Now he's searching for his long lost mother, or anyone who might have information surrounding the details of his birth.
Twenty-nine-year-old CJ Walter-Hague always knew he was adopted.
"I couldn't have better parents. I love my mother and my father, my brother is awesome. I have a great family," he said.
CJ's adoptive parents shared the story of how he was found with him when he was in his teens, "it wasn't until I was 16 that my parents told me that I was actually abandoned as a child."
About 6 months ago, he began a search to find answers first finding clues at the New York City Library on microfiche in a New York Post article but then he and his close friend Mandy Anderson used social media to contact those sources they did not find much cooperation. "Everyone she spoke to was on the defense don't call, we don't know about the story, we don't' know anything. One person even hung up on her." CJ also requested the NYPD police report and asked about what evidence was found during the investigation at that time.
CJ also reached out to EWN to share his story and help fill in the blanks.
"I thought I was found in a dumpster it was a scenario created in my mind," he said.
But instead of a dark alley, when we returned to the spot where he was found, we discovered a working class neighborhood in Whitestone, Queens. We knocked on doors but neighbors recalled little more than the shock of a baby being found on their quiet street so long ago.
One couple, now in their 80s, recalled the girls living in the home back then and one of them being sick at home when she found the baby in the backyard. But no one on the street had any idea where the baby came from back then.
"From the police investigation and article I was found in the back yard here," Walter-Hague said. "I know who lived at the house, that there were 3 girls that were in the age of giving birth."
CJ suspects someone from that house knows more. Eyewitness News tracked the woman that actually found him the day he was born - Angela Zolla Mott now living in Farmingville, Long Island. He was a newborn the last time she saw him. "GET OUT Awesome. Oh my God." Now a mother of two herself.. Anglea was just 19 years old in 1985 and remembers being sick with a fever and home alone that day. "I heard a noise and something made me go in the back yard and what the heck is this I saw something moving in the grass I picked up the baby." The police came and did an investigation, including asking questions of her entire family.
CJ asked Angela, "Did you ever have any suspicion of who it was? Why you, why your house and why the back yard?" Angela responded, "I don't know, I wish I could help you."
After meeting the woman who found him, CJ said, "I don't know what to think. She didn't seem like she was hiding anything though. It brought up more questions and I'm still going to search, it's just another piece to the puzzle."
CJ says he's looking for genetic information and peace of mind and has so many questions he wants answered, "Was it a young mother was it someone that was scared was it someone that just couldn't deal with me? Was it a criminal? There's just so many blanks I want to fill in."
Solving the mystery or not CJ is forever grateful for the woman that did raise him he was her first Mother's Day Gift 29 years ago.
"There's no one in this world that I respect more than my mother I owe everything I am today. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for that woman I'm getting emotiona," she said.
CJ hopes someone will see his story and offer up more clues. And what if he never knows? "There will always been this emptiness," he said.
He's still searching for his birth mother or birth father. He's turning to DNA databases and if you have a clue or want to reach out to CJ we've linked to his facebook at 7online. NYPD has taken an interest in this cold case but the statute of limitations is up so no criminal charges would be filed. The investigation back then did not have the DNA technology that would be used in a case today.
Sources for birth mothers wanting to place a child for adoption:
Amy Freeze is the mother of 3 children adopted at birth from agencies where the birth mother choses the family. The process for birth parents to place children now is much different than it was in 1985. CJ understands that and he's hoping that someone will come forward - even if they want to do it confidentially with him one on one CJ's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cj.walterhague?fref=ts&ref=br_tf
Sources for birthmothers wanting to place a child for adoption:
http://ichooseadoption.org/category/birthmothers
http://www.jfcs.org/services/individuals-couples/adoption-connection
http://www.ccannj.com/adoption_services.php
Sources for children seeking their birthparents:
