Delimar Vera, 27, Shares Her Incredible Story of Being Abducted as a Child and Reuniting With Her Family

Amid Delimar Vera's recollection of her story, she divulged her experience with the woman who abducted her, and what it was like to essentially start life over with her real parents and siblings.

In October 2024, a 27-year-old woman named Delimar Vera opened up about her kidnapping story, which garnered a lot of national and international attention. At just ten days old, she was abducted by Carolyn Correa. Vera believed this woman was her mom until she encountered her real mother, Luz Cuevas, one fateful day years after Vera was born.

Vera's story, both harrowing and surreal, begins not just with the abduction itself, but with a web of deception that unraveled slowly over the years. For most of her early childhood, she lived under the name Aaliyah, completely unaware that her very identity had been stolen.

The woman she called mom, Correa, had not only fabricated a life with her but also constructed a narrative to keep her close, even warning her, at six years old, about a "bad lady" who wanted to take her away.

Vera recalled how she had promised Correa she would tell that bad lady to get off her. "I was a sassy kid," she said. "It's mind-blowing to think that the bad lady Carolyn was talking about was actually my real mother."

The kidnapping occurred ten days after Vera was born in Philadelphia in December 1997 to a Puerto Rican mom and dad. Correa took the newborn across state lines to New York and raised her as her own.

At that time, a fire had broken out in her parents' home due to a supposed fault with the wiring. Following the incident, there was no trace of Vera, and no recognisable human tissue was discovered in the charred remains of the bedroom she had been sleeping in. As a result, authorities believed the infant had been completely consumed in the flames.

However, Cuevas refused to accept that story. Her unwavering intuition would eventually lead to a moment that changed everything.

At a birthday party six years later, Cuevas saw a little girl with a familiar smile and dimples — a spark of recognition she described as "blood calling." Acting on instinct, she discreetly collected strands of Vera's hair — fibbing that something had been caught in it — then pleaded with authorities to run a DNA test. The results confirmed her suspicion.

Within weeks, the child was reunited with her real family, and Correa was arrested and sentenced to prison for kidnapping. She was given a nine-to-thirty-year sentence. However, what followed was anything but a fairytale ending.

Thrust into a new life with people who were, by blood, her family — but by experience, complete strangers — Vera was expected to begin again. "I hated Delimar at the beginning. What is that? Delimar? Delaware?" she admitted. "People would call me and I wouldn't look at them. I wanted my old name."

Everything was foreign: Her surroundings, her school, and the Spanish language spoken in her home. Her parents were unknown; her three brothers, close in age, were strangers sharing her roof.

"For a really long time, I almost thought this new life was temporary," she divulged. "I had one photo of me with my old siblings on a beach and [sic] I'd look at it and think, 'Oh, I'm going to go back and see them again.'"

The media painted the reunion as a miracle — headlines, cameras, even a Disney dramatization celebrated the story. But the reality for Vera was far more fragmented. "There was no support, no therapy, no resources. Nobody ever sat us down and said, 'Are you OK? Do you need help?" she mentioned.

Behind the public cheers was a young girl silently grieving the only life she'd known, even if parts of it had been marked by neglect. Her early years with Correa were strange, though, at that time, Vera lacked the context to understand why.

The woman she thought was her mother worked long hours and was often missing in action (MIA). Correa was so absent that Vera recalled spending more time with extended family members than with her. "Surprisingly, out of everybody in the family, Carolyn is the one I remember least," she shared. "I think trauma has a way of blocking certain people out of your life."

While she described Correa as funny and charismatic with a huge personality, there were less than pleasant moments Vera remembers of Correa, as she recounted being struck with a belt that left circular imprints on her body.

More haunting was Correa's partner, a man Vera dubbed "psychotic" and possibly addicted to drugs. Though she was just a child, she learned to bed-hop at night when she outgrew her toddler crib situated in Correa and her boyfriend's room. Vera would sleep wherever there was space.

When thinking about whether she ever felt any genuine love from Correa, Vera expressed, "Not really. But to this day [sic] I'm someone who swallows my feelings. I tried to be as happy and upbeat as I could. I think I was in denial about a lot of things."

The pain didn't stop with Correa's arrest. Integrating into her biological family brought its own trauma. Her father, though welcoming, was surrounded by questions — some darker than others, as Vera's mother believed that he may have played a role in her disappearance.

Part of this belief centers around the fact that when Cuevas saw her daughter with Correa during that fateful birthday party, Cuevas recognized the abductor. Apparently, Correa had been at Cuevas' home on the night of the fire and was distantly related to Vera's dad.

Other plausible reasons behind the kidnapping include Correa wanting to be pregnant again, having a history of lying to loved ones about being pregnant, and her seeking leniency on a previous charge. Additionally, Vera's dad doubted his relationship with her, as there is no father's name on her birth certificate.

Though he denied his involvement and was never charged, the doubt remained, creating a rift Vera could never fully ignore."It was [...] conflicting," she admitted. "I didn't want to believe it so [sic] I just kind of blocked it."

For a time, Vera split her life between her mother's home and weekend visits with her father, as her parents split during the years she was abducted. While Vera noted how fun her father was, Cuevas, grieving and protective, was strict — sometimes to a fault.

She made sure Vera had her own room and privacy. But emotional warmth didn't come easily. "She's not a mushy person," Vera noted. "She doesn't say 'I love you.'" Despite the lack of affection, her mother taught her discipline — how to cook, how to clean, how to survive. At just eight, Vera was doing her own laundry.

Still, Vera struggled to feel understood and spiraled into depression by the time she turned 12. "I didn't feel there was anyone I could talk to [...] You suck it up and keep on moving," she recalled.

Eventually, tensions boiled over and Vera left home to stay with her dad. However, that relationship also had its problems. After a particularly painful fight with her father, during which he told her, "That's why your mom doesn't even want you," Vera broke down. She smashed perfume bottles in his bedroom — and for the first time, he struck her.

That moment marked a turning point. At just 15, Vera found herself in a group home, spending her birthday in foster care — no calls from either parent. Her life veered far from any scripted reunion narrative.

Vera bounced between unstable living conditions, selling newspapers, working in restaurants, and surviving on her own. One of her temporary guardians turned out to be a predator. She even found herself in an abusive relationship at 19, living in one of Philadelphia's most dangerous neighborhoods.

But something shifted. At 20, Vera found the strength to leave. With no support and barely any savings, she packed her things into a U-Haul and left her abuser. "I was sick of feeling sorry for myself, of being a victim," she disclosed.

She moved into a tiny apartment and began rebuilding her life. In 2018, Vera met a man who is now her husband. Unlike her past partner, her spouse encouraged her to reconnect with her loved ones.

Today, she speaks regularly with her mom, chats on the phone with her dad, who is in Puerto Rico, and considers her brothers her best friends. Her life is stable, quiet, even — shared with her husband, her stepson, a dog, and a cat in their Philadelphia home.

Looking back, Vera sees her journey as one of survival, not just through abduction, but through abandonment, confusion, and self-doubt. Taking part in a 2024 documentary about her life helped her reconnect with people from her past, including an aunt figure from Correa's family who once cared for her.

The experience even gave her the strength to ask her father, directly, if he had anything to do with her kidnapping — a question she'd never dared to pose until then.

And though some questions may never be answered, Vera has found a sense of peace. "I've accepted that," she stated of her story. "It's the only way to move forward. I have to focus on my 'right now.'"

The documentary — "Back from the Dead: Who Kidnapped Me?" — premiered in the UK on U&W from November 4 to November 6, 2024.