"To be reconnected with my father for the first time in almost 45 years, it's crazy," Puglia said.
[Ads /]
Puglia was raised as an only child by his maternal grandmother. He spent his entire life never knowing who is father was nor that he lived a town over in Pennsauken.
It wasn't until the birth of his first son that he and his wife decided to dig into the family's medical history.
And after an off-and-on 15-year search for his dad, the connection was made using Ancestry.com. Jack Wilhelm was his father.
"That conversation was very interesting. It's a little bit of disbelief at first because you don't know if it's true," Puglia said.
But a 99% DNA match, and the resemblance, was enough for Wilhelm.
[Ads /]
"I missed 45 years of his life. I obviously would have loved to have been there for his journey, but like I told him, he was my best kid because he gave me no trouble growing up," Wilhelm said.
While Puglia's birthday is next month, his family says they'll be celebrating a new birthday of August 22 - the day he found out his dad was Wilhelm.
----------
* More New Jersey news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube