( CNN ) -- Estela Carlotto 's wish was to hug her grandson before she died -- a dream not easily granted to those like her who had a family member snatched at birth during Argentina 's military dictatorship . During her nearly four-decade journey , she became the leader of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo , a famous group of Argentine activists dedicated to reuniting kidnapped babies with their birth families . And this week , she learned her wish will come true , when the Abuelas , as the group is known , announced that Carlotto 's own grandson has been identified through a DNA test . More than 100 people have been reunited thanks to the efforts of the Abuelas , but the news that the search for the group 's leader is fulfilled struck a strong chord in Argentina . `` He searched for me , '' Carlotto told reporters . `` What the grandmothers say came to be : 'They will come search for us just as we continue to search for them . ' '' The kidnappings of children by government forces during Argentina 's 1976 to 1983 military dictatorship is among the darkest chapters in a period commonly called the Dirty War . Unearthing mysteries of Argentina 's Dirty War . Carlotto 's daughter , Laura , belonged to an urban guerrilla group called Montoneros , according to the Abuelas . She was in her young 20s when she was arrested -- kidnapped , the activist group says -- and imprisoned in 1977 . Laura was 2Â½ months pregnant when she was detained . On June 26 , 1978 , she gave birth at a military hospital to a son she named Guido . But afterward she was returned to her cell without her baby . Two months later , she was executed , according to the Abuelas . Her remains were exhumed and identified in 1985 . The dictatorship left Estela Carlotto without a daughter , and in the dark about what happened to her grandson . But she has said in interviews that she never lost hope that he was alive . 2012 : Former dictators found guilty in Argentine baby-stealing trial . `` He 's beautiful , '' she told a reporter , her voice filled with the same tenderness of a grandmother doting a newborn 's photo . But for the moment , details about her grandson 's life remain few to protect his privacy . The 36-year-old man identified as Guido Montoya Carlotto is Ignacio Hurban , director of a music school in the city of Olavarria , about 220 miles southwest of Buenos Aires . According to the Grandmothers , Hurban had some doubts about his life story and in June initiated contact with the Abuelas with his suspicions . He submitted to interviews with the group as well as a DNA test that confirmed the match . A crowd of supporters burst into cheers when Carlotto retold the moment when she got the call that `` this is your grandson with 99.99 % certainty . '' It is n't clear when the man first had doubts about his origins , but the group mentioned that in the past he had participated in events for the Grandmothers . Among the first to call Carlotto after the news was revealed was Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner . Both women cried as they celebrated the outcome . And as for that long-awaited hug , Argentina 's state-run Telam news agency reported that grandmother and grandson met for the first time Wednesday evening . Argentina dictatorship files reveal 'blacklists '
NEW : Grandmother finally meets her grandson after 36 years . The story of the man who was born in a hospital and grew up to become an international superstar is one that has captivated millions around the world. A DNA test confirms the identity of her grandson . The mother was killed while in captivity .