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Chinese abductee used Google Maps to find his family after 23 years

Chinese abductee used Google Maps to find his family after 23 years

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luo gong (nhaidu)
luo gong (nhaidu)

A man from Sichuan, China, has reportedly been reunited with his family after 23 years, finding his way home thanks partly to Google Maps. Fujian news service Nhaidu reports that Luo Gong, then five years old, was abducted on his way to kindergarten and brought to a city in southeastern Fujian nearly 1,000 miles away.

Luo reportedly used Google Maps to track down his neighborhood

Not knowing the name of his city, South China Morning Post writes that Luo had no way to find his way back, his only memory of the place being its two bridges. Finally discovering a website dedicated to reuniting missing children with their families, Luo posted a rough map of where he grew up, which eventually got spotted by a volunteer. From there, Luo learned that a family in Guangan city had lost a son 23 years ago. Armed with the name of the town, Luo reportedly used Google Maps to track down his neighborhood, finally spotting the pair of bridges.

It remains to be seen whether Luo’s adoptive family will face charges related to his abduction, but the man’s ordeal is finally over — thanks, at least in part, to the advent of mapping technology. "Every day before I went to bed, I forced myself to re-live the life spent in my old home."