Paul Joseph Fronczak is not actually Paul Joseph Fronczak. Nor is he Scott McKinley. In fact, he has no idea who he is.
When a baby went missing from a Chicago hospital in 1964, a nationwide search for the baby yielded no answers. The baby was gone. A woman dressed as a nurse had asked to bring the baby to the see a doctor elsewhere in the hospital, and the baby, and the nurse, was never seen again.
But eighteen months later, a baby that was roughly the same age as the missing one in Chicago, was found on a street corner in Newark, New Jersey. After being taken in by an orphanage and named Scott McKinley, the FBI decided it had found the Chicago boy. After close study of a photograph of the boy and the baby, they decided the ears matched. The baby was given to the Fronczak's. So Scott McKinley became Paul Joseph Fronczak and stayed that way for 49 years.
While he was growing up, however, the young man came upon a box of clippings that were about the kidnappings. Suddenly, his features began to make a little more sense.
The Daily News writes,
Looking in the mirror, Paul had always long recognized his physical differences to his parents, them being Polish and Croatian, but until now he never had a possible reason for it.
After years of doubts, Paul Joseph Fronczak finally took a DNA test, and found out that biologically, he wasn't Paul Joseph Fronczak.
He broke the news to his elderly parents in an email:
"I am writing this email to you because this is something very important, and I feel that if I try to speak with you over the phone, you will not fully understand or listen. First, I am your son, and always will be. You and Dad have been wonderful parents, and have shaped me into the person I am today. I love you both and that will be forever.
"The DNA test results came back and it turns out that I am not your biological son; I am not the kidnapped baby that you had stolen from your arms on April 27th, 1964. This means that the real Paul Joseph Fronczak may still be out there, alive, not knowing who is. This also means that I do not really know who I am, how old I am, and my genetic background or heritage."
So now on the verge of fifty, Paul Joseph Fronczak is no closer to finding out who he is. He only knows that he was left on a street corner in Newark in 1965. He would still like to find the elderly Fronczak's actual son.
"I just think it would be really cool, if we actually found the real kidnapped baby," Paul told the Daily News. "It would be nice to have a happy ending for once."
[WCBS]