A five-year-old boy who was kidnapped from an Oakland park in 1951 has been found alive over 70 years later.
Times were tough for Luis Armando Albino, his mother and five siblings, who moved from Puerto Rico to California, US, back in the 50s.
Luis’ mum was picking fruit and sewing gloves to make ends meet in what was a very different time.
On 21 February, 1951, Luis and his older brother Roger, 10, were playing together at Jefferson Square Park
What the park looks like today (Google Maps)
But as they walked from their home at 730 Brush Street, they were approached by a Spanish-speaking woman in her 30s, wearing a green bandana.
She promised to buy the boy some candy and instead kidnapped him and flew over to the east coast.
Luis was raised by another couple and went on to become a firefighter and a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam.
Although he was missing for decades, his family didn’t give up with his mother, Antonia, visiting the police station for updates regularly.
The first sign of hope came in 2020 when Luis’ niece, Alida Alequin, 63, took and online DNA test ‘just for fun’.
It showed that Alequin had a 22 percent match to an unknown man, who she was not familiar with but believed to be her long-lost uncle. When she reached out the first time, however, he did not respond.
Then, earlier this year, she visited the Oakland public library to take a look at microfilm of Tribune articles, which included a picture of Luis and Roger.
The niece used old newspaper clippings to help track down Luis (Oakland Tribune)
After visiting Oakland police the same day, they agreed to investigate.
Luis was then tracked down and found on the east coast.
Along with Alequin’s mother, Luis provided a DNA sample and it matched.
With the help of the FBI, the elderly man was taken to Oakland to reunite with his family.
“We didn’t start crying until after the investigators left,” Alequin told The Bay Area News Group.
“I grabbed my mom’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was ecstatic.”
Sadly, his mother passed away in 2005, and although he got to be reunited with his brother Roger, he passed away two months later.
“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.”
Oakland police said the niece ‘played an integral role in finding her uncle’ and that ‘the outcome of this story is what we strive for’.
After a three-week visit, Luis returned to the east coast
A woman incredibly helped solve the abduction of her long lost uncle a whopping 73 years after he was taken from a park as a child.
Luis Armando Albino, 79, has finally been reunited with his biological family thanks to his niece’s hard work, which proved pivotal in solving the seven decade mystery of what had happened to him.
In 1951, he was playing in Jefferson Square Park with his brother Roger, 10, in West Oakland, California, when a woman approached the young boy and lured him into her clutches by promising to buy him sweets.
The then-six-year-old Luis was then flown across the country to New York, where he was raised by a local couple as though he was their own son – while his real family were left without any answers.
Luis’ mother never gave up hope that he would return, but sadly, she passed away in 2005 at the age of 92 without ever finding out his fate.
But thankfully, it seems the determination to uncover what transpired following that fateful day in the park runs in the family, as Luis’ niece, Alida Alequin, decided to get on the case.
Luis Armando Albino was abducted when he was six years old (NBC Bay Area)
And thank god that she did – as Oakland Police say she ‘played an integral role in finding her uncle’.
The 63-year-old remained in the US city to work alongside the force, as well as the FBI and the Department of Justice, to piece together what occurred after the woman lured Luis away.
Cops, soldiers and the Coast Guard were called in to assist with search efforts surrounding the San Francisco Bay after the alarm was raised about the abduction of the little boy, but they found no trace of him.
Instead, they hoped his sibling Roger could provide some clues.
The 10-year-old was questioned on several occasions and each time, he recited the same story, explaining that a woman with a bandana wrapped around her head had approached them before making off with Luis.
The case eventually went cold.
Alida explained that her grandmother would attend the police’s missing person bureau on a daily basis in hopes of an update on her son, but eventually, this turned into weekly, monthly, and then annual visits.
“She always felt he was alive,” she told Mercury News. “She took that with her to her grave. All this time the family kept thinking of him. I always knew I had an uncle. We spoke of him a lot.”
His mother never gave up hope that her son would return, but she sadly passed away before he was tracked down (Oakland Tribune Archives)
“My grandmother carried the original article in her wallet, and she always talked about him,” Alida added. “A picture of him was always hung at the family home.”
In 2022, Alida ended up setting off a chain of events which would finally bring Luis back home.
She decided to take an online DNA test for fun and the results informed her that she had a 22 percent match with a man, who later turned out to be her missing uncle.
But after getting in touch with him, she didn’t receive a response – and it was only earlier this year that she again decided to delve deeper into Luis’ kidnapping again with her own daughters.
