A Chinese man was reunited this week with his son abducted by human traffickers some 24 years ago, according to a story from The Guardian.
Guo Gangtang spent more than two decades traveling on his motorbike looking for his son, Guo Xinzhen, who was taken from in front of the family home when he was 2-years-old.
According to local media reports, Xinzhen was abducted while playing alone outside his home on Sept. 21, 1997, by a woman and her boyfriend. The couple then immediately sold the two-year-old to a family in a nearby province.
Guo crisscrossed the country traveling more than 300,000 miles with two banners each showing his son’s photo. He told of battling robbers, sleeping under bridges and begging when his money ran out.
For years, under the country’s one-child policy, China has seen an increase in child abductions with children being snatched by human traffickers, according to a story from The Guardian. In the past few years, however, more families are being reunited thanks to new technologies.
Guo and his son, who is a teacher, were reunited Tuesday, The Telegraph reported, after their DNA samples were matched through a police operation.
Guo said he holds no ill-will toward the couple who raised his son.
“It seems we have new relatives. If our son is willing to support his adoptive parents we also accept that and respect his decision,” he said.
According to the Telegraph, Tong Bishan, the deputy director of the Ministry of Public Security’s criminal investigation bureau, said that a man and woman had been arrested in connection with Guo’s abduction, and that the inquiry was ongoing.
The story of the search inspired a movie in 2015 called “Lost and Love.”