Per reports, 18-year-old Julian, who was reportedly kidnapped in 2002, solved his own abduction case. During an interview, Julian said that he was 5 when the person took him from his mother and moved from Alabama to Ohio, where they lived under fake identities, the Daily Mail explained. The disappearance triggered a national missing-person alert, with Julian being listed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The boy’s father, Bobby, took him from his mother. The dad then changed his name to Jonathan and his son’s name to J.J. The kidnapping scheme was hatched after Bobby and his wife split up in 2002. On the day of the abduction, Bobby had been due to pick up Julian from his ex-wife’s home and take him to preschool. Instead, he left a note telling his wife he had taken their son, authorities say. Prosecutors explained that Bobby fled with his son, where he forged driver’s licenses, car titles and school records to evade detection.
The truth was finally uncovered when “J.J,” by then a senior at high school, began the college application process and discrepancies were discovered with his Social Security number. Several years ago, Bobby appeared in court and pleaded guilty to kidnapping, interference with custody and tampering with records. The county prosecutor pushed for a lengthy sentence, up to 54 years in prison, referring to the father’s actions as cruel.
However, defense attorney DeFranco described his client as “the perfect father” who provided a good life for his son and is planning to ask the judge for probation. DeFranco described Julian as an honors student, happy, healthy, you know doing everything a young man his age should do. Indeed, “J.J.” received an almost perfect score on the ACT test, and had plans of attending Ohio State University. After he learned his true identity, Julian issued a statement through the FBI, requesting that the news media leave him alone. Ladies and gentlemen, we are republishing this story in light of recent reports that show a significant increase in human trafficking and abductions in America during the coronavirus pandemic.