Two Sisters Took a DNA Test. It Revealed Their Dad Had Been a Missing Person for Decades.
The results of the test did not specifically discuss any Italian history or ancestry, which the family found weird since their father was very proud of his Italian ancestry. At the time, Bell and her siblings did not think much of it.
Since their father had passed away, they went to his closest living relative, a first cousin, and asked him to take a DNA test, which he agreed. The results revealed that the siblings were actually not related to the Palmadesso family.
After doing more research into their history, they found that they were related to a man named Tom Martin. The siblings reached out Tom who revealed that he wanted his DNA tested because he was searching for his younger brother, Jerry Martin who had been missing for decades. Jerry had been kidnapped when he was 4 and Tom had not seen him since.
Although it would seem unlikely that a child who was kidnapped would survive long enough to become a parent, it is actually not uncommon. Most kidnappings are not done by strangers, which only make up 1% of kidnappings. Further, when this kidnapping happened (in 1945), it was much easier to get away with such a crime given the lax standards of the Baby Boom era.
The siblings began to suspect that their father, Richard Palmadesso, was actually the missing Jerry Martin. The siblings began making connections and even compared photos of Tom and their father, finding that they looked very much alike.
The girls are not exactly sure what the history of their father is or if he had known he was kidnapped. However, the siblings have kept in continuous contact with Tom who could very well be their uncle.
See Rachael Rifkin, Two Sisters Took a DNA Test. It Revealed Their Dad Had Been a Missing Person for Decades., Good Housekeeping, November 6, 2020.
Special thanks to Laura Galvan (Attorney, San Antonio, Texas) for bringing this article to my attention.