Luis Armando Albino Found Alive Seven Decades After 1951 Oakland Abduction
Armando was 6 years old when he went missing in 1951 in Oakland. Now, his family has located him on the opposite side of the country decades later.
Luis Armando Albino went missing in February 1951 after being abducted in Oakland, California, when he was 6 years old. Now, he’s in his 70s and is still alive. Thanks to his niece Alida Alequin, Armando was located using an online ancestry test, according to the Mercury News.
More than 70 years ago, Albino was abducted when a woman lured him in by offering him candy. At the time, he was playing with his older brother, Roger, in a park. Afterward, she took Albino to the East Coast, and he was reportedly raised by a couple as if he were their own son. His late mother, Antonia Albino, didn’t give up on her son, though. For years, she had a feeling that her son was still alive and kept his picture in her living room, according to multiple outlets. Albino’s mother died at the age of 92 in 2005.
Armando’s niece told Mercury News earlier this week, “She had hope she would see him. She never gave up that hope.”
In 2020, Alequin took an online ancestry test, which required her to provide a DNA sample. The sample gave a 22 percent match to her uncle, but she initially didn’t make the connection that Albino was her relative. Earlier this year, however, Alequin and other family members searched through old newspapers to determine if the young child who went missing in the 1950s could be her uncle.
#LuisArmandoAlbino is alive.
70 years ago, at only 6YO old, Luis was lured with the promise of candy by a woman who abducted him.
A couple ended up raising him as their own.
He became a marine and a firefighter.
After all these decades, Luis was reunited with his brother.
— Jennifer Coffindaffer (@CoffindafferFBI) September 23, 2024
Alequin then took her findings to the Oakland Police, who helped look into the lead she had. Albino also provided a DNA sample to law enforcement, and his identity was confirmed. Authorities told the Mercury News that Alequin’s search “played an integral role in finding her uncle.”
Eventually, Albino reunited with his family. Alequin described their joyful reunion to the publication, noting that her uncle “hugged [her] and said, ‘Thank you for finding me’ and gave [her] a kiss on the cheek.”
“All this time, the family kept thinking of him,” Alequin said. “I always knew I had an uncle. We spoke of him a lot.”
During his visit back to the West Coast, Albino also visited his brother, Roger, decades after he went missing. The brothers reportedly spoke of their military service and bonded over their childhood, Alequin told the publication. It was the last time that Albino saw his brother, though, as he died this past summer.
Albino, who is now a father and a grandfather, chose to maintain his privacy and declined to speak publicly about the reunion with his family.