A man who was kidnapped as a six-year-old boy 70 years ago has been found alive on the east coast of the United States. Luis Armando Albino disappeared from a park in West Oakland, California, on February 21, 1951. He was lured away by a woman who promised to buy him sweets when he played with his 10-year-old brother Roger. For decades, his whereabouts remained a mystery, until DNA testing and family efforts this year revealed the truth.
The Mercury News first reported the discovery, which came after Mr. Albino’s niece, Alida Arlequin, embarked on a quest to find her uncle. Using DNA testing, newspaper clippings and the help of the Oakland Police Department, the FBI and the Justice Department, Ms. Arlequin, a 63-year-old Oakland resident, tracked down her uncle. Luis Albino is now a retired firefighter and Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Vietnam.
In June, Mr. Albino, now 79, was reunited with emotional family members, including his older brother Roger, who died of cancer last month at age 82. The brothers shared a touching reunion before Mr. Roger died, Alida Arlequin said, describing the moment: “They grabbed each other and hugged very tight, for a long time. They sat down and just talked.”
Ms. Arlequin’s search began in 2020 when she took a DNA test online. The results showed a 22 percent match with albinos, leading her to dig deeper into the family’s history. With her daughters, Ms. Arlequin scoured newspaper archives and microfilm at local libraries, eventually finding photos of Luis the Albino that confirmed her suspicions. Her determination was key in solving the decades-old mystery.
Mr. Albino remembers parts of his abduction and trip to the East Coast, but he said those around him at the time refused to give him answers. Now, he prefers to keep some of his experiences private.
Unfortunately, her mother, who died in 2005 at age 92, did not live to see the mystery solved.
Ms Arlequin described Roger’s final days as peaceful. She said he “died happily” and was “at peace with himself, knowing his brother had been found.”
