News You Can Use

(Image courtesy Castle Rock Entertainment)

Melonie Dodaro never knew who her biological father was, and at the age of 46 finally decided to do something about it:

Dodaro, who grew up with her mother, was curious about the identity of her biological father, but because his name — Cees de Jong — is fairly common in the Netherlands, she wasn’t sure she would ever find him.

“It’s like John Smith in North America,” she told CTV News.
According to Dodaro, her biological parents met at a dance in Brampton, Ontario, on March 2, 1968, and her father worked as a painter while he spent a few months staying in Canada.

Despite the long odds, Dodaro wrote a blog post and uploaded a video to her Facebook page discussing her father’s name, estimated age and birthplace of Zwolle, Netherlands. Within a few days, the post received more than 27,000 views.

A Dutch news organization picked up the story, and the tips poured in. Eventually, a news editor helped connect Dodaro with the man believed to be her father, who now goes by the name Colin.

“And he called me up and said, ‘Hello Melonie, this is Colin, your daddy,’” she said.

As it turns out, Colin lives in Thailand where he works as an Elvis impersonator.

You know… that’s pretty awesome, actually.