Decades-Long Mystery Unfolds Through DNA Testing
Oakland Tribune articles from the time reported that police, soldiers from a local army base, the Coast Guard, and other city employees joined a huge search for the missing boy. San Francisco Bay and other waterways were also searched, according to the articles. His brother, Roger Albino, was interrogated several times by investigators but stood by his story about a woman with a bandana around her head taking his brother.
The first notion that her uncle might still be alive came in 2020 when, “just for fun,” Alequin said, she took an online DNA test. It showed a 22% match with a man who eventually turned out to be her uncle. A further search at the time yielded no answers or any response from him, she said. Early this year, she and her daughters began searching again. On a visit to the Oakland public library, she looked at microfilm of Tribune articles—including one that had a picture of Luis and Roger—which convinced her that she was on the right track. She went to Oakland police the same day.
Investigators eventually agreed the new lead was substantial, and a new missing persons case was opened. Oakland police said last week that the missing persons case was closed, but they and the FBI considered the kidnapping investigation to still be open. Luis was located on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample, as did his sister, Alequin’s mother.
On June 20, investigators went to her mother’s home, Alequin said and told them both that her uncle had been found. “We didn’t start crying until after the investigators left,” Alequin said. “I grabbed my mom’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was ecstatic.”
On June 24, with the assistance of the FBI, Luis came to Oakland with members of his family and met with Alequin, her mother, and other relatives. The next day, Alequin drove her mother and her newfound uncle to Roger’s home in Stanislaus County, California. “They grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug. They sat down and just talked,” she said, discussing the day of the kidnapping, their military service, and more.
Luis returned to the East Coast but came back again in July for a three-week visit. It was the last time he saw Roger, who died in August. Alequin said her uncle did not want to talk to the media.
A Message of Hope for Families Searching for Loved Ones
“I was always determined to find him, and who knows, with my story out there, it could help other families going through the same thing,” Alequin said. “I would say: don’t give up.”
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