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The Foundling

The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me

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The Foundling

By: Paul Joseph Fronczak, Alex Tresniowski, Paul Joseph Fronczak - introduction
Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
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About this listen

This is the inspiring and “page-turning” (Booklist) true story of a man who discovered that he had been kidnapped as a baby—and how his quest to find out who he really is upturned the genealogy industry, his own family, and set in motion the second longest cold case in US history.

In 1964, a woman pretending to be a nurse kidnapped an infant boy named Paul Fronczak from a Chicago hospital.

Two years later, police found a boy abandoned outside a variety store in New Jersey. The FBI tracked down Dora Fronczak, the kidnapped infant’s mother, and she identified the abandoned boy as her son. The family spent the next fifty years believing they were whole again—but Paul was always unsure about his true identity.

Then, four years ago—spurred on by the birth of his first child, Emma Faith—Paul took a DNA test. The test revealed that he was definitely not Paul Fronczak. From that moment on, Paul has been on a tireless mission to find the man whose life he’s been living—and to discover who abandoned him, and why.

Poignant and inspiring, The Foundling is a story about a child lost and a faith found, about the permanence of families and the bloodlines that define you, and about the emotional toll of both losing your identity and rediscovering who you truly are.
Entertainment & Celebrities True Crime Celebrity Disappearance Fiction Mystery Abduction
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I loved everything about this book it had me from start to finish I just couldn't put it down.

Awesome Awesome Awesome

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This story had me captured trying to find the answer to two puzzles. I was left somewhat frustrated that all the answers had not been found. I wait to see whether a sequel is written with some answers about what happened to the stolen baby.

Sunrise

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Some People like Paul/Simon/Jack have exhaustive stories.
A message for Paul/Simon/Jack 'you are a being with many names. You are all identities all rolled into one. A truly amazing soul who faced every truth. Be Free now believing this.'

Amazing Determination despite All.

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All families have their secrets. This is a very moving book which I enjoyed thoroughly. We will never truly understand what may have motivated Paul's parents to abandon him.
Like it or not as humans we have a drive to find our biological parents which can sometimes be painful, sometimes a happy event. With the help of some dna detectives and great genealogy site Paul takes us on his adventure and shares his ups and downs as he discovers more about his identity. I highly recomend this story.

Family secrets - an intriguing tale with twists and turns

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Really interesting story, however I wasn't a fan of the narration. It's strange listening to an autobiography not read by the author, with the narrator putting on voices and having different emotional intimations in his voice when the story is not his. The emotion is not his, so I found it awkward to listen to at times which detracted from the story. It also wasn't very well done so detracted even further. I should have just read it rather than listened.

Great story

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