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Argentinean activist finds grandson abducted 36 years ago

Estela de Carlotto, the 83-year old leader of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo group, lost her daughter Laura during the military rule

BUENOS AIRES, August 06. /ITAR-TASS/. The head of an Argentine human rights group working to find babies stolen during the 1976-1983 dictatorship has reunited with her own grandson after a 36-year old search, local media reported.

Estela de Carlotto, the 83-year old leader of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo group, lost her daughter Laura during the military rule. She said she had not known that her daughter Laura was three months pregnant when she was put into prison. A fellow prisoner told Carlotto that her daughter gave birth to a boy on June 26, 1978 and was killed two months after that. Laura's body was later handed to her mother. The boy was raised by a foster family.

Carlotto desperately searched for her grandson among hundreds of other children taken from their leftist families during the right-wing military rule.

Laura's son, who is now a musician and composer, became the 111th child found by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo group, founded in 1977. His identity was confirmed through DNA testing that was 99.9% positive.

"I didn't want to die before I embrace my grandson," Carlotto said.

As many as 30,000 people disappeared in Argentina during the military rule, according to human rights activists.