Mao Yin was just two when he was snatched outside a hotel in Xi'an in central Shaanxi province in 1988 and sold to a childless couple in neighbouring Sichuan province who raised him as their own son, Xi'an's public security bureau said in a statement.
Police"aged" one of Mao's childhood photos, according to state broadcaster CCTV, and used the model to scan the national database and find close matches. They were acting on a tipoff that a person in a certain area of Sichuan had bought a child in the late 80's. On Monday, the now 34-year-old had a tearful reunion with his birth parents who had never given up the search for their missing boy.
Mao's mother Li Jingzhi told CCTV that after he was taken, she quit her job and sent over 100,000 flyers to officials and appeared on several TV channels to appeal for his return.But in late April, police in Xi'an were tipped off that a man in Sichuan province had bought a child from Shaanxi in the late 1980s, according to the statement from Xi'an officials.
I wonder how that worked in China , Lol