Her children looked up their missing relatives name online and found pictures of him on microfilm at the Oakland Public Library, which they believed confirmed the fact that he was still alive.
They took their findings to the FBI and the Department of Justice, who opened a new missing persons case.
Luis was then tracked down on the East Coast and provided a DNA sample which confirmed his identity, before officials visited Alida’s mother’s home to inform the family that Luis had finally been found.
Luis (right) was finally reunited with his brother Roger after a whopping 73 years (Alida Alequin)
“In my heart I knew it was him and when I got the confirmation, I let out a big ‘YES!'” Alida beamed. “We didn’t start crying until after the investigators left. I grabbed my mum’s hands and said, ‘We found him’. I was ecstatic.”
Although this development meant the missing persons case could be closed, the FBI said the investigation into Luis abduction remains open – despite the fact the couple he was raised by have since passed away.
After being brought up in New York, Luis went onto become a firefighter as well as serving in the Marine Corps while also becoming a father and grandfather himself.
Much to Alida’s joy, her long lost uncle was finally able to reunite with his brother Roger, now 83, in August this year – but it was bittersweet, as Luis’ sibling had been diagnosed with cancer and passed away just one month later.
Speaking of Luis’ reaction when they met for the first time, Alina said he hugged her, gave her a kiss on the cheek and emotionally said: “Thank you for finding me.”
“I’m so happy that I was able to do this for my mom and uncle,” she added. “It was a very happy ending. 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. “I would say, don’t give up.
A man has lived inside an iron lung for almost his entire life, and still needs to pay to keep himself alive.
Paul Alexander lives in Dallas, Texas and has needed the tank respirator, which pulls air in and out of his lungs to simulate breathing, since he contracted polio when was six years old.
He regularly provides updates on his life in an iron lung as a part of his TikTok series ‘Convos with Paul!’, and also answers his viewers’ questions.
In episode one of the series, he explained why he has needed the iron lung machine for over 70 years.
He had gone outside to play with his brother, but came back inside with a fever, aches and fatigue.
Left paralysed from the neck down ever since, Paul revealed that he was in hospital on a gurney during his early stages.
Nurses put him in a hallway full of kids with polio, some of which didn’t make it.
Paul managed to overcome this adversity though, finishing high school and obtaining two law degrees, eventually practising law from a special wheelchair and writing a book about his life.
TikTok/@ironlungman
His revealed his long-term goal: “I want to talk to the world about polio and the millions of children not protected against polio.
“They have to be before there is another epidemic.”
Paul has revealed that he needs to pay to stay alive, as he needs specific equipment and help that isn’t easy to come by.
Posting a video last week, he thanked all contributors to his GoFundMe, which has accumulated over $137,000 (£108,000).
He said: “I understand that there are people who are actually making contributions to the GoFundMe page.
“I’m just blown away by that.”
Paul explained that his life is expensive, requiring two other machines other than the ‘big yellow one’ he is in, and that he has two wonderful carers who look after him 24/7.
He said they were ‘caring people’, and that he could ‘go on and on’.
Paul continued: “Just let me tell you that it means a lot to me because I actually can pay my expenses.
“For all the people that have given to me because they care, I just want to tell you, I love you.”
TikTok/@ironlungman
Viewers in the comments of the video showed their support for Paul too.
One user said: “Your positive outlook on life and your smile is absolutely inspiring.”
Another commented: “Anytime grad school gets hard I remember you passed your Bar Exam and graduated law school! You inspire so many students everyday :).”
A third added: “Love his bearded dragon animal sitting there, this is the best bless you Paul! many blessings.”
If you want to contribute to Paul’s GoFundMe, you can so so here.
Polio is a serious virus which has since become extremely rare in the UK due to the vaccination programme against it.
The polio vaccine is part of the NHS’ routine childhood vaccination schedule. It is given to children at eight, 12 and 16 weeks old as part of the 6-in-1 vaccine; three years, four months old as part of the 4-in-1 (DTaP/IPV) pre-school booster; 14 years old as part of the 3-in-1 (Td/IPV) teenage booster.
A British boy who was believed to have been abducted six years ago has been found alive in France.
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was just 11 when he went missing in Spain in October 2017.
The boy went abroad was his mother Melanie Batty, then 37 – who was not his legal guardian – and grandfather David Batty, who was 58.
