Steve Carter knew he had been adopted in Hawaii, but an online search revealed something he had never expected: a missing-child case that might be his own. In 2010, he found an age-progressed portrait on MissingKids.com that resembled his adult face.
The record concerned a baby named Marx Panama Moriarty Barnes. Carter contacted police in Honolulu, and his adoptive family supplied the information they had. DNA testing eventually confirmed the match. The resemblance was the starting point, but the test established the connection.
In a 2012 CNN interview, Carter explained that he took time to absorb the discovery before contacting his biological father and half sister. He had known the confirmation since the previous autumn and reached out in February. A photograph had opened an unexpected door into his past; deciding how to build those new relationships was a separate, personal step.
Sources: transcripts.cnn.com abcnews.com