Colorado Woman Finds Father After 40 Years
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - Jyll Justamond lives in Littleton, but was born and raised in New Jersey.
"I always had a void," Justamond said. "I didn't know growing up knowing that my family was not my biological family."
At 10 years old, she learned her parents were actually her grandparents, and her half-sister turned out to be her biological mother.
For decades, her biological father's identity remained a mystery.
"[My mom said] his name is Al, he's Italian, and he worked at the bar where (my mom) used to hang out, the bar was called Neary's, and he was a bartender there," Justamond said.
After years of failed attempts to find him, Justamond started to search on Facebook.
"I found a nostalgia page on Facebook called 'Palisades Park- I grew up here,' and that's where the bar was so it was my first connection," Justamond said.
The owner of the bar responded, and unlocked 30 years of mystery within minutes.
"He said 'Oh yeah, Al Annunziata,'" Justamond said.
Al Annunziata spent 40 years looking for her, too.
"She said you might know my biological mother, her name is Linda, and I said 'Yeah, and now I'm really scared, my heart is pounding.'"
Paternity test results revealed there was a 99.9964 percent chance Al was her father.
"It was like I was talking to another part of myself, it was a connection I've never had with anyone in my life before," Justamond said.
Last weekend, they met for the first time in New Jersey.
"It felt completely natural, like I had been hugging him my whole life," Justamond said.
Despite years of missed memories, both agree nothing will ever compare to Father's Day 2017.
"I get to call my dad and say Happy Father's Day, and that'll be the first time I get to do that, and it'll feel really good," Justamond said.
Andrea Flores is a reporter for CBS4. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter @AndreaFloresTV.
