Ohio – A teenager from Ohio discovered his true identity when he was unable to validate his Social Security number in the process of applying to college. The police suspected he was taken in a “non-custodial parental abduction” when he disappeared from his mom 13 years ago in Alabama.

Julian-Hernandez
A missing boy from Alabama was found alive after 13 years. Credit: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The police from Jefferson County, Alabama, declared that the child, identified as Julian Hernandez, “Was doing well in school, and when he was looking to go to college and started the process, things kind of started coming together.”

Julian Hernandez, who is now 18 years old, was reported missing by his mother when he was 5 years old at the time.

Authorities are still investigating what really happened to the boy when he was allegedly abducted from his mother. What they surely know it’s that he disappeared from his home in the Birmingham area in 2002, and suspected that his non-custody father picked him up from school and left the town leaving a note that said he had taken the child.

The Cleveland FBI agents received a call this week from a person in the area and said that a boy living in the city could be a missing child from Alabama. That’s when they contacted the Police Department Vestavia Hills and located and identified the child as Julian.

The police do not believe Julian knew he was kidnapped. Police Lt. Johnny Evans of the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills said, “My understanding is that he didn’t know his birthday. He didn’t even know his own name. He was going by something else.”

Over the years, police investigated hundreds of possible sightings across the country without success, and when the authorities informed the mother about the apparition, she was cautious because of all previous cases of disappointment.

“Over the years there have been hundreds of sightings. You know, ‘He’s here, he’s here, he’s here.’ We check it out and it’s not him or he’s not there,” Evans said. “So she was very excited to hear that there was another tip, just apprehensive. When we confirmed it, she was extremely excited.”

Evans said on Thursday that the mother and son had since been in contact, but he was not sure whether it was by phone or other means. The mother’s name was not released.

The man that abducted Julian, was identified as Bobby Hernandez, and had previous charges in Ohio for altering records to get a driver’s license; he was jailed on $250,000 bail. The man was arrested in Cuyahoga County Court in Ohio and is now facing charges of interference with custody, punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Source: 680 News