A California woman is crediting a Facebook photo with reuniting her
with her kidnapped son, 15 years after she says he was taken by his
father to Mexico.
On Wednesday, Hope Holland wrapped her arms around her now 18-year-old son, Jonathan, for the first time since he was 3 years old.
"Happy," the South Bay mother managed to choke out while summing up her feelings to reporters with tears pouring out of her
eyes.
The extremely emotional moment followed approximately five months
of back-and-forth communication with the couple after she stumbled upon an astonishingly familiar photo on Facebook, showing a pair of boys in a bath tub.
'I had no reason to believe I was finding my son. Ever since I found him, my whole world, my whole outlook and direction changed,' said Holland.
Jonathan was taken by his father, with whom Hope shared custody,
in 2000.
'His dad was going on vacation in Mexico and had permission to take him. It was a normal day. I didn't think he was not coming back,' Hope said. He never came back with Jonathan.
It was a photo she had taken years ago. It was Jonathan and his older brother Jacob.
"At first, my body responded with panic and excitement. Heart palpitations and sweat...my breathing out of control," she wrote on a GoFundMe page that recounts her incredible journey in finding him.
She admitted that up until that moment she had friended a number of people named Jonathan online who matched his description, so she knew not to get too excited.
But when she clicked on the connecting profile's name, her little boy, all grown up, was seen staring back at her.
Posted by Adebayo A J