Well, as AppleOnYa says, we are talking about 1901; Ciccio couldn't do a Google Web search or send out an APB for a small, thin, Italian-looking kid...

Although, just thinking about it, maybe that was a reasoning behind the plot device of having Vito in quarantine at Ellis Island for TB; maybe Ciccio believed he died there?? Hmmm. Think about this, I will...