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A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy who went missing from his home in Alabama 13 years ago has been found unharmed as a young man living with his father in Ohio.
Julian Hernandez’s mother reported him missing from the Birmingham area in 2002 after his father left her a note saying he’d taken the boy, police said. After years of dead ends, officials said, the case cracked open with a tip-off last week.
Hernandez was doing well in school in Ohio and was applying to several colleges, but there was an issue with his Social Security number, according to police in Vestavia Hills near Birmingham.
He approached a school counsellor, who was trying to help when she realised Hernandez was listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, District Attorney Brandon Falls in Jefferson County, Alabama, told local media outlets.
Apparently, Hernandez had been living with his father, 53-year-old Bobby Hernandez, in Cleveland, on the city’s west side, authorities said. Both were living under assumed names with a woman and two other children, according to officials, and Julian Hernandez probably didn’t know he was listed as missing.
Bobby Hernandez has been charged with tampering with records in Ohio to get a driver’s license in 2012, and police say he’ll face additional charges in Alabama. He’s being held in Ohio on a $250,000 bond.
“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,” Lt. Johnny Evans of the Vestavia Hills police said.
Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls told local media outlets that he’s seeking charges involving interference with custody — a felony carrying a prison term of one to 10 years.
Court records show that Hernandez was declared indigent in Ohio.
Prosecutor’s spokesman Joseph Frolik said the investigation is ongoing, but he had no additional comment Thursday. A preliminary hearing is set for 12 November.
Lt. Kevin York said police in Alabama have been in contact with the young man’s mother, who still lives in the Birmingham area. He said she has asked police not to release her name or address and has requested privacy.
“She was very happy that he had been found, quite ecstatic, but she was also somewhat hesitant because there had been so many false leads through the years,” York said.
When she reported him missing, she told police that Bobby Hernandez had come over to watch Julian, Evans said. He left her a note saying he had taken him and that was the last time she saw her son, Evans said. The two were not married, and police tried to locate Bobby Hernandez but couldn’t find an address, Evans said.
Officers received “hundreds of leads over the years of where he might be, from Florida to out of the country — Canada — and we followed up on every one of them, and they all turned out to be a dead end until I got the call Monday,” Evans said.
What happens next, in part, will be up to Julian Hernandez.
“He is 18, he is an adult, so it’s kind of up to him now as to whether he wants to come back,” Evans said.
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He was homeless not because of policies but because he was a heroin addict.
True joe but the media stories all ignore this
The poor guy had two houses given him which he lost due to heroin. The 170 or so homeless in Dublin (which have 23 charities looking after them btw) would be better served having proper addiction counselling and addition services. Some of those charities are businesses that don’t really want the problem solved.
I was in Vatican once, homeless people everywhere. I mean….
I hope the occupier is not away on holidays !! The poor man did not have a life or a proper death. At peace, hopefully !
44 steps thing is a load of nonsense. The Dail didn’t kill him.
Completely agree. A ridiculous addition.
Do they need planning permission for that plaque?
Have the results of his post mortem been made public? Just wondering if cause of death was released…
Hypothermia seems to be a safe assumption. It was an especially cold night and sleeping outdoors with minimal shelter is such conditions is not to be recommended.
Nice touch, it would have been nicer if he didn’t have to die in the first place but hopefully his death won’t be in vain and the issue of homelessness will be seriously tackled! R.I.P John
16 red thumbs on this comment, wtf??
Some people just need a kick up the hole!!!
Maybe the red thumbers are aware of the fact that this man came from a wealthy family, who bought him two different houses to live in. It’s also clear his family did everything they could to help him conquer his addiction, but sadly he was unable to do so. What exactly could the government have done for this man that his family had not already done? It’s too easy to just blame “the government” for everything. At the end of the day, if people aren’t wiling to accept help, they can’t be helped.
On rte theyve gone from the vote of no confidence in Kenny, to slagging off Sinn fein, to how cheap irish water will be. Im utterly convinced now they are getting their orders from the minister of communications. Jonathan Corrie will be gone from the politicians memories next week. Simply because they have nothing to gain from it
Sad but true Truth, sad isn’t it that they use a dead man to score political points, lowest of the low!
Dead men and dead women. Once theres a vote to be had
Does anyone know what the building is used for, is it a house or a business?
This country is going down the swanny when you see a plaque commemorating a deceased drug addict whose only contribution to society was becoming a political football for the Liberal Left in his death.
I knew a man over 20 yrs ago died of cold on the streets of Dublin … The army where called in to open the closed section of Brendan’s hospital for the homeless . They swore then they would deal with the homeless problem .. They didn’t care as soon as the winter was over nothing was done empty promises … I only hope this time it will be different
Typical. Despite all the warnings, someone had to physically for before the government did something.
Is it not the same with everything in life? Train seat belts will be next!
Podge, could you give some specific examples of what you think the government – or anyone else – could or should have done?
Buy him a house to live in? His family did that – twice – but he sold both houses and ended up back on the streets.
Provide emergency accommodation? “‘Repeated offers of emergency accommodation were provided, however, Mr Corrie did not avail of these, as was his right,’ the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said in a statement”.
Provide healthcare/addiction support? “He wasn’t easy to deal with. For instance, he once said he didn’t want to attend the health clinic because he thought he’d be ordered to stop drinking” according to a homeless support worker.
Short of forcibly removing him from the streets and confining him in an institution, it sounds like not much else could have been done for him. And there would be outrage if we still locked people up just because they are homeless.
There are names of more than a few living politicians and bankers which I would prefer to see as plaques to recently deceased. Our inglorious Taoiseach would have us believe that after a life time in politics, he has just discovered that being homeless is truly miserable!
Well said Tony Daly.
Lets gets real for at least a second. This guy had two houses which he sold and spent it all on drugs and ended up homeless. Well there you go…!! I feel sorry for any homeless person but this guy made his bed.
Done and dusted man.
Regardless of what he had or done no one should judge we all have our own stories an journey. No one is perfect RIP
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