A California family’s 70-year search for their kidnapped relative ended in June after an online DNA test finally put them on the right track across the country.
Luis Armando Albino, a retired firefighter and Vietnam War veteran living on the East Coast, was kidnapped from a park in Oakland, California in 1951 at the age of six.
He had been playing with his older brother when a woman wearing a headscarf approached him, spoke to him in Spanish and promised to buy him sweets if he came with her.
For many of his family members, including his mother, who died in 2005, this was the last time they would see him. But the family did not give up hope for seven decades and kept his memory alive by displaying pictures of him in their homes.
After his kidnapping, Luis was flown across the country and grew up with a couple on the east coast.
Officials and family members have not provided information about where on the East Coast he now lives, and authorities are still investigating his abduction.
Luis’ niece, 63-year-old Alida Alequin, stumbled upon her long-lost relative by chance in 2020 when she took a DNA test online “just for fun,” she said.
The test showed a 22% match with a complete stranger who turned out to be an albino.
She tried to reach him but had no luck.
In early 2024, she and her daughters resumed the search and began digging through the Oakland Tribune’s microfilm archives at the Oakland Public Library.
Articles from 1951 detailed the tireless efforts of search parties to find Luis, which included deep dives in San Francisco Bay and other waters.
His older brother Roger, who was interrogated several times, repeatedly stated that he saw a woman wearing a headscarf leading Luis away.
Armed with the archives, including one with a picture of Luis and Roger, Alequin provided authorities with enough evidence to open a new missing person case for her uncle.
Oakland police praised Alequin’s efforts, noting that she “played a critical role in finding her uncle” and that “the outcome of this story is what we strive for.”
After another DNA test, this time comparing Luis’ DNA with that of Alequin’s mother, investigators confirmed the match and informed the family on June 20 that their uncle had been found.
“We only started crying after the investigators left,” Alequin said.
“I took my mother’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was overjoyed.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation helped Luis and his family travel to California for the long-awaited reunion. On June 24, he met Alequin, her mother and other relatives.
Alequin told the Bay Area News Group that Luis “hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for finding me,’ and gave me a kiss on the cheek.”
The next day he visited Roger in Stanislaus County, California.
“They hugged and hugged each other for a long time and very tightly. They sat down and just talked,” said Alequin. They also talked about the day of the kidnapping and their military service together.
Luis, who became a father and grandfather on the East Coast, returned to California for a three-week visit in July, shortly before Roger’s death in August.
Her uncle did not want to speak to the media.
“I was always determined to find him and who knows, maybe my story will help other families going through the same thing,” Alequin said. “I would say don’t give up.”
With post wires.
