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Chinese parents, abducted son reunited after 24 years

China
Posted at 2:58 PM, Jul 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-14 15:59:46-04

BANGKOK (AP) — After 24 years of heartache and searching, a Chinese couple was reunited with their son who was abducted as a toddler outside their front gate.

Guo Gangtang and his wife, Zhang Wenge, hugged their son with tears in their eyes at a meeting organized by police. The story of the reunion after Guo crisscrossed China searching for his son has prompted an outpouring of sympathy in a society that treasures sons and in which official birth limits mean many urban couples have only one child.

Police say Guo Xinzhen, then age 2 1/2, was grabbed for sale by a woman who took him to another province. The police ministry said experts found him by searching databases for images that looked like he might as an adult.