I do wonder about that too. A lot of people entrusted children to orphanages when they couldn't take care of them, and in some cases later came back and got them later, when they were more secure. Actually, I sat next to a woman on the airplane from Darwin to Dili for whom that was true--her mother had put her in an orphanage because she couldn't afford to feed and look after her--and the girl had gone on to get an education and was now living and working in Australia, but going home for visits and things, including to her mother and her home village.

So, one possibility is that the boy is back with his mother. Or, it's also possible she herself died. Another thing I wonder is how much connection Xanana maintains with this boy, and what the nature of it is.