In 1995, Maria Mancia came home from work to find her 18-month-old son, Steve, missing.
She soon made an unsettling discovery: The boy’s father, Valentin Hernandez, had kidnapped him and ransacked her California home. Documents and heirlooms, including Steve’s baby pictures and even an ultrasound photo, were gone.
For 21 years, Mancia wondered what happened to her boy: What was he doing? What did he look like? Would he remember me?
On Thursday, she got her answer.
Mancia and her now-22-year-old son were reunited by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office after a painstaking search for the boy that led them…
More Must-Reads from TIME
- L.A. Fires Show Reality of 1.5°C of Warming
- How Canada Fell Out of Love With Trudeau
- Trump Is Treating the Globe Like a Monopoly Board
- Bad Bunny On Heartbreak and New Album
- 10 Boundaries Therapists Want You to Set in the New Year
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- Nicole Kidman Is a Pure Pleasure to Watch in Babygirl
- Column: Jimmy Carter’s Global Legacy Was Moral Clarity
Contact us at letters@time.com