how he was found that's so remarkable. >> reporter: julian hernandez was on a missing children's list for more than a decade. authorities guessing what he might look like. alabama investigators following every dead end lead. >> never closed. it was a cold case. every time we got a tip, we followed up on it. with a lead, we followed up and didn't pan out so the case was never closed. >> reporter: today his father bobby hernandez sits in an ohio jail accused of abducting his own son. >> speculation is that maybe that was bobby hernandez who was calling in those tips. to try to divert investigation. >> reporter: julian disappeared in 2002 from his alabama home. his parents were unmarried and his father quickly became a suspect. but father and son slipped away some 600 miles to cleveland and assumed false names. police say julian had no idea who he really was. >> 12, 13 years without knowing