“When I was a child, my father kidnapped me without me knowing” was the title of a post on Reddit.
Although it’s now deleted, the police suspected that it was Julian who wrote this to ask for advice.
Julian Hernandez, at the age of 18, was simply trying to apply for colleges just like other high school seniors.
However, something just didn’t seem right.
As he was trying to put down his Social Security number, the site kept indicating that the number did not match his name. When he went to his school counselor for help, the counselor discovered that Julian was listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
It turned out that Julian was reported missing in 2002, when his father took him from the babysitter and left town.
Yes. His own father, Bobby Hernandez, kidnapped him during a child custody dispute.
After changing his name to Jonathan Mangina, thus assuming a false identity, Bobby raised Julian in Cleveland. Since Julian originally lived in Birmingham, this was more than 700 miles from home.
For thirteen years, Julian had been designated as a missing person, and he had no idea that it was his own father who kidnapped him.
It’s believed that the counselor notified the police about this information, and after some verification, the police officials went to tell Julian’s mother about this news.
Initially, she was extremely cautious.
Police Lieutenant Johnny Evans explained why: “Over the years, there have been hundreds of sightings. You know, ‘He’s here, he’s here, he’s here.'”
“We check it out and it’s not him or he’s not there. So she was very excited to hear that there was another tip, just apprehensive. When we confirmed it, she was extremely excited,” said Evans.
Julian’s father, Bobby, is now arrested with charges including kidnapping, interfering with custody, tampering with records, and forgery.
Even though this revelation about his father must have been traumatic for Julian, he surprised everyone by pleading on behalf of Bobby.
“He’s pushed me far in school, he’s the reason why I get the best grades in school and why I’m going to college,” said Julian.
“Even if other people can’t, I love and forgive him,” added Julian.
If I was in Julian’s situation, I’m not sure if I would’ve done the same thing.
How about you?
Watch the video below to learn more about Julian’s shocking story –
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtEClycW1dA&w=560&h=315]