Julian Hernandez, the boy from Vestavia Hills, Alabama who went missing in 2002 was found in Cleveland, Ohio after his social security number set a red flag when he applied for college.
Hernandez apparently had been declined by universities because of issues in matching his name to his social security number. And when his guidance counselor ran a search, his name was included in the missing persons as listed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Apparently, Hernandez had been living with his father for the past 13 years.
His non-custodial father, 53-year-old Bobby Hernandez, was the primary suspect and was arrested and charged for felony including interference with custody which could lock him up behind bars for one to ten years. He is also under a $250,000 bond in Cleveland for using his fake name for his driver's license and is set for trial on November 12.
"We are in the process of getting charges on him and when that happens, when he is adjudicated in Ohio, then he will be extradited back to Jefferson County," Lt. Johnny Evans in Vestavia Hills, Alabama said.
Hernandez, who changed his name to Jonathan Mangina right after the abduction, was supposed to drop his son off to school when the incident happened. Julian Hernandez was then reported missing by his mother in August 28, 2002.
According to the police, Hernandez withdrawn cash from his bank accounts and he also took some of his son's possessions. He was then charged for non-custodial abduction.
Despite all the efforts to find them, the search had been unsuccessful.
The police used age-progression images to continue the search and update the missing persons posters.
Vestavia Hills police Lt. Johnny Evans said in a press conference that since Hernandez is of legal age, "it's kind of up to him now as to whether he wants to come back."
