CORONEL — Kyle Adler reunited with his biological mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, in Coronel, Chile, in February 2026, after discovering he was stolen as a baby and illegally adopted by an American family in 1990. Adler, who was raised in an affluent Chicago suburb by Mike and Connie Adler, learned of his origins in early 2017 through the Nos Buscamos Facebook group and confirmed his connection to Navarrete via a MyHeritage DNA test.

Navarrete, who was 19 and working nights at a fish shop when her son was taken, had named him Marcos Antonio Navarrete. She hired a caregiver to look after him while she worked and visited whenever she could. The caregiver later told her that a local priest had arranged for an American couple to take the baby, claiming he was “in need of a family.” “And she let them have him,” Navarrete said. She added that no one was held accountable for his disappearance and that the years afterward were among the worst of her life.

Following the DNA confirmation, a virtual reunion was organized. Adler traveled to Chile and, during their in-person reunion—two days after Navarrete’s 56th birthday on Valentine’s Day—visited the beach in Coronel, the hospital where he was born, and the house where he was taken. Adler brought gifts including a framed diploma, childhood photos, and baby shoes kept by his adoptive parents. He also met one of his four Chilean siblings and recovered a copy of his original birth certificate.

“I’m so happy to be finally meeting him. My dream has finally come true,” Navarrete said. Yet she added, “It took me so long to find him. And then to spend a week together only to have him leave, it's like I found him but I've now lost him all over again.” She is working with a law firm and hopes those responsible for his disappearance will face jail time. “I want justice. Not just for me, but also for him because I don’t know the type of life he had,” she said.

Adler, who does not speak Spanish, used a translator. He expressed gratitude and connection: “It’s been so eye-opening to see who my people are. I feel the love, I feel the compassion, the care — it’s nice to have a family again.” He also said, “I’m not just the son that you lost, I’m the son that you found. I’m back to being your son.”