After years of not losing up on seeing her son after he was stolen over two decades ago, a California mother was reconnected with him.
Steve Hernandez was 18 months old when his father took him. His mother, Maria Mancia, went home one day to discover that her kid had been abducted by his father, leaving no sign.
The images and documents that would verify Steve were taken by Steve’s father. Mancia was solely remembered by a single photograph.
Mancia had hoped for years to be reconnected with her son, and her wish was granted more than two decades later. Her 22-year-old son, who was discovered living in Puebla, Mexico, was just reunited with her.
The Child Abduction Unit of California’s San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office spearheaded the search for Hernandez for several years. They got information that he could be in Mexico.
The mother and son had a tearful reunion a few months later, which was captured on camera.
Mancia expressed that now she has her kid back, this sorrow she had borne is over.
Hernandez’s father is missing and presumed dead. Karen Cragg, an investigator, exploited the guy’s absence and suspected death as a pretext to contact the young man.
They informed Hernandez they were looking into his father and wanted his DNA to help them find him, Cragg stated. They didn’t want to frighten him away. They weren’t sure what was going on down there. They have to proceed with caution.
Investigators were able to link Hernandez and Mancia using DNA evidence.
Hernandez claims his dad never told him anything about his mom when he was a child.
He had gone all these years without seeing his mother, so finding out she’s alive in another country was traumatic, Hernandez explained. The young man found he has four siblings at the meeting.
Hernandez, an American citizen, intends to stay in the United States and has no intentions to return to Mexico.
Rialto mother reunited with kidnapped son 21 years laterA Rialto mother never gave up hope that she'd be reunited with her son who was kidnapped 21 years ago. http://abc7.la/1tieuhm
Posted by ABC7 on Friday, 10 June 2016