A six-year-old boy who was kidnapped from a California park in 1951 has miraculously been found alive and reunited with his hopeful family more than 70 years later.
On February 21, 1951, a woman Tempted According to CBS News, toddler Luis Armando Albino gave his older brother Roger some candy to get away from him at a park in West Oakland.
Rodger said the woman, wearing a bandana and speaking to his Puerto Rican-born brother in Spanish, then flew Luis to the East Coast, where the couple raised him as their son.
Lewis' niece, Alida Alekhine, 63, said of Mercury News The family kept their missing son close to their hearts, with photos of him hanging in their home, and although his mother died in 2005, “they never gave up hope that he was still alive,” according to the CBS article.
Immediately after the kidnapping, Auckland Tribune According to an article obtained by the media, police, soldiers from a local U.S. military base, U.S. Coast Guard personnel and other local authorities conducted an extensive search of the Bay Area and its waterways.
Roger was interrogated “several times” and always maintained that his brother had been kidnapped.
Everything started to change in 2020 when Alekhin took a DNA test “just for fun” and unexpectedly found a man who was a 22% match. The search did not continue immediately, as the man did not respond to Alekhin's contacts.
In 2024, Alekhine and his daughters begin their quest again. Auckland Tribune She read some microfilmed articles at her local public library, one of which featured a photo of her uncles, Roger and Lewis. This reignited her search for her missing relatives, and she visited the Oakland Police Department with the information that she had found a DNA link.
“Investigators eventually agreed the new leads were significant and a new missing persons case was opened,” CBS reported.
Investigators found a man on the East Coast who tested 22 percent identical to Alekhine and provided a DNA sample.
Alex's mother also provided it.
It turns out they are brothers.
Investigators told Alekhine and her mother that Lewis was found on June 20.
“I knew in my heart it was him, and when I got confirmation I said loud and clear 'YES!'” her niece recalled.
“We didn't cry until the investigators left,” she added. “I held my mother's hand and said, 'We found him.' I was overjoyed.”
Lewis fought in Vietnam as a member of the U.S. Marines, was a father and grandfather and served as a firefighter throughout his life.
Just four days later, the FBI helped Lewis travel with his family to California to meet with family members he had lost 70 years earlier. Lewis met with Alekhine, his sister, and other relatives in Oakland on the first day, and his brother Roger at their home in Stanislaus County the next day.
Alekhine is Mercury News She said her missing uncle “hugged me, said 'Thank you for finding me,' and kissed me on the cheek.”
“They grabbed each other and had a really big, long hug, and then they sat down and just talked,” she said of Lewis and Roger's reunion.
Lewis returned to California for three weeks in July, the final time he saw his brother, who died in August.
“I think he died happy,” Alekhine said. “He died peacefully, knowing that his brother had been found. I was very happy to be able to do this for him and give him some closure and peace of mind.”
Lewis declined to speak to the media, but his niece revealed that Lewis has some memories of being abducted, but that it was never explained to her while she was growing up in her new home.
“I was always determined to find him, and maybe if my story gets out there, it can help other families going through the same thing,” Alekhine said. Mercury News“I say, 'Don't give up.'”
Oakland police said Alekhine's own investigation “played a key role in finding her uncle” and that “the outcome in this case is what we are striving for,” the outlet reported.
CBS News added that Oakland police have closed the missing person's case but are continuing to investigate the kidnapping.
