Man who was abducted at 6 years old found alive 73 years later thanks to niece who never gave up hope

A woman incredibly helped solve the abduction of her long lost uncle a whopping 73 years after he was taken from a park as a child.

Luis Armando Albino, 79, has finally been reunited with his biological family thanks to his niece's hard work, which proved pivotal in solving the seven decade mystery of what had happened to him.

In 1951, he was playing in Jefferson Square Park with his brother Roger, 10, in West Oakland, California, when a woman approached the young boy and lured him into her clutches by promising to buy him sweets.

The then-six-year-old Luis was then flown across the country to New York, where he was raised by a local couple as though he was their own son - while his real family were left without any answers.

Luis' mother never gave up hope that he would return, but sadly, she passed away in 2005 at the age of 92 without ever finding out his fate.

But thankfully, it seems the determination to uncover what transpired following that fateful day in the park runs in the family, as Luis' niece, Alida Alequin, decided to get on the case.

Luis Armando Albino was abducted when he was six years old (NBC Bay Area)

And thank god that she did - as Oakland Police say she 'played an integral role in finding her uncle'.

The 63-year-old remained in the US city to work alongside the force, as well as the FBI and the Department of Justice, to piece together what occurred after the woman lured Luis away.

Cops, soldiers and the Coast Guard were called in to assist with search efforts surrounding the San Francisco Bay after the alarm was raised about the abduction of the little boy, but they found no trace of him.

Instead, they hoped his sibling Roger could provide some clues.

The 10-year-old was questioned on several occasions and each time, he recited the same story, explaining that a woman with a bandana wrapped around her head had approached them before making off with Luis.

The case eventually went cold.

Alida explained that her grandmother would attend the police's missing person bureau on a daily basis in hopes of an update on her son, but eventually, this turned into weekly, monthly, and then annual visits.

"She always felt he was alive," she told Mercury News. "She took that with her to her grave. All this time the family kept thinking of him. I always knew I had an uncle. We spoke of him a lot."

His mother never gave up hope that her son would return, but she sadly passed away before he was tracked down (Oakland Tribune Archives)

"My grandmother carried the original article in her wallet, and she always talked about him," Alida added. "A picture of him was always hung at the family home."

In 2022, Alida ended up setting off a chain of events which would finally bring Luis back home.

She decided to take an online DNA test for fun and the results informed her that she had a 22 percent match with a man, who later turned out to be her missing uncle.

But after getting in touch with him, she didn't receive a response - and it was only earlier this year that she again decided to delve deeper into Luis' kidnapping again with her own daughters.

Her children looked up their missing relatives name online and found pictures of him on microfilm at the Oakland Public Library, which they believed confirmed the fact that he was still alive.

They took their findings to the FBI and the Department of Justice, who opened a new missing persons case.

Luis was then tracked down on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample which confirmed his identity, before officials visited Alida's mother's home to inform the family that Luis had finally been found.

Luis (right) was finally reunited with his brother Roger after a whopping 73 years (Alida Alequin)

"In my heart I knew it was him and when I got the confirmation, I let out a big 'YES!'" Alida beamed. "We didn't start crying until after the investigators left. I grabbed my mum's hands and said, 'We found him'. I was ecstatic."

Although this development meant the missing persons case could be closed, the FBI said the investigation into Luis abduction remains open - despite the fact the couple he was raised by have since passed away.

After being brought up in New York, Luis went onto become a firefighter as well as serving in the Marine Corps while also becoming a father and grandfather himself.

Much to Alida's joy, her long lost uncle was finally able to reunite with his brother Roger, now 83, in August this year - but it was bittersweet, as Luis' sibling had been diagnosed with cancer and passed away just one month later.

Speaking of Luis' reaction when they met for the first time, Alina said he hugged her, gave her a kiss on the cheek and emotionally said: "Thank you for finding me."

"I'm so happy that I was able to do this for my mom and uncle," she added. "It was a very happy ending. I was always determined to find him, and who knows, with my story out there, it could help other families going through the same thing. "I would say, don't give up."