2-year-old baby was abducted when dad turned his back to get water outdoors—32 years later, mom's grit led to a surprise reunion

For some parents, not seeing their child for a few days can be very difficult. But one mom was separated from her beloved son for 32 years, with no idea about how he was doing. It all started when the boy was abducted as a two-year-old when he went to the park with his dad. The dad had turned around for only a couple of minutes to get water for his son and when he looked around, his kid was gone. The mom, Li Jingzhi, searched for her son, Mao Yin, every day and they had a surprising reunion 32 years later, per BBC.

The couple would often take their son to parks and zoos in their city, Xi'an, China, on weekends before he was kidnapped in 1988. The boy was taken away and sold when he was two years and eight months old, at a time when China's one-child policy was strict. Couples in cities could only have one child and the ones in rural areas could have a second one if the first one was a daughter. As many couples wanted sons, abductions of boy children were quite common in the country, per the outlet. Jingzhi had no idea about the prevalence of such a thing before her son got kidnapped. She was away for work when her husband took their son to the park and he was taken away.

The woman was working for a grain exporting company and was in a countryside region to visit the suppliers when her workplace asked her to come back because of an emergency. "At that time, telecommunications weren't very advanced. So all I got was a telegram with six words on it: 'Emergency at home; return right away.' I didn't know what had happened," the mom recounted. The company gave her the unfortunate news and although Jingzhi was worried, she thought that her son was lost and a kind stranger would bring him back. But then a week had passed and there was no information about the boy who was lovingly referred to as Jia Jia. After that, the mom printed out 100,000 flyers for her missing son and left no stone unturned to search for him.

"My heart hurt... I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I felt as though my heart had been emptied," Jingzhi expressed. Initially, the woman blamed her husband for the disappearance, but then they quickly realized that they would have to work together to find their son. The extensive search brought distance between the couple and they divorced after four years. One particularly long search later, Jingzhi checked herself into a hospital to ensure her mental well-being. She connected with parents who had lost their children in a similar way and made a network with them. They often sent each other leads and fliers and the woman had traveled to 10 provinces in China in her search for her son. 19 years after the incident, she started working as a volunteer for a website called "Baby Come Home" made for this purpose.

"I no longer felt lonely. There were so many volunteers helping us find our children - I felt very touched by this. I thought even if my child is not found, I can help other children find their home," Jingzhi explained. The Chinese government set up a DNA database in 2009 to reunite parents with their missing children and it helped many people. Most of these children were sold to childless people or parents with a daughter in the countryside. The woman helped 29 parents reunite with their children through her work. After 300 false leads, Jingzhi finally found her son in May 2020. She couldn't believe it was real until she got a DNA test.

However, Jingzhi was worried about how her adult son would react to meeting her. Mao Yin was married and had an interior decoration business. "I felt that would make me feel even more hurt, that the son I had been searching for, for 32 years, wouldn't accept the love and hug I give him." But her son gave her a big hug when they met and the entire family cried together. Although the boy had no memory of his birth parents, as he was young when he was sold to a childless couple in Sichuan province, he tried to connect with his parents and stayed with them for a month. Although the mom was sad about losing years with her son, she was glad that he was okay.