Irish Daily Mirror

SON REUNITED WITH FAMILY 32YRS AFTER ABDUCTION IN STREET

Mother’s search helped 29 other families find kids

- BY ADAM ASPINALL adam.aspinall@mirror.co.uk @Mirrorasp

A MUM has been reunited with her son who was kidnapped 32 years ago.

Mao Yin was snatched in 1988 when he was walking home from nursery aged just twoyears-old with his father, Mao Zhenjing.

But his mum Li Jingzhi refused to give up hope and quit her job to launch a decadeslon­g search, sending out more than 100,000 flyers and appearing on TV shows in China.

Amazingly, her campaign helped 29 other families find their own missing children and a tip-off last month led to her own reunion.

Police received informatio­n about a boy from Xi’an, in Shaanxi province, sold to a family 370 miles away.

Authoritie­s used facial recognitio­n technology to aid the search, a DNA test confirmed his identity, and on May 10, Mother’s Day in China, police told Li her son had been found.

Officials arranged the reunion for a week later.

Mao ran towards his mother when the door opened. A joyous Li said: “I would like to thank the thousands of people who helped. I can’t believe that after helping 29 children find their families, I am able to find my son.”

Renamed Gu Ninging, Mao had been brought up in Mianyang, in neighbouri­ng Sichuan province, without any idea that he was the target of a decades-long search.

Mao, who runs an interior design company, plans to spend several days with his parents, before returning home to deal with the implicatio­ns of having his life turned upside down. He said: “I’m not quite sure about the future.”

LI JINGZHI IS GRATEFUL AFTER BEING REUNITED

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