# Boy Snatched In 1964 Returned To Wrong Family **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752 "2013-08-08T22:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/1 "2013-08-08T22:53:29Z")
"The FBI is reinvestigating the 1964 kidnapping of a newborn baby, after DNA tests revealed the wrong boy was later returned to the elated parents. Paul Fronczak, 49, is a married father himself now, and for a long time he wondered why he did not resemble his own father and mother, Chester and Dora Fronczak." [http://news.sky.com/story/1126123/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family](http://news.sky.com/story/1126123/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/2 "2013-08-08T22:59:19Z")
Some questions are best left unasked and unanswered. I’m not sure what value there is in discovering this at age 49. Parenthood is more than biology. It’s changing diapers, getting up at 2am when the child has fever, bandaging scrapped knees, buying the child his first bicycle, going on vacations, and showing love. A family is much more than sperm and an egg. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/3 "2013-08-08T23:11:21Z")
I’ve been reading about this and what saddens me is not just that, somewhere out there, the original Paul Fronczak may still be alive, and not knowing what happened, but that Paul Fronczak 2.0 speaks about looking for his “real” family. He says the parents that raised him say it’s all right with them to go looking for where he came from, but I note they are not themselves willing to be involved in the hunt. 2.0 says he may get a “happy ending” to this story. Isn’t having two parents that raised you and cared about you enough? Not that something didn’t go very wrong back in 1964 and 1965. A terrible crime was committed when the baby was stolen. And someone had a toddler on the loose that got picked up, and they didn’t report it? Strange, and very, very sad. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/4 "2013-08-08T23:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Parenthood is more than biology. It’s changing diapers, getting up at 2am when the child has fever, bandaging scrapped knees, buying the child his first bicycle, going on vacations, and showing love. Yes, I’m sure they love the boy who was returned to them and consider him to be their son, but I imagine they would want to know what happened to their biological son. If by some chance their biological son is alive out there, it would be wonderful if they could somehow be reunited with him before they die. And even if the son-who-turned-out-to-be-adopted loves his adoptive parents very much, he would be justified in wanting to know more about where he came from. Perhaps if he can find his birth family he will learn some important medical info. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/5 "2013-08-09T00:00:08Z")
It just seems like the DNA test only brought pain and uncertainty to the man and his parents. Learning that the child you raised isn’t really yours has to hurt. It seems impossible now to ever find the original Paul Fronczak unless he’s registered in a DNA database. It seems like most of those databases are for known criminals. Not exactly a place parents would want to find their child. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/6 "2013-08-09T05:34:40Z")
What if the other parents got back the other kid? And that kid had a much better life? Just always winning things like being the ten thousandth customer. Catching home run balls at major league games his “dad” took him to see. Don’t look man, you don’t want to know. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/7 "2013-08-09T06:34:37Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > And that kid had a much better life? Just always winning things like being the ten thousandth customer. Catching home run balls at major league games his “dad” took him to see. This is what you call having a much better life? Just dumb luck happenstance? Don’t real accomplishments count for anything? ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/8 "2013-08-09T14:43:57Z")
Baby Paul 1.0 was abducted so I doubt he was raised by a privileged family. People who steal babies don’t tend to make the best decisions in life. Baby Paul 2.0 as found abandoned so I doubt his bio parents are searching for him. It is very possible the bio Dad doesn’t even know he exists. I don’t blame Paul 2.0 for wanting to find out for certain, and I don’t think it means he cares any less for his adoptive parents. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/9 "2014-03-16T03:29:49Z")
Just saw a hour-long update on this story on ABC. Holy crap. Anyone else watching tonight that had a big WTF at how apparently close this guy is to figuring it all out? And yet, hasn’t been able to put the pieces together? He locates, via a DNA database, a 3rd cousin. Apparently, she doesn’t seem to know how they could be related. (If she had any thoughts on the subject they were apparently left on the cutting room floor.) I mean, sure, someone might have dozens of 3rd cousins the approximate correct age. But it’s only dozens of possibilities, can’t anyone in her family remember a relative with a baby, and then suddenly NOT have a baby? How can this be a dead end!! And then locates a 2nd cousin! Who is himself adopted and seeking his birth family. Is he related to aforementioned 3rd cousin? They don’t say. Does her family know who HE is? They uncover his birth mom’s name, and still nothing? Crazy, that seems so dang close that a nosy person with Facebook could probably ferret out the story. Just give that family tree a good hard shake! Hard to believe ABC decided to take it to air with the story in such a state. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/10 "2014-03-16T03:44:50Z")
Paul 1.0 is living in Arizona. His name is now Nathan Jr. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/11 "2014-03-16T04:28:33Z")
