Ohio: In what police calls ‘rare’, for the first time in 25 years, a child was found thirteen years after he was reported ‘missing’ by his mother, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.
In August 2002, a five-year-old boy disappeared without a trace after his father dropped him at school. The toddler Julian Hernandez was in his mother’s legal custody when he went missing and the police suspected that it was his father who had abducted him.
On the day of his disappearance, the boy’s father Bobby Hernandez had left his mother a note saying he had taken him to his pre-school and that was the last time she saw her son. The police had strong evidence, which suggested that Bobby must have kidnapped his own son as he had withdrawn cash from his accounts and had fled the area along with some of his son’s possessions.
The couple was not married and the police failed to find an address where they could locate Bobby Hernandez. The police say they spend “tireless hours” trying to find the missing Alabama tot and went after every possible lead they could find.
“We were getting leads periodically over the last 13 years. We were always getting some kind of updates from people about possible sightings” say the police, but all of them would eventually end up in dead ends.
Hope was fast fading out and Julian’s mother had almost given up hope of ever seeing her son again. But it all changed after a young man who was living 1100 kilometres away, decided to find out who he was.
An 18-year-old student from Ohio, found out that there was some problem with his social security number when he began applying for colleges. The social security number could not be verified. Unable to understand why it was happening, he approached a school counsellor to help him out.
As the duo began to research, they finally found the profile of a five-year-old Julian, leading back to the young man who was now living under a different name. They found the profile at the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and the young man realised that he was the missing boy Julian.
On October 30, the FBI was informed about the discovery and they made contact with the police department in Alabama about the story.
“I got a call from an FBI office, they had a tip,” Lt. Johnny Evans from Vestavia Hills Police Department in Alabama, told news.com.au
When the authorities informed the boy’s mother about it, the entire family was ecstatic over the news. But both sides were also apprehensive about meeting due to the gap of thirteen long years that had made Julian a stranger to his own family.
“It’s difficult for both sides, the child is told that he’s somebody he didn’t know who he was and the mum has to interact with someone she doesn’t know. She was very happy that he had been found, quite ecstatic, but she was also somewhat hesitant because there had been so many false leads through the years,” Evans said.
“That’s the reason you never give up and you keep looking,” he added.
Bobby Hernandez on the other hand was arrested immediately for kidnapping his own son. The 53-year-old was living with another woman and two other kids along with Julian in Ohio. He is also accused of falsifying and tampering with records.
He is being held on $250,000 bond in Cuyahoga County, Ohio and will be slapped with charges of abduction. Prosecutors are expected to seek 10 years in jail.
The police say that since Julian is an 18-year-old now, he can decide what he wants to do and if he wants to go live with his mother.
“Our family was overjoyed this week to locate Julian and learn that he is safe. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during Julian’s disappearance.”, his mother’s family told the media.
The vice president of Missing Children’s Division at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NMEC) said that the family has requested for privacy and wanted to be away from media scrutiny as they begin adjusting to the changes they are faced with.
“Julian’s case is a reminder to all those parents and loved ones who are still searching for a missing child to never give up hope, no matter how long that child has been gone. At NCMEC, we will never stop searching for missing children. There are thousands of children who still need to come home and Julian serves as a beacon of hope for their families,” the vice president was quoted as saying.
