I am a parent, and as a proud and loving parent, I can only imagine the terror that a mother or father must feel when their child goes missing without a trace.

Even in the best of situations, children are notorious for being overly curious, and all it takes for a parent to become distracted by something for even a split second for a small child to become lost or, worse, get into serious trouble.

On other occasions, a child has not strayed away at all; rather, they have been abducted, either by someone they know or by someone completely unknown to them.

The remarkable case of Julian Hernandez, who was last seen in August 2002, involves one such incident when he was only five years old and had just disappeared from his family in Alabama. Julian Hernandez vanished in August 2002.

After receiving a note from the boy’s father informing her that he had stolen the boy, the boy’s terrified mother filed a missing persons report.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, could have predicted that this unusual story would unfold in the manner that it did.

According to reports, Julian Hernandez spent his youth in Ohio with his biological father, Bobby Hernandez, and was unaware that he had been taken from his mother and placed with his biological father.

Bobby went so far as to give Julian a new name and create a false identity for himself in order to better conceal his true identity. Throughout this period, Julian’s real mother searched for her kid with all her effort, but despite hundreds of possibilities, none of them led anywhere.

When Julian began filling out his college papers about twelve years later, the story took an unexpected turn that proved to be its most unexpected twist to date. When this happened, the young man realized that his social security number did not match the name on the documents.

Julian sought the advice of a school counselor in order to submit his application, but he was still unaware of the disturbing reality of the situation. Julian was perplexed.

Julian had been reported missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and his father had stolen him when he was just five years old, according to the counselor.

Julian was made aware of the lies he had been living with for most of his life, as well as the lies told about Julian’s father, who was soon apprehended. One can only imagine the level of pain that the young man, who was only a few weeks away from leaving for college and commencing the formative years of his adult life, was forced to endure.

Even though she had been absent for the majority of Julian’s formative years, his mother was reportedly overjoyed beyond words to have finally found her son. This was the case despite the fact that she had missed out on the majority of his childhood.

In a surprising turn of events, Julian also pleaded with the judge presiding over the case to release his father from jail, stating that although it had been difficult for him to grow up without a mother, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing his father because “taking him away from me is doing the same thing all over again.”

In light of Julian’s plea, Bobby was given a prison term that carries a maximum of four years but no more than fifty-four.

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