This guy is a little… weird. > [@](#): > > [Desperate to find any connection to his biological family, Fronczak sent DNA samples to three genealogy websites: [23andMe.com](http://23andMe.com), [familytreedna.com](http://familytreedna.com) and [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com). The results, according to [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com), showed that Fronczak was 37 percent European-Jewish descent. It was his first indication of his real identity. > > “I was raised Roman Catholic,” he told “20/20.” “And I’m actually Jewish, so, it’s kind of cool. I have to learn a whole new religion now. I’m excited about that.”]([Stolen at Birth: Paul Fronczak Closer to Finding Possible Blood Relatives - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/US/stolen-birth-paul-fronczak-closer-finding-blood-relatives/story?id=22888623)) ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/12 "2014-03-16T04:34:18Z")
I had a good LOL at that, too. Also, the narcissistic letter he sent his parents, in which he assures them that it’s all about him! He seemed a bit perplexed at their negative reaction. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/13 "2014-03-16T13:26:45Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > This guy is a little… weird. And the thing about having the european jewish genetics is not that big a deal, back in the late 1700s and early 1800s many jewish families more or less drifted away from their communities through intermarriage with gentiles, and in Spain and Portugal there was a push from the 1300s to convert to catholicism. Well, not to discount the amount of casual bastardy that floats around as well. Humans are more or less hairless bonobos, some of us will screw anything with a semblence of a hole. And I can see how someone could have abandoned him and nobody the wiser - young girl leaves home to become a secretary in a bigger town/city, has an affair or rape, has a bastard out of wedlock without her family knowing anything about it, pops the kid out and leaves it in a box somewhere. Mainstay of b-list Hollywood movies and sob magazines. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/14 "2014-03-16T14:55:50Z")
I did think it interesting that some of the childhood pictures featured of the DNA 2nd cousin made it obvious that he was raised Jewish. (Bar Mitzvah pics) ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/15 "2015-07-04T16:17:37Z")
Looks like they’ve found a big piece of the puzzle. > **[I-Team: Man’s identity revealed, 50-year-old mystery solved](https://www.8newsnow.com/news/i-team-mans-identity-revealed-50-year-old-mystery-solved/)** > > A Nevada man who has been searching for his true identity finally has some answers. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/16 "2015-07-04T16:34:32Z")
What a sad story all around. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/17 "2015-07-04T16:45:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > t seems impossible now to ever find the original Paul Fronczak unless he’s registered in a DNA database. It seems like most of those databases are for known criminals. Not exactly a place parents would want to find their child. AFAIK, the two DNA databases where I’m listed are one for marrow donors and one of those ancestry sites. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/18 "2015-07-04T17:06:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It seems impossible now to ever find the original Paul Fronczak unless he’s registered in a DNA database. It seems like most of those databases are for known criminals. Not exactly a place parents would want to find their child. lol I’m in 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA and [Ancesty.com](http://Ancesty.com) because I am trying to identify certain unknown ancestors and maiden names by working backwards on the trees on my known matches until they intersect with mine. I haven’t heard of any criminals sending in their samples so they can be “registered”. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/19 "2015-07-04T17:10:01Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And I can see how someone could have abandoned him and nobody the wiser - young girl leaves home to become a secretary in a bigger town/city, has an affair or rape, has a bastard out of wedlock without her family knowing anything about it, pops the kid out and leaves it in a box somewhere. Mainstay of b-list Hollywood movies and sob magazines. But he was a one-year-old when he was found, not a newborn. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752/20 "2015-07-05T10:24:10Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Looks like they’ve found a big piece of the puzzle. > > [http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/i-team-mans-identity-revealed-50-year-old-mystery-solved](http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/i-team-mans-identity-revealed-50-year-old-mystery-solved) Wow. Truly bizarre story. > [@](#): > > He was one of five children. His parents are both deceased. Two siblings are still alive. But here’s the real shocker. > > “I also found out I have a twin sister. My name is Jack. My twin sister’s name is Jill. She’s missing” Fronczak said. > > "We have no record of what happened to her. Our research indicates that both her and I mysteriously disappeared before our second birthdays. I was found abandoned in Newark and we have nothing on Jill,” he added. > > The relatives he has contacted so far have told him dark tales about his parents. His birth father allegedly warned family members to never mention the twins. > > He was told that in one family photo album, a page devoted to the twins was literally ripped out. Birth records exist for his sister Jill, but no death certificate. > > And there is also the other mystery – what became of the biological Paul Fronczak, the baby kidnapped from the Chicago hospital? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-snatched-in-1964-returned-to-wrong-family/665752.md?page=2)