Facebook helps reunite missing child with family after eight years

They found that the Facebook-profile user had changed the account name to Dinesh Jena, and continued using it.

Published: 04th April 2019 07:59 AM  |   Last Updated: 04th April 2019 07:59 AM   |  A+A A-

Susanna showers affection on her son, Dinesh Jena, upon his arrival in Hyderabad. Jena, was brought back to the city by the police | Express

Susanna showers affection on her son, Dinesh Jena, upon his arrival in Hyderabad. Jena, was brought back to the city by the police | Express

By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Eight years after a boy went missing from his house in Hyderabad, he was recently tracked down and reunited with his family — all thanks to Facebook. The child, now 16, was found working for a landlord in Punjab.

In 2011, one Susanna complained to the Kushaiguda police, saying that her son Dinesh Jena had left home without informing anyone and did not return. The police registered a missing case, and a probe was launched, but the boy could not be traced.

In August 2018, however, some of Susanna’s relatives came across a Facebook profile of a person named Dinesh Jena Lima, and told her that the person in the picture looked like her son. Susanna approached the Rachakonda cybercrime wing, and the police took up the case again.

They found that the Facebook-profile user had changed the account name to Dinesh Jena, and continued using it. The police showed Susanna the latest picture posted on the account, and she identified the boy as her missing son.

Based on the IP address and other details, officials of the Rachakonda cybercrime wing tracked Dinesh down to Ranakala village in Punjab’s Amritsar district, where he was working for a landlord.Dinesh was then brought back to Hyderabad by the police and handed over to his family after completion of formalities.