In 1988, when he was just two, Mao Yin was abducted in the city of Xiam, China. 32 years have passed and his parents met him again this Monday.
Mao’s mother, Li Jingzhi, left her job and devoted herself entirely to finding her son. He distributed thousands of pamphlets, spread posters and participated in several television programs. Throughout the process, he helped 29 other families to find their missing children, The Guardian.
“I believe that one day I will find my son,” said Li in an interview earlier this year. “Hope is what motivates me,” he added. More than 30 years later, in April, a clue emerged: the police received information from a boy who had been sold for 800 euros to a family about 600 kilometers from Sichuan province.
Using facial recognition technologies, Chinese authorities have created a possible photograph of Mao as an adult to aid in searches. A DNA test confirmed Mao’s identity, and on May 10, Mother’s Day in China, the family received the most desired news: the son had been found.