He flew on a pre-agreed trip with them to Malaga Airport for a week-long stay in the Benahavis area near Marbella.However, they did not return to England as expected on 8 October 2017.
GMP
Police have since made extensive inquiries and believe that the family left Benahavis and may have tried to head to Melilla in Morocco from the Port of Malaga.
In 2019, officers believed that Alex was still with his mother and grandfather, who are both wanted in connection with his abduction.
The boy’s grandmother and guardian said in 2018: “I got this message on Facebook and it was a YouTube video of the three of them.
“They all spoke on it and Melanie said the reasons why they had done what they had done.
“Alex said it was a million times better being with his mum and granddad. Obviously it hurt a bit but then my other concerns kicked in.
“The reason I believe they have done this is because basically my lifestyle, my belief systems, are not what they agree with – just simply living day to day, how normal people do.
“They didn’t want him to go to school, they don’t believe in mainstream school.”
GMP
Detective Sergeant Pete Morley said at the time: “His grandmother Susan is beside herself with worry. She’s gone from seeing Alex every day to not hearing off him for months.
“She misses him terribly and is desperate to know he is alright.”
However, newspaper La Depeche provided a big update on Thursday.
They said: “Although he did not show any official document to the gendarmes who took him in, this young 17-year-old boy provided his identity on his own.
“His face and his story correspond in every way to that of the Briton kidnapped in 2017.
“This Thursday the Toulouse public prosecutor confirmed that it is indeed Alex Batty.
“His story has been verified and appears to correspond to reality.
“Following this hearing, the teenager was entrusted to the department’s social services, while waiting for his relatives to come forward.”
The ex-Sheffield United football player was found dead in the swimming pool of his house in Glyfada, in the south of the Greek capital, Athens.
After emergency services were called, police tried to resuscitate him at the scene, but they could not revive him, and medical emergency units confirmed his passing, according to Reuters via a police official.
The Britain-born Greek international spent seven years with the Blades, before moving to Panathinaikos in the Greek Super League upon the expiry of his contract in the summer.
The right back was found dead on Wednesday (9 October) in his Greek home (Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Greek police have stated that there is no evidence linking the death of Baldock to criminal activity.
A statement from Greece’s Ministry of Citizen Protection today (10 October) read: “A preliminary investigation has been carried out by the Attica Security Directorate.
“A forensic pathologist was called to the scene and examined the body with no evidence of criminal activity.
“In addition, the police searched the house to determine if there are any traces of a burglary, with a negative result.
“Also, a specialised team of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Police carried out a check at the house in order to exclude the possibility of criminal activity,” it concluded.
The Football Association also confirmed that ahead of the clash tonight between England and Greece, there would be a period of silence, and both sides would wear black armbands.
Baldock represented Greece internationally (Levan Verdzeuli – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Following his untimely death, his family released a statement, reading: “We can confirm that George has sadly passed away.
“As a family, we are in shock at this terrible loss.”
The sports world also weighed in with tributes, as his last club, Panthinaikos, said in a statement: “We are shocked, we are shocked by the loss of our George.
“The family of Panathinaikos mourns his untimely death. We stand with the family and loved ones of George Baldock.”
Sheffield United, the club he’s best known for representing, also said: “The defender left the club in the summer after seven years at Bramall Lane and was extremely popular with supporters, staff and teammates who pulled on a red and white shirt alongside him.
“The sincere condolences of everyone associated with Sheffield United are extended to George’s family and friends.”
The full back made just four appearances for Panathinaikos after signing the three-year contract, playing his last game against Olympiakos on Sunday, a goalless draw.
The Greek international’s career spanned over 15 years (Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Baldock received 12 caps for Greece throughout his career, with the nation set to face off against England in the Nations League tonight (10 October), though Baldock hadn’t been selected.
The Greece national team also stated: “With profound sadness and sorrow, the national team and the Greek Football Federation bid farewell to George Baldock.
“There are no words to describe the human pain caused by the news of the unexpected loss of one of our own, young, man. The moment forces silence. Condolences to his family. Condolences from his second family.”
After starting his professional career with Football League side MK Dons in 2009, he made 100 appearances for the side, along with loan spells to sides such as Northampton Town, Tamworth and Oxford United.
He then joined Sheffield United in 2017, making 219 appearances for the side, contributing to their promotions to the Premier League in both 2019 and 2023.
Bladock chose to represent Greece internationally, as he qualifies through his grand mother, being called up for the first time in May 2022 and making his debut in a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland.
