Mom returned from work to discover her 1-yr-old had been kidnapped — 21 years later, a call from cops changed her life
Sometimes a person might experience something good after giving up all hope and in the most unexpected way. A mom who had been looking for her son for 21 years finally got to meet him. The boy had been abducted by his biological dad when he was a little more than a year old after his mom went to work. The devastated woman had been looking for her child ever since then and finally found him years later, as per ABC News.
The mom, Maria Mancia, was in tears as she saw and hugged her child after more than two decades. Her son Steve Hernandez was kidnapped by his father Valentin Hernandez, who took him to Mexico with him in 1995. The woman never got to hear from her son again after that. "Now this anguish I've carried is gone now that I have my son back. I spent 21 years looking for him and not knowing anything," Mancia told ABC affiliate KABC. There was a lot of disagreement between the woman and her husband after the birth of their son. So, one day when she returned from work to her California home, both of them were gone and no trace was left behind.
The father had taken all photos and documents with him, as per Inside Edition. The only photo the mom had of her son was a grainy black-and-white photo that she kept safe for years. Mancia carried that photo in her phone and had promised herself that she would never stop looking for him. The detectives had gotten a tip-off that the boy was in Mexico and after further investigation, Steve was found. "We weren’t positive we located the right person. So, we used a ruse and told Steve we were conducting an investigation related to the disappearance of his father. During the conversation, we found several similarities in his history that matched that of our missing boy," Karen Cragg, the lead investigator of the case recounted as per ABC News.
The authorities took a DNA test and found out that Steve Hernandez was indeed Mancia's missing son. "We contacted the mother and she was overcome with emotion and very thankful. She had never given up after all these years but had accepted the fact that she may never know her son. To be able to return him to his country and his mother is an indescribable honor," Cragg admitted. Hernandez on the other hand felt a huge sense of surprise after he finally got to see his mother, as per The Sun. "I didn’t know if she was alive or not and to get a call that says they found my mother and that she had been looking for me, it was like a cold bucket of water. But it’s good. It’s good," he expressed.
The man also got to meet his other siblings, who were quite excited to see him. Hernandez is a US citizen and plans to stay in the country from now on. After learning English, he aspired to pursue a law degree. His mom was quite disappointed that she had only one photo of her son after two decades and admitted that in front of him. "I have some pictures that I brought with me. Now you’ll have a few more," the boy replied.