Twice disappeared: Paul Joseph Fronczak realizes he's NOT kidnapped baby claimed by parents
For the last 49 years, Paul
Joseph Fronczak, pictured, has
not known his true identity after
being wrongly identified as a
baby kidnapped from a Chicago
hospital and reunited with the
wrong birth parents.
Imagine waking up not knowing
your name or your birthday - and
realizing that the parents who
raised you are not the people you
were led to believe.
That's been the reality for Paul
Joseph Fronczak, once named Scott
McKinley, for the last 49 or so
years.
"I don't know how old I am, or
who I am, or what nationality, all
those things you just take for
granted," Fronczak told 8NewsNow.
As far as anyone knows, he's the
baby found in 1965 on a street
corner in Newark. Until recently,
he was also believed to be Dora
and Chester Fronczak's child who
was abducted from a Chicago
hospital in 1964 only hours after
birth.
"Sixteen hours later, the nurse
comes in - someone dressed like a
nurse - and tells my mom, well,
tells Mrs. Fronczak, that the doctor
needs to see the baby," Paul
Fronczak told CBS.
Mrs Fronczak handed over her
baby boy and in any mother's
greatest nightmare, never saw him
again.
WCBS
The Fronczaks from Chicago,
pictured here with Paul Fronczak
as a child, mistakenly identified
him as their own baby after
theirs was stolen from a woman
dressed like a nurse and he was
found abandoned in 1965.
A year and a half later, on July 2,
1965 a baby boy, around the same
age as the Fronczak's child, was
discovered in a stroller outside a
Newark variety store with no
identification or claims from the
public.
He was taken to an orphanage and
named Scott McKinley.
It wasn't until the FBI took interest
in the case that they noticed a
similarity between both boys: their
ears.
"The FBI decided that because my
ears matched the Fronczak baby,
that I was probably the Fronczak
baby,"RELATED: WHITE DAD FALSELY
ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING OWN
BIRACIAL DAUGHTERS DURING
WALMART SHOPPING TRIP
Adding to the confusion, Dora
Fronczak immediately confirmed
upon seeing the 1-year-old that he
was her son.
WCBS
The FBI said it was the boy's
pointed ears, seen here, that
resembled the Fronczak's baby
taken from them, but that clue
ultimately mismatched the boy
to the parents in Chicago whom
the boy grew to look nothing
like.
At the time, it couldn't be proven
that this boy was the Fronczaks'
child — but with him needing a
home, and the parents certain, like
the FBI, that it was their child,
Dora and Chester Fronczak were
allowed to adopt him.
Fast forward many years later, the
mystery preceding Paul's memories
was first introduced to him from a
box of newspaper clippings he
happened upon in his house.
"It was all about me. I was
kidnapped," he exclaimed of that
astonishing moment.
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.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Fronczak, didn't want to discuss
the past.
"It was like, 'You don't need to see
that, you are our son,'" he recalled
of their reaction to the newspaper
reports.
WCBS
It wasn't until Paul grew up and
discovered a box of news articles
reporting his alleged kidnapping
that his suspiscions really took
off, eventually leading him to
take a DNA test that failed to
match him to the Kronczak
couple.
His questions were pushed aside
until several years later he moved
to Henderson, Nev., and got
married, starting his own family
with a child of his own.
It was then he decided to take
matters into his own hands and
purchased a DNA test at a drug
store.
When his parents were in town
visiting, he approached them on
the matter, asking if they'd submit
to the testing with him. They did.
RELATED: GEORGIA TEEN FAKES
KIDNAPPING TO HIDE FLUNKING
ENGLISH
When the results came back, the
Fronczaks' lives changed, once
again, forever.
"'There is no remote possibility
that you are the Fronczak baby,'"
Paul recalled the DNA technician
saying. "And I was like, 'Wow.'"
WCBS
Paul Fronczak today still calls his
parents, pictured with him here,
his own but hopes to find out
who he really is and possibly
where their baby went to.
It took Paul some time to reveal
the results to his parents, then
around the ages of 82 and 80, he
said.
He felt assured that even though it
would "throw them for a loop,"
they too would be happy to know
the truth.
He wrote them a letter.
"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," he told them.
He's now on a mission to find his
parents' biological son as well as
his own identity by spreading word
of his story with the help of news
reports and even a Facebook page
where the public can get in on
solving his 49-year-old mystery.
"I just think it would be really
cool, if we actually found the real
kidnapped baby. It would be nice
to have a happy ending for once,"
Paul said.
