An Alabama mom who has been searching for her missing son for 13 years has now made contact with the boy after he was located this week in Cleveland, Ohio, authorities say.
However it has now emerged that, one month before Julian Hernandez - who was five when he was reported missing in 2002 - was located by police, the high school senior had anonymously posted a message to online noticeboard Reddit, asking for advice after solving his own disappearance.
The message, posted under the profile Throwaway0805049, has not been verified as Julian, however appears to be.
Police said Thursday that Julian - now 18 - likely worked out he was a missing person after finding red flags while applying for college.
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Found: Julian Hernandez (left) was 5-years-old when he disappeared from Birmingham, Alabama, in 2002. His non-custodial father, Bobby Hernandez (right), was the prime suspect, since both vanished. They were found this week, after 13 years, in Cleveland, Ohio, where the two have apparently lived together the entire time
This is the message - now deleted - that Julian is suspected of posting to Reddit, asking for advice on how he could revert back to his real identity in order to apply for college
'WHEN I WAS A CHILD, MY FATHER KIDNAPPED ME WITH ME KNOWING': THE MESSAGE JULIAN HERNANDEZ POSTED TO REDDIT
Sometime between the ages of 3 and 5, my dad took me, against a court order, away from my mother without me even knowing this. He changed my name and SSN and did something similar for himself.
I have lived my entire life up until a few days ago oblivious to this fact (I was told the name people had been calling me when I was young was my current middle name.) I only discovered all this as I was applying for scholarships and my dad was unable to provide tax info because of all the fraud(?) and he explained everything to me. I learned yesterday after finding my page on a missing child database that I am actually 18 (my fake records say I’m 17)
I am a senior in high school and would like to know how I could, if possible, correct my school records with my real name and SSN, so that I might keep the straight A’s, high ACT scores, etc that I have busted my ass for the past 3 years for. I hope to resolve this as quickly as possible, so that I might still have time to get scholarships for college.
I’m not angry at my father in the slightest. I remember that he used to ask me “If I ever committed a terrible crime, would you still love me?” I still do, even after learning everything. My father has done his best to deal with the mistakes he has made and he clearly regrets them. He has raised me well. I wouldn’t have done so well in school without his pressure, and I am perfectly clean and sober, without any criminal records.
I know my father has dug himself a deep hole with over a decade of fraud and tax evasion. I want to know how I can resolve these problems in the quickest, least painful way possible.Other things worth mentioning: I now have a little sister who is only a few years old. I want to keep my father out of jail so that he can take care of her. Her mother’s family is the type of despicable people who a child should never grow up with. I don’t care what it takes, my baby sister will never live with those people by herself.
I asked one of my school counselors to get me in touch with a lawyer, but I haven’t heard from her in a few days. So please I just need some advice.
source: Reddit
The Reddit message says that the teen came across his own missing person page online.
He said his father 'took me, against a court order, away from my mother without me even knowing'.
'He changed my name and SSN and did something similiar for himself,' the message said.
However the teen - if it should be Julian - said he does not blame his father, despite not knowing why he did what he did.
'I’m not angry at my father in the slightest,' the message said.
Bobby Hernandez with his son before the pair disappeared in 2002
'I remember that he used to ask me “If I ever committed a terrible crime, would you still love me?”
'I still do, even after learning everything. My father has done his best to deal with the mistakes he has made and he clearly regrets them.
'He has raised me well. I wouldn’t have done so well in school without his pressure, and I am perfectly clean and sober, without any criminal records.'
The student appeals for advice on what he might do in order to be eligible to apply for college scholarships after discovering his identity is false.
The message finishes with him saying he had also asked a school counselor for advice. It has now been deleted.
It is believed the counselor was the one who notified police.
Police Lt. Johnny Evans of the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills said Julian's mother was told on Monday that Julian had been found, but that she was initially cautious after years of disappointment.
'Over the years there have been hundreds of sightings. You know, ''He's here, he's here, he's here'',' Evans said.
'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.'
Evans said on Thursday that mother and son had since been in contact, but he was not sure whether it was by phone or other means. The mother's name was not released, however she still lives in Birmingham.
The mother's family said in a statement: 'Our family was overjoyed this week to locate Julian and learn that he is safe. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during Julian's disappearance.'
The son's whereabouts Thursday were unclear. No one answered the door at the Cleveland home.
District Attorney Brandon Falls in Jefferson County, Alabama, told local news outlets that Julian Hernandez went to his school counselor for help when colleges kept having troubles matching his social security number to his name.
Falls says the counselor then ran a search and realized Hernandez was listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Falls says it's unlikely he knew he was listed as missing.
FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson tells AL.com he was apparently living in Cleveland with his father, 53-year-old Bobby Hernandez, for the past 13 years.
A woman and two children were living in the same home with the father and son on Cleveland's west side. It's unclear the relationship between them.
Hernandez was reportedly able to live with his abducted son for so long undetected because he was living under the alias 'Jonathan Mangina'.
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Share 70 sharesHernandez has since been arrested and is expected to face felony charges, including interference with custody, that could send him to prison for one to 10 years.
He is currently being held on $250,000 bond in Cleveland for tampering with records charges, in connection to the driver's license he was granted in 2012 under his assumed name. His first hearing is scheduled for November 12.
'We are in the process of getting charges on him and when that happens, when he is adjudicated in Ohio, then he will be extradited back to Jefferson County,' said Lt. Johnny Evans in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
Julian was just a small child when he was allegedly taken by his father in Birmingham.
Hernandez was meant to be dropping his son at preschool when they both disappeared.
Julian's mother, who was separated from Hernandez, reported him missing on August 28, 2002.
At the time, police said Hernandez had withdrawn cash from his bank accounts and that the case was a suspected non-custodial parent abduction, AL.com reported.
Hernandez also took some of Julian's possessions. Despite a widespread search, neither Julian nor Hernandez were found.
Over the years new missing persons posters were drawn up with age-progression images of both Julian and his father.
However nothing turned up until October 30.
At a news conference Thursday, Vestavia Hills police Lt. Johnny Evans said that at age 18 Hernandez is an adult, 'so it's kind of up to him now as to whether he wants to come back.'
Moment of realization: Police say Julian Hernandez discovered he was a missing person when he started applying to college, and ran into road blocks using his social security number
The house where Julian Hernandez lived with his father, Bobby, in Cleveland until his arrest this week
A woman and two other children were living in the same West Cleveland home as Hernandez and his son
Bobby Hernandez was arrested this week and charged in Cuyahoga County in connection with the abduction.
He is currently charged with tampering with records. Officials say it is in relation to giving false information to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles in 2012 in order to get a driver's license.
Hernandez will face further and more serious charges in Jefferson County, Alabama for the abduction.
Lt. Johnny Evans of the Vestavia Hills police speaks about the case of the missing boy in Vestavia Hills, Alabama on Thursday
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