ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Man Abducted At Two Years Old Is Reunited With Parents After 32 Years

Man Abducted At Two Years Old Is Reunited With Parents After 32 Years

Mao Yin was snatched from his biological family in 1988

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

A man who was abducted in China 32 years ago when he was just two years old has finally been reunited with his parents.

Mao Yin was snatched away when his dad turned his back for a matter of seconds to get his young son a drink of water.

After that, he was sold onto the black market, where he was eventually adopted into another family.

Now, he's finally been reunited with his biological mum and dad and they've promised to spend the rest of their lives together.

STR/AFP via Getty Images

Mao's parent searched high and low for their son, and distributed more than 100,000 flyers during their nationwide search.

It's not known whether or not the childless couple who eventually adopted him knew where he'd come from and how.

Police have now launched a full investigation into the case, which began in 1988.

Despite the help of tens of thousands of people, their search was fruitless until now.

Mao is 34 years old now, and - thanks to technology and good fortune - he's back with his mum and dad.

Li Jingzhi, Mao's mum, said: "I would like to thank the tens of thousands of people who helped us.

"I don't want him to leave me anymore. I won't let him leave me anymore."

STR/AFP via Getty Images

Following the tragic abduction, Li gave up her job to search for Mao full-time, and appeared regularly on television to appeal for information.

Eventually, she started to volunteer for a charity called Baby Come Back Home in 2007, and helped to reunite another 29 children with their families.

However, never her own, until now.

Back in April, police received a tip-off that a little boy had been living with his adoptive parents since the late 1980s, and was now called Gu Ningning.

Using state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to model what the two-year-old Mao would look like now, they made a positive ID.

He was eventually tracked to the city of Mianyang, more than 600 miles away from his place of birth. A DNA test eventually confirmed he was the abducted child.

Mao recognised his birth mother straight away, and ran to her arms. He is now committed to making up the time he's lost with his biological parents.

Featured Image Credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images

Topics: World News, Interesting, Technology, Weird, China