He Deserved Answers
He felt a lump in his throat form as he stared at the familiar picture. It was definitely him, just 32 years younger. But why was he on a missing child’s database? His foster parents always refused to talk to him about his origins. Was this why?
The report said he was last seen with his mother on June 21ist, 1977. Reports say he was taken away, was he really? What were his foster parents hiding from him? He knew he deserved answers.
Ordinary Life
He lived a mostly ordinary life, at least in his adult years. He had overcome a lot in his childhood, or at least that’s what his foster parents told him. He couldn’t remember much from it at all.
There were secrets from his childhood that he couldn’t quite remember. He never thought much about it. He preferred to try and look ahead. He has had a great life ever since he was adopted.
Stanley Peterson
Stanley Peterson was an ordinary 33-year-old living in Portsmouth, Virginia. He knew he was adopted, his foster parents wanted to be open and honest with him from the very start, or that’s at least what they told him.
Even though they told him he was adopted, they didn’t tell him much else about his childhood. They shot uncomfortable glances at one another whenever he’d asked about his birth parents. But he had no idea how deep the truth was buried.
A Good Life
Even though Stanley knew nothing about his past, he didn’t ever want to seem ungrateful. His foster parents gave him a good life. He couldn’t complain. He had a roof over his head and a lot more than that.
He could never even think about his foster parents in a bad light, but that’s why he was ignorant of the truth. But one day, he would find out exactly what secrets were kept from him.
Everything He Could Ask For
Stanley could still fondly remember a lot about his adolescence. His first kiss at 16, his first car from his foster parents at 18. He even remembered being chaperoned by them to his prom.
He had everything he could have ever asked for. But even then, he felt a small void start to open up as he grew older. He had no idea where his origins were, but he had no idea that the truth would change his life forever.
Leaving The Nest
Stanley’s foster parents even paid for his tertiary education. This meant he got a teaching degree at 23 and even managed to find a job at a local school and move out.
He was sad to leave his parents behind but had to leave the nest. After ten years of living alone, though, he drew some conclusions that didn’t add up. Where did he come from? It had now turned into a burning question he thought about every day.
Research
He did some research of his own. He knew his foster parents were never comfortable with him asking about his biological parents, so he decided to do independent research on the matter.
After months of looking through the records of numerous orphanages in his city, he couldn’t find anything. It was strange, but then he got a phone call from an anonymous source. He had no idea what he was about to hear.
A Clue
After asking at a few orphanages around the city and even looking through their records, it seems that his research didn’t go unnoticed. One night, he got a phone call from an anonymous caller.
They didn’t say much, just that if he wanted to know more about his past, he should go to a specific website. They said that would be all that he would need, and then they quickly hung up. But Stanley had no idea what dark secret he was about to find out.
A Website
Stanley was shaken by the conversation. He was worried. Who had been watching him? Still, his morbid curiosity got the better of him. He was in too deep to back out now.
He opened his laptop and fired up his browser. He had no idea what to expect. But it was pretty worrying from what the caller had said. He was about to open a web page to a database of missing people. Why on Earth would he get answers there?
Missing Children
He clicked on the website and saw hundreds of missing children. He kept searching, not really knowing what to expect. But at least he was given another clue by the stranger.
They told him to look up an exact date. June 1977. There were a few entries from that month and year, but he managed to find what he was supposed to. He just couldn’t believe what he was looking at.
A Familiar Face
He felt a lump in his throat form as he stared at the familiar picture. It was definitely him, just 32 years younger. But why was he on a missing child’s database? His foster parents always refused to talk to him about his origins. Was this why?
The report said he was last seen with his mother on June 21ist, 1977. Reports say he was taken away, was he really? What were his foster parents hiding from him? He knew he deserved answers.
Blood Boiled
His blood boiled. He trusted them his entire life just to end up on a missing child’s database. He decided he could only do one thing - confront them with the evidence that he had. He knew it could destroy his relationship with them, but what choice did he have?
Thankfully he didn’t live too far from his foster parents. He drove for 40 minutes before arriving at their home. They were now retired and would be home. He even used their spare remote and keys they had given him.
Confrontation
Stanley confronted his parents in the living room. He interrupted their BBC nature show they were watching on their laptops. He showed them his missing person’s report and begged them for answers. But his foster mother would break down crying.
She tried explaining through sobs. It was hard to understand what she was trying to say, but then his foster father stepped in. He laid out everything that they had kept from him.
The Truth
They sat down and spoke for hours, explaining everything. They explained how they had found him in a stroller abandoned at Daniel K. Inouye Airport while they were on vacation. They tried to find his mother, but it was no use.
With no one claiming him and there already being a problem with orphans in Hawaii, they decided to take him back home. They got all of the proper papers and adopted him. The reason why he couldn’t find his records was that they weren’t in any local orphanage he checked. Now it made sense.
Why Missing?
It seems that Stanley’s original surname was Barnes. He still couldn’t understand why he was reported missing. It must have been his mother that filed the report, and somehow no one ever figured out that he was adopted under a different name.
With the truth now in his hands, Stanley forgave his foster parents. They were the people who raised him, after all. But now, he had information that could finally fill the void in his heart. He would be able to track down his mother.