Police in China used a technology that is similar to FaceApp to find a toddler who was kidnapped 18 years ago.

In a footage that was released earlier, the video showed 21-year-old Yu Weifeng walking into a press conference.

The parents of Weifeng burst into tears as they hugged him for the first time in 18 years.

The police reunited Weifeng with his real parents on July 18, 2019.

The new AI technology is developed by Tencent, a tech giant based in China, and was used by the police to locate Weifeng.

Reports suggest that the AI technology is similar to the trending Russian “FaceApp” that allows the app to age a subject in the picture.

Investigators from the Futian District of Shenzhen, China, used the Tencent AI Lab Predictions with their existing facial recognition technology. This helped them identify the “subject”.

Zheng Zhenhai, an investigator, said, “When he found him, he refused to believe that he was a kidnapped child, but DNA confirmed that he was a match with his biological parents.”

The software was used for two months and ended up with 100 candidates. The closes match was then referred to as Weifeng, who was studying at a school in Guangzhou, China.

Weifeng went missing on May 6, 2001, while he was playing near a construction site, while his father was working there as a foreman.

The adoptive parents of Weifeng named him Li.

Zhen, the investigator, added, “We opened the case the day after the incident, and we never gave up. The technology was limited at the time. We checked surveillance footage, but there were simply too many people coming in and out of the area.”

The father of Weifeng, Yu Xingquan, and Rong Muhuan, the mother of Weifeng, said that they scanned a number of cities in China.

During the press release, the parents also brought a number of missing person posters that they handed out in 2001.

The parents were giving 100,000 RMB as a reward to the person who can help them locate their child.

Yu Xingquan, the father, said, “We’re also very grateful to his foster parents for raising him for 18 years. From now on, his foster father will become like a brother to me; my son will have two dads.”

The police are still investigating the 2001 Kidnapping of Weifeng, they are yet to make arrests.