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Ancestry websites help Morristown family find 91-year-old brother

It started as a Facebook message: A Morristown family was reunited with the long-lost brother they never knew they had.

Ancestry websites helped connect a Morristown family with a brother they never knew they had.

"It started with a Facebook message," said Jonathon Bewley. "That my grandfather might have been their grandfather's father."

Bewley said he ignored the message at first, but he eventually saw a photograph.

"His grandfather looked exactly like my grandfather," Bewley said.

Bewley agreed to take a DNA test, and when he got the results -- it was undeniable.

"It lit up like a Christmas tree, proving that his grandfather Richard was, in fact, my uncle. He was the son of my grandfather."

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Richard Mihalek is 91 years old and lives in northern Wisconsin. He was born to a single mother in Cleveland, which is where the families believe Mihalek's mother met Ralph Bewely, Jonathon's grandfather. The families believe Mihalek's mother never told Ralph about the baby.

Mihalek served in the Army in World War II and later taught high school chemistry for many years. He has several children and more than a dozen grandchildren.

Now, he has five other living siblings.

"Never in his wildest dreams did he probably ever think this question would ever be answered," said Nathan Bitzer, Mihalek's grandson and the one who reached out to Bewley.

Bitzer said he was nervous to reach out to Bewley, but is glad he did. Bewely was also nervous to reveal the news to his family, but once they found out they wanted to reach out.

Bitzer and Bewely communicated throughout the past year and helped Mihalek Facetime with his siblings. Bitzer also sent the Bewley's an interview with Mihalek, detailing the story of his life and how he wanted to find out more about his family.

"As soon as he knew who his father was, he definitely wanted to talk to his siblings," Bitzer said.

Last week, Mihalek traveled to Morristown to meet his siblings in person. He ended up meeting a large part of the extended family as well.

"To see them light up and make that connection with them has been really special," Bewley said.

One of Bewley's aunts told him Mihalek reminded her of her father. Mihalek also got to see his father's grave, which was an emotional moment for the family.

"Reached out his hands and said, 'Well, here I am and there you are,' and it was kind of a closure for him," Bewley said.

"It's just kind of filled a hole in his life that I think was maybe missing," Bitzer said.

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