Abducted son, devastated mother reunited after 21 years
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For over two decades, all Maria Mancia had of her son was a single photo, a slightly blurry image of a boy, 18 months old, staring unsmiling into the camera.
When the boy's father abducted him from their Southern California home in 1995, he also took every picture she had of him, even the ultrasound of him during her pregnancy.
The two parents and their toddler boy had been living in Rancho Cucamonga, California, in 1995.
The parents were having relationship struggles.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Child Abduction Unit had been looking for Hernandez for years, searching for him in several states.
Because Steve Hernandez is a U.S. citizen, there were no immigration troubles returning him to the U.S., Cragg said.
Authorities in both countries were hugely helpful in making it happen.