Mum reunites with son who was kidnapped 21 years ago

This undated photo above, released by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, is the only picture Maria Mancia had of her kidnapped son for over two decades. He was abducted at 18 months.

Hernandez’s dad had taken all the child’s photos and identifying paperwork and she had to contact a relative in El Salvador to get a picture of her son.

“That became the only photograph she had of Steve for the last 21 years,” investigator Karen Cragg of the San Bernardino County district attorney’s child abduction unit, told The Associated Press.

Then in February, investigator Cragg and her colleague, Michelle Faxon, received a tip that Hernandez, now 22, and his dad were possibly living in Puebla, Mexico. His father, the elder Hernandez had gone missing, and the investigators used that as an excuse to start a dialogue with his son.

In May, DNA samples from both Hernandez and Mancia were sent to a Department of Justice lab for testing. Neither mom nor son had been informed of the test so as to avoid any disappointment, the investigators said. But weeks later, the samples matched.

On Thursday, Mancia and her son were reunited.

“Now this anguish I’ve carried is gone now that I have my son back,” Mancia told KABC-TV. “I spent 21 years looking for him not knowing anything.”

According to the Sun, Hernandez, an American citizen, hopes to continue his education in the U.S. and wants to attend law school. It’s unclear whether his father has been found or if he will be prosecuted for the kidnapping. 

The elder Hernandez had told his son that Mancia had abandoned them when he was a child. 

“It was a shock,” said Hernandez of learning about his mom’s whereabouts. “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.”

Source: The Associated Press