An Ohio teenager found something even more surprising when he started filling out college applications. The boy noticed that his social security number seemed incorrect. It didn’t match his name.
He wasn’t sure how to proceed, so he called the school counselor for help. The counselor discovered something shocking: the boy was listed in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s database. He was kidnapped.
CNN reported that in 2002 the boy was living with his mother in Alabama. His name was then Julian Hernandez. One day, his father decides to leave and takes Julian with him. Leaving a note for Julian’s mother, he picked up the little boy and disappeared.
The man created a false identity and changed Julian’s name. The two spent over a decade in Ohio.
No one suspected that Julian was a missing child. Julian himself had no idea.
Julian’s mother still believed that her son would one day be found. When she discovered that Julian was alive and well, she was overwhelmed with happiness and relief.
Julian’s father was arrested, but the young man could not stay angry with him. The judge asked for clemency. He claimed living without his mother was horrible, but taking his father would be just as bad, CBS News reported.
Julian asked that his father not be imprisoned, but the judge did not agree. She sentenced Julian’s father to four years in prison, a much lighter sentence than he could have faced.
