A mother met her son at the U.S-Mexico border on Wednesday over 15 years after his father abducted him and fled the country.
The emotional reunion only became a reality after Hope Holland stumbled across an old family photograph of Jonathan and his older brother Jacob on Facebook.
Jonathan had posted the photo to the social networking site in the hope that his mum or brother might see it, which they finally did in January.
Speaking to KGTV, Holland said:
I never thought this day would ever, ever come, so I’m very very happy. Extremely happy. I’m happy he wanted to know me.
Before this week, Hope hadn’t seen her son since he was 3-years-old, when his father kidnapped Jonathan and fled to Mexico.
But the mother from California never stopped searching for her son. She spent years working with child services and private investigators to try and track down 18-year-old Jonathan, but incredibly it was a simple Facebook search that ultimately led to their reunion.
Jonathan was taken by his father, with whom Hope shared custody, in 2000. Years of fruitless searching left Hope suicidal but, thankfully, she kept the faith.
She added:
I had no reason to believe I was finding my son. Ever since I found him, my whole world, my whole outlook and direction changed.
What an incredible story!