Too good to be true: Rare ray of hope dashed in case of LI child missing more than 50 years
By Jennifer Peltz, APSunday, June 21, 2009
Lesson in LI: Long-lost children rarely turn up
NEW YORK — When Jerry Damman first got news his son may have been found after vanishing from Long Island more than 50 years ago, he said that it “was almost too good to believe.”
It turned out he was right.
His new hope was dashed when DNA tests revealed the man who claimed he was the missing boy actually wasn’t — an outcome that didn’t surprise law enforcement officials and experts.
They say a storybook ending was a long shot. Past cases show that it’s rare that someone purporting to be a long-lost child suddenly comes forward, and rarer still that he or she ultimately proves to be the person who vanished.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says of the 15 such cases its seen in the last decade, none turned out to be the missing children.
