Boy missing 13 years found in Cleveland
A child reported missing 13 years ago in Alabama was found here this week, and the now-teenager discovered his status himself, authorities said.
Julian Hernandez, 18, had been living here with his father, Bobby Hernandez, under different names. When the teen began applying to colleges, he learned that the Social Security number that his father gave him could not be verified, according to WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Ala.
“I’ve been doing this 25 years and it’s something I’ve never experienced before,” Lt. Johnny Evans, an officer in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, told WVTM.
With help from his school counselor, Julian Hernandez found himself on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database.
He was unharmed. His father was arrested and charged with tampering with records.
His mother, whose name was not released, has been in touch with her son since he was found, Evans said Thursday.
Bobby Hernandez, 53, is accused of providing false information in March 2012 to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles to obtain a fake identification card. He is being held on $250,000 bond in Cuyahoga County and will face charges almost 650 miles away in Alabama for interference of custody, a felony that could carry a prison term of one to 10 years.
“Our family was overjoyed this week to locate Julian and learn that he is safe,” the family of Julian Hernandez’s mother said in a statement.
In August 2002, Julian Hernandez’s mother told Vestavia Hills police that her 5-year-old’s father had agreed to take the boy to preschool, but the pair never returned, according to the Birmingham
News. The police determined that the father had withdrawn cash from his bank accounts and fled. The couple were not married, Evans said.