Christopher Abeyta of Colorado Springs was kidnapped 32 years ago when he was just 7-months-old. Now a man claiming to be him has come forward, giving the kidnapped boy’s family hope that they could finally be reunited with their long-lost relative.
Abeyta was kidnapped from his home and according to The Daily Mail , the family had almost given up on ever finding him. But authorities said that although there’s a convincing photo of the man when he was a toddler, there are doubts that his claims are true.
“Unfortunately at this time it does not appear this will be credible information, however, we are working to confirm,” Cold Case Commander Jeff Jensen at the Colorado police force said in an email interview with The Gazette.
The man who has come forward has submitted his DNA for testing but the results have not been publicized as yet. Commander Jensen has not revealed why they are doubtful about the man’s claims despite his willingness to have them scientifically tested.
The family is still holding on to hope though because of the photo the man provided.
“You want it so bad,” said Denise Alvez, Christopher Abeyta’s sister. “It doesn’t stop. Regardless of the outcome, if it doesn’t turn out to be him, we’ll keep seeking answers.”
Christopher Abeyta disappeared nearly 30 yrs ago. His family is in court fighting lawsuit against them. @kktv11news pic.twitter.com/4ApsxSusAU
— Jessica Leicht (@JessLeicht) November 12, 2015
The family thinks that the photo resembles Christopher Abeyta’s baby pictures which is potentially a good sign. The Gazette reports that it’s a better indication that he’s telling the truth than if he matched the artistic renderings of what Abeyta would have looked like today. Those can be misleading as there’s never a 100 percent guarantee that the artist has delivered a completely accurate depiction.
“Your brain is telling you not to but your heart is saying this might be it,” another one of his sisters, Linnea Abeyta, said in an interview with a TV news station.
The family believes that a woman they knew abducted Christopher. They suspect that she wanted revenge against the family for a reason they did not disclose. Abeyta’s mother, Bernice, dedicated the rest of her life to finding her son. The Gazette reports that she would go around the United States to follow up claims of people who said they had information on her son. None of those investigations yielded anything concrete, and her son never came home. In 2017, police claimed that they had pinpointed a “person of interest” in the case but no charges were filed against the individual.
Bernice Abeyta died last year from gallbladder cancer.
