Missing Boy Featured on Unsolved Mysteries Found Seven Years After Disappearance

Abdul Aziz Khan was seven when he, his non-custodial mother Rabia Khalid and her husband — who is not the boy’s father — “fell off the map” in November 2017, amid Khalid’s custody dispute with her ex.

Khalid was charged with felony kidnapping and a warrant was issued for her arrest at the time, but managed to evade capture until this week.

On Wednesday, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Kenner (Louisiana) Police Department, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children announced a now-14-year-old Aziz has been found, while both Khalid and her husband, Eliot Bourgeois, have been arrested.

The two are facing charges of second degree kidnapping, forgery, identity theft, providing false information to authorities and trespassing. Bond for both has been set at one million dollars.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to a trespass call at a home listed for sale in Highlands Ranch, CO on February 23, 2025, expecting to investigate a burglary in progress.

When they arrived at the scene, two children were found in a parked vehicle in the driveway. Khalid and Bourgeois then walked out of the home, “claiming to be associated with a realtor,” said authorities.

“Their story began to unravel as the deputies and dispatchers worked for four hours to verify their identities,” said the Sheriff, who identified Khalid using her fingerprints and found she had an active kidnapping warrant.

“Our deputies ended up separating the two adults and trying to get interviews with them to figure out what exactly was going on,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly told ABC News, adding the deputies “felt like something was up.”

They then identified one of the two children, a 14-year-old boy, as Aziz, who had allegedly been abducted in 2017.

While the two suspects are currently being held at Douglas County Jail, the children were taken into protective custody. Authorities are working to reunite Aziz with his father; Weekly also said it appeared the boy had been “coached” on what to say if approached by police and may not have known he had allegedly been kidnapped.

As for how they evaded capture, Weekly said, “We believe that they have been all over the country.”

In a statement, the family of Abdul Aziz Khan said, “We’re overwhelmed with joy that Aziz has finally been found. We want to thank everyone for their support over the last seven years. We specifically want to recognize the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office for their exceptional work in solving this case. Now, as we navigate the next steps, we ask for privacy so that we can move forward as a family and heal together.”

Added Weekly: “Our deputies responded to what initially seemed like a routine trespass call, but through sharp attention to detail and tenacity, they uncovered the truth. Their ability to recognize the discrepancies in the suspects’ story and to follow the leads, even when the situation seemed unclear, ultimately led to the safe recovery of a child who had been missing for seven long years.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of the work done by our team; this case highlights the commitment of our officers to seek justice and protect the most vulnerable,” he added. “It’s a reminder of the incredible difference our work makes in the lives of those we serve.”

In their statement, U.S. Marshal Enix Smith III for the Eastern District of Louisiana specifically praised Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries “for directing the public’s attention to this matter” — while The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which advocated hard for press attention on Aziz’s case, added, “we knew that national media coverage was crucial.”