Over seven years ago, 7-year-old Abdul Aziz Khan disappeared without a trace from Atlanta, Georgia, along with his mother, as she and his father were in the midst of a contentious custody battle.

His paternal family agonized while searching to find the child, known as Aziz, as authorities launched a sprawling search across 11 states.

Last month, that aching search came to an end when Aziz was found safe about 1,400 miles away in Douglas County, Colorado.

His mother, Rabia Khalid, and her husband, Elliot Blake Bourgeois, were arrested on felony charges including kidnapping in the case.

Here’s what we know about his disappearance and recovery:

When did Aziz go missing?

Abdul Aziz Khan was 7 years old when he was allegedly abducted by his non-custodial mother Rabia Khalid on Nov. 27, 2017 from their home in Atlanta. 

His father, Abdul Khan, and mother, Khalid, had separated in 2014 and shared custody of the child. 

After the separation, Khalid had moved with her son from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Atlanta for a new job. Abdul regularly traveled to Atlanta and brought him back to New Orleans for family visits, according to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Khalid and Khan were in the midst of a contentious custody battle in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, around the time of Aziz’s disappearance. According to the U.S. Marshals, Khalid allegedly was refusing to cooperate with directives from the court. 

In the custody case, Khalid had made some “criminal allegations” against Aziz’s father, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly told reporters in a news conference Wednesday. He said that those allegations have been dismissed.

“When it appeared that the father was going to get full custody, that is when the mother left with the child,” Weekly said.

Around Thanksgiving 2017, Khalid and her new husband, Elliot Blake Bourgeois, sold their vehicles in the Atlanta area and disappeared.

In December 2019, a felony warrant was issued by the Kenner, Louisiana, police department for Khalid for kidnapping her son after efforts to find Aziz proved unsuccessful. The U.S. Marshals picked up the case in 2020.

Aziz’s story was the subject of a Netflix “Unsolved Mysteries” episode in 2022.

How was Aziz found?

Aziz was found on Feb. 23 in Douglas County, Colorado.

Deputies had been dispatched to a home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado to investigate a burglary in progress. The owner of a home that was vacant and listed for sale reported seeing a woman and a man illegally enter the property, observed by monitoring security cameras. 

Deputies arrived and found two children in a parked vehicle in the driveway. Shortly afterwards, the man and woman exited the home claiming to be associated with a realtor.

However, deputies found “inconsistencies” with the duo’s story. Authorities described the pair as “very nervous,” said they had given fake identities and “stories that didn’t add up.”

After about five hours, their stories unraveled.

Angeline Hartman with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children told NBC News that the sheriff’s office brought a portable fingerprint scanner to the scene to ultimately identify Khalid. 

Deputies then realized Khalid had an active warrant for kidnapping and identified the older child at the scene as Aziz.

Khalid and Elliot Blake Bourgeois, 42, were arrested and booked into the Douglas County Jail on a slew of charges, including second-degree kidnapping, forgery, identity theft, providing false information to authorities, and trespassing. Bond was set at one million dollars each.

It’s not clear why they ended up in Colorado nor how long they’ve been in the state.

Police did not disclose the relationship with the other child.

Weekly said as investigators were talking to the couple the kids went to a neighbor’s house where they got food and watched TV.

The reuniting process

Sheriff Weekly said he met with Aziz’s paternal family for about an hour on Tuesday, where they explained the story of how the boy went missing.

“I had the privilege of meeting with the family in my office yesterday, and what I will tell you is there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” Weekly said.

He noted that Aziz’s father is in Colorado but hasn’t met his son yet. The father told the sheriff he hadn’t seen his son in nine years.

Hartman, who has been in touch with the family, said Aziz’s mother did not let his father see the child for about a year and a half prior amid the custody battle. 

“This is the only life that Aziz has known. It is going to take some time. It’s baby steps to get up to that point, and there’s just a lot of work to be done for this reunification,” Weekly said. “We hope they find healing and hope in the days, weeks, months and even years ahead of them.”

The family released a statement via the sheriff’s office saying, “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.”

Hartman said the family is grateful Aziz was found, and they did not expect it to take seven years to locate him. 

“They are still kind of stunned. They’re still processing a lot of things — what has happened, where they were, they’re still trying to figure out what Aziz has been through,” she said. She added that reunification is a process that takes time, especially as Aziz was missing for about half his life. 

Where the investigation stands now

The Douglas County sheriff’s office said it’s unclear what the couple was doing at that home that was for sale. 

Weekly said that deputies had executed a search warrant in Aurora, Colorado, where the couple was living. 

When asked if Aziz knew he was kidnapped, Weekly said, “When deputies contacted the child in a driveway, the child immediately called the two people inside. So, we believe that the child was actually coached on what to say if they came into contact with law enforcement.”

It’s unclear if Aziz was living in Colorado and attending school under his real name.

He said several identifications were discovered inside the vehicle the children were found in that are being investigated.

The sheriff noted that both children in the car “appeared to be healthy” and both were taken into protective custody. 

Khalid and Bourgeois have preliminary hearings set for March 27 in Douglas County court.

District Attorney George Brauchler told reporters Wednesday Bourgeois faces 14 charges and Khalid nine. He noted that Bourgeois is charged with kidnapping and Khalid is not “because one of the nuances of the law is that you cannot kidnap your own child.”

Authorities are asking anyone with knowledge about the case and Aziz’s whereabouts in the past seven years to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).