In a small cottage used to watch over a rubber plantation in Thuan Phu Hamlet, Thuan Loi Commune (Dong Nai Province), Khoi (65) lived alone without personal identification documents or known relatives. Neighbors only knew that he had resided there for a long time, quietly making a living day by day.

Back in May, during population data verification and document issuance support for vulnerable individuals under the Government's Project 06, Thuan Loi Commune Police identified Khoi as a special case in the locality.

Through multiple conversations, police officers gradually gathered scant fragments of memory. Khoi recalled living in Xom Chu Hamlet, Go Cong District, former Tien Giang Province. In 1978, after a boat trip, he became separated from his family and wandered across various regions before settling in Thuan Loi Commune.

Khoi shared that he only vaguely remembered his hometown being Xom Chu. Over the decades, memories gradually faded. "I thought my relatives were all gone or that no one remembered me anymore," he said.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Tuyen, Chief of Thuan Loi Commune Police, noted that the information provided by Khoi was extremely minimal, while many administrative names had changed following boundary readjustments.

"From those meager details, we persistently cross-referenced national population databases and checked every lead. Ultimately, we determined that Xom Chu Hamlet in Khoi's memory currently belongs to Gia Thuan Commune, Dong Thap Province," Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tuyen stated.

Immediately afterward, Thuan Loi Commune Police coordinated with Gia Thuan Commune Police to verify records. Initial lookup results showed a family once had a member matching Khoi's information, but that family had relocated elsewhere.

Refusing to give up, police forces continued tracing leads, connecting multiple localities, and auditing residence records and population data to trace his family's whereabouts.

The reunion

According to Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Nam, Deputy Chief of Thuan Loi Commune Police, after days of continuous cross-referencing, on August 3, commune police established contact with Khoi's family, who currently reside in Can Gio (HCMC).

After verifying information from both sides, relatives confirmed that Khoi was indeed their family member lost since 1978.

"It was an emotionally charged moment for us. After nearly half a century, the family could finally confirm that Khoi was still alive," Lieutenant Colonel Nam shared.

According to relatives, over the past 48 years, the family never stopped searching, inquiring in many places without success. At times, relatives feared Khoi had passed away, yet hope for a reunion never fully extinguished.

On August 5, siblings and numerous family members arrived in Thuan Loi Commune to take Khoi home.

The reunion after nearly half a century apart took place in an emotional atmosphere. Tight embraces and long-lost calls of "brother" and "uncle", once thought to exist only in memory, erupted into overwhelming happiness.

On his reunion day, Khoi repeatedly expressed tearful gratitude toward Thuan Loi Commune Police officers and supporting units for overcoming difficulties to help him locate his family.

"I never thought there would come a day when I could see my siblings again," Khoi said with emotion.

A representative of Khoi's family stated that his disappearance had been a lingering heartbreak for nearly half a century. Since his disappearance in 1978, family members traveled far and wide searching for him, but received no word. Despite the passage of time, no one ever gave up hope of hearing news of him.

"My maternal grandmother, my mother, and the whole family searched everywhere, waiting in despair. In 2024, my grandmother passed away without seeing her son again, leaving lifelong regret in our family's hearts," the family representative shared.

According to the family’s representative, upon receiving the phone call from Thuan Loi Commune Police announcing that Khoi had been found after nearly 48 years, the entire family burst into tears of joy. The following day, relatives arranged their affairs to travel to Dong Nai and bring him home.

The family representative extended heartfelt gratitude to the Board of Directors of Dong Nai Provincial Police, officers of Thuan Loi Commune Police, and particularly Major Luong Cong Nam. Starting from faint childhood memories, the police force's persistent verification, data cross-checking, and coordination turned what seemed impossible into reality.

Hoang Anh