OAKLAND, Calif. — Luis Armando Albino was 6 years old when he was abducted in 1951 while playing in a park in Oakland, Calif. More than seven decades later, Albino was located thanks to the help of an online ancestral analysis, old photographs and newspaper clippings.
With the help of police, the FBI and the Department of Justice, Albino’s niece in Oakland located her uncle alive on the East Coast of the United States, she reported on Friday. The Bay Area News Group.
Albino, who is already a father and grandfather, is a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who was deployed during the Vietnam War, according to his niece, Alida Alequin, 63. She was the one who found Albino and arranged for him to be reunited with his family in California last June.
On February 21, 1951, Albino—born in Puerto Rico—was playing in a park in West Oakland with his older brother when a woman began speaking to him in Spanish and promised to buy him candy.
Luis Albino, right, who was kidnapped in Oakland in 1951, appears in an undated photo taken before his abduction, alongside his brother, Roger. Luis’s family found him more than 70 years later with the help of an online ancestry test and old photos and newspaper clippings. (Oakland Tribune archives)
Instead, the woman kidnapped the boy and flew them together to the East Coast, where he ended up with a couple who raised him as their own son, the news group reported. Neither authorities nor his family would specify where on the East Coast he lived.
Albino remained missing for more than 70 years, but his family always kept him in their thoughts and several of his relatives had a photograph of him in their homes, his niece said. His mother died in 2005, but she never lost hope that her son was alive.
Oakland police acknowledged that Alequin’s efforts “played a key role in locating his uncle,” and that “the outcome of this story is what we always aspired to.”
In an interview with the news group, Alequin said his uncle “hugged me, said ‘thank you for finding me’ and gave me a kiss on the cheek.”
According to reports in the Oakland Tribune at the time, police, soldiers from a local Army base, the Coast Guard and other city employees joined a massive search for the boy. San Francisco Bay and other waterways were also searched, according to news reports at the time. Investigators repeatedly questioned his brother, Roger Albino, who maintained his story that a woman with a red scarf around her head had taken his brother.
The first inkling that his uncle might still be alive came in 2020, when Alequin took an online DNA test “just for fun.” The results came back with a 22% match to a man who eventually turned out to be his uncle. A more thorough search at the time yielded no answers.
In early 2024, she and her daughters embarked on a new search. On a visit to the Oakland Public Library, she reviewed microfilm of Tribune articles — including one that featured a photograph of Luis and Roger — which convinced her she was moving in the right direction. That same day, she paid a visit to the Oakland police department.
Investigators eventually concluded that the new lead was relevant and opened a new missing person case. Oakland police said last week that the case was closed, although the FBI considers the kidnapping to remain an open investigation.
Luis was located on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample, as did his sister, Alequin’s mother.
Antonia Albino is seen in a 1966 Oakland Tribune photo. She kept a long vigil for her son, Luis, who was kidnapped from Oakland in 1951. Though Antonia died in 2005, Luis was found in 2024 thanks to the efforts of his relatives. (Oakland Tribune archives)
On June 20, investigators visited her mother’s home, Alequin said, and informed both of them that her uncle had been located.
“We didn’t start crying until the investigators left,” she said. “I took my mom’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was over the moon.”
Four days later, with the assistance of the FBI, Luis traveled to Oakland with his family to meet Alequin, his mother, and other relatives. The next day, Alequin drove his mother and uncle to Roger’s home in Stanislaus County, California.
“They gave each other a long, strong hug. They sat down and talked,” he said. They talked about the day of the kidnapping, their time in the armed forces and other topics.
Luis returned to the East Coast but came back in July for a three-week visit. It was the last time he saw Roger, who passed away last month.
Alequin said his uncle did not want to speak to the press.
“I was always determined to find him and, who knows, maybe my story can help other families going through the same thing,” she said. “I would tell them to never give up.”
Originally Published: September 23, 2024 at 12:57 p.m.
