Julian Hernandez found alive, living in Cleveland after 13 Years
A boy who was reported missing in Alabama 13 years ago has been found safe and unharmed in Cleveland, Ohio, authorities say.
At the age of 5, Julian Hernandez was in the legal custody of his mother when he disappeared on August 28, 2002.
authorities believed that his father, Bobby Hernandez, took him as part of a noncustodial parental abduction, according to the Vestavia Hills Police Department, just south of Birmingham.
Bobby Hernandez. Courtesy Cuyahoga County Jail.
An incredible break in the case came Sunday, when Vestavia Hills police were contacted by the FBI in Cleveland about a missing child.
According to police, Julian was trying to apply for college, Brandon Falls, the district attorney for Jefferson County, told CNN affiliate WVTM. He ran into problems when his Social Security number didn’t match his name.
A school counselor worked with him to determine why. It was then they found out that he was on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database.
The missing child they were able to locate and positively identify is now 18. Julian’s mother and family were notified of his recovery.
Bobby Hernandez was arrested Monday in the abduction. The court records from Cuyahoga County in Ohio did not specify exact charges against him. CNN reached out to attorney Ralph DeFranco’s office for further comment Wednesday night but did not immediately receive a response.
Bobby Hernandez made his first appearance in the Cuyahoga County Court on Wednesday, and his bond was set at $250,000. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 12.
In addition to the charges in Ohio, Hernandez will face charges in Jefferson County, Alabama, in the 2002 abduction. He may face additional charges.
The Vestavia Hills Police Department worked in collaboration with the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force in Cleveland, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Birmingham Division of the FBI.
His dad was pure evil to deprive this boy of his mother and an entire side of his family. All of that lost time cannot be regained. I hope he forms a close relationship with his mother, and they can get some healing from the abuse they’ve both suffered.
Here is a thought: what if the woman was the crazy person and the man saved the boy from her? She probably drove both of them away. The man is his father, and the boy seemed happy on both pictures.