Boy who was abducted as a baby reunites with biological parents after SIXTEEN years
A Mexican couple was reunited with their long-lost son after 16 years thanks to the power of science in February 2022. Mexican authorities were able to identify and locate Salvador in late 2021 and reunite him with Yasir Macias and Rosalia Lopez, from whom he was kidnapped in 2005 by a woman in Guadalajara.
The heartwarming story is one of the countless examples of how families have been made whole again, thanks to the relentless work of authorities over years, and in some cases, decades. In October 2020, Carlina White was reunited after 23 years with her parents in New York City. In 2018, we also reported on how Lyneth Mann-Lewis was reunited with her son, 31 years after he was abducted as a toddler.
RELATED ARTICLES
In many cases, it took police years of painstaking research and analysis, hunting down suspects based on year-old footage. However, authorities in Mexico decided to opt for a more high-tech approach, using facial analysis and genetic testing. Here's is their story.
How Salvador found his parents
In December 2005, 22-year-old Rosalia Lopez had just given birth to Salvador. Then on December 15, a woman pretending to be a nurse walked into her room at the IMSS Hospital General Regional and took Salvador for feeding. When he didn't return, the couple immediately notified the authorities, but it was already too late. The woman had gone, and so had their son.
It was the last time Lopez and Macias saw their son. The woman was never found, and the parents feared they would never see Salvador again. However, it appears the police hadn't given up hope. With some help from the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences, they were able to construct a facial analysis of Salvador from a photo of him as a newborn at the hospital in September 2021. Using that analysis, there were able to determine what he might look like today.
Months later, investigators were tipped off about a teen who fit the analysis and profile of Salvador. They visited his home, where he was living with another family El Salto, a suburb of Guadalajara. Authorities then conducted a DNA test on the teen and Lopez and Macias. The result showed a 99.99% match, indicating that the teen was none other than their beloved son.
In a press release, the State Prosecutor's Office noted that the parents have been notified, but that the case is far from over. 17 years after he vanished, Salvador's kidnapper has not been found. It's unclear if the kidnapping had anything to do with the family Salvador was living with. "From my heart, all my best wishes for this new life that begins today," Enrique Alfaro, the Governor of Jalisco said about the matter.