequin, her mother and other relatives, the station reported.
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The following day, Alequin took her mother and uncle – a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served during the Vietnam War – to Roger’s home in Stanislaus County, California.
"We didn’t start crying until after the investigators left," Alequin told FOX 2. "I grabbed my mom’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was ecstatic."
The reunited family had a long and tight hug before sitting down and talking about the day of the kidnapping as well as what has happened since.
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Albino eventually went home but returned in July for three weeks, marking the last time he would see his brother, who died in August.
Alequin told the station the two brothers were making up for lost time. She also said her uncle did not wish to speak with the media.
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