It’s been 13-years since one heartbroken mother last saw her 5-year-old son. In August of 2002 Julian Hernandez, was reported missing by his mother –who is yet to be named.
Just a few days ago, on November 1st, the Vestavia Hills Police Department was contacted by FBI Agents from Cleveland, Ohio in regard to a missing child from Vestavia Hills.
According to reports, authorities were able to identify the 2002 missing child as Julian Hernandez, after efforts from Members of the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force in Cleveland, with help from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Vestavia Hills Police Department, and the Birmingham Division of the FBI.
Julian, now 18, was able to regain his real identify after his school counselor, helped the teen with his college application, which presented a Social Security number that could not be verified, according to WVTM-TV,Birmingham, Ala.
Thankfully, Julian also known in recent years as “J.J” was found well and unharmed. He had been living with his father, 53-year-old Bobby Hernandez, who took him when he was just a boy.
At the time of the abduction, Julian Hernandez’s mother said she suspected her son had been taken by his father and police classified the crime as non-custodial parental abduction.
What happened was, that Bobby Hernandez, took little Julian without having the boy’s custody. Hernandez was supposed to be taking his son to preschool the day of August 2002, but instead he fled and Julian was never dropped off.
Julian and his father left Birmingham, Alabama and settled in Ohio.
Julian Hernandez’s mother was notified of his recovery, AL.com reports. while his father, is accused of tampering with records in Ohio so he could obtain a driver’s license in 2012. He is being held on $250,000 bond in Cuyahoga County and also will face charges almost 650 miles away in Alabama for his son’s abduction when he is extradited.
Julian Hernandez had been living with his father, a woman and two other children in the Cleveland home for the past three-years.
This is certainly not your typical missing child story, but it certainly has a very happy ending, for Julian Hernandez’s mother.
The investigation remains ongoing.
