VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) – For 13 years after a 5-year-old boy was taken from his mother’s Alabama home, authorities chased leads in hopes of finding him. But in the end, the youth himself helped unravel the mystery when he began applying to colleges and found out he’d allegedly been snatched away by his father.
Father and son were discovered living under assumed names recently in Cleveland, Ohio. By all accounts, the now 18-year-old Julian Hernandez was an excellent student and had been well cared for. His father, Bobby Hernandez, 53, was arrested and faces charges that could send him to prison for a decade or more if convicted.
The mother, whose name has not been released, has been in contact with her son, but it’s not known whether they have actually seen each other.
“You want to pick up and catch up, but how do you do that?” said police Lt. Johnny Evans of the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, where the boy once lived.
Authorities said the boy only found out about his real name because a problem arose with his Social Security number during the college application process.