Mom reunited with son, 13 years after he vanished
Boy who was taken from his Alabama home at age 5 found living in Cleveland with father
When police in Alabama called Julian Hernandez’s mother to tell her that her son had been found, 13 years after she reported him missing, she did not believe it.
“Really?” she told police. “Are you sure? “Really?” She had gotten her hopes up many times over the years and been let down time and time again, police said.
She wondered whether this time would be different.
“Once she finally realized it was him, she was excited. She was ecstatic,” Vestavia Hills Police Lt. Johnny Evans told The Washington Post.
When he disappeared in 2002, Julian Hernandez was living with his mother near Birmingham. He was 5. It was a Wednesday in August when he went missing.
Julian’s father, Bobby Hernandez, had agreed to take him to preschool, according to a missing children’s poster from the Charley Project, a missing-persons database.
Instead, Bobby Hernandez packed his son’s baby blanket and stuffed Orca whale, drained his own bank accounts and hit the road, according to the Charley Project.
It was apparent that Bobby Hernandez had abducted him during a custody dispute, police said.
Authorities immediately started searching for the boy, who was three feet tall, 43 pounds and had brown hair and big brown eyes.
“His left cheek is dimpled,” the poster read. It noted that he may stutter.
“Julian enjoys fishing, watching movies, and eating at Chuck E Cheese pizza,” the poster continued.
It wasn’t until last week that authorities got the tip they needed ... and finally found him.
FBI agents in Cleveland received information on Friday that a teenag- er living in Cleveland could be Julian Hernandez.
FBI agents contacted Vestavia Hills police.
On Monday, authorities confirmed it was Hernandez, now 18 and living under an assumed name more than 1,125 kilometres from home, police said.
Vestavia Hills Police told The Post that Hernandez didn’t know he had been abducted.
Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls told NBC affiliate WVTM that the break in the case came when Hernandez tried to apply for college and his social security number did not match his name.
A school counsellor spoke with Hernandez and soon discovered that the teenager was listed in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database, Falls told the station.
“We applaud Julian Hernandez for his courage in taking the first steps to find answers about who he is,” the centre said in a statement.
Agents approached Bobby and Julian Hernandez late Monday afternoon and took the father into custody, FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said.
Hernandez, 53, has been charged in Cuyahoga County Court in Ohio with tampering with records, said county prosecutor’s spokesman Joseph Frolik.
In March 2012, the elder Hernandez provided false information for an Ohio state identification card, according to a criminal complaint. He is being held in the Cuyahoga County jail.
He was charged with tampering with records in Ohio to get a driver’s licence in 2012 and was jailed on $250,000 (U.S.) bail.
Authorities in Alabama said will they seek charges of interference with custody, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A message left with his attorney was not returned.
Evans said on Thursday that mother and son had since been in contact, but he was not sure whether it was by email, phone or other means.
The mother’s family said in a statement: “Our family was overjoyed this week to locate Julian and learn that he is safe. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during Julian’s disappearance.”
Evans said he was told that the teenager was “a very good student” and by all accounts a well-adjusted young man.
Police don’t know exactly how long Hernandez had been in Cleveland or whether he and his family moved around through the years.
A neighbour in Cleveland, Jeremy Hills, said he knew Bobby Hernandez as Jonathan Mangina and his son as Jay or J — Hills wasn’t sure. Hills said he thought they lived there with Bobby Hernandez’s wife and two other children, ages 3 and 14. The neighbour said the family had been there for about four years.
Hills called the man he knew as Jonathan Mangina a good neighbour.
“He cared about his son a lot,” Hills said. “He always talked about his son,” who was studying to get a black belt in karate.
Hills said he was led to believe Hernandez was divorced and his ex-wife lived in Alabama.
He said Hernandez once told him that his ex-wife “didn’t want to be a mom any more.”