Man discovers he had 8 siblings in RI

SWANSEA, Mass. ( WPRI) - Joe DiNocco’s biological history was a mystery until a change in the law allowed him to discover new branches on his family tree that now includes 8 siblings the 67 year old never knew he had.

“It’s just amazing,” the Rhode Island native said over the phone from Florida where he lives now. “I love it.”

And so does his daughter, Rhonda Correll, Swansea, Massachusetts and his newly found half-sister, Trish Lambert, West Warwick.

Lambert is one of 4 children Mary Andreano had after she gave birth to her youngest when she was 17 years old. Her parents would not let her keep him but she did have time to name him Joe. The birth certificate was not available to DiNocco until a new Rhode Island law went into effect in July.

“She told us about him but keeping a child (born out of wedlock) was just not done back then,” Lambert said. “We spent a long, long time looking for him.”

Correll said her father also often talked about wanting to find his biological family but had to balance that with hurting the feelings of his adoptive parents who he adored.

“And when he did start looking,” Correll said. “We kept running into brick walls.”

Until he was able to uncover his original birth certificate and his birth name. Correll said that development put the search into over drive.

• Application for a non-certified pre-adoption birth record                                                                        

"A lot of sleepless nights, a lot of research on the internet and a lot of crazy phone calls," she said.

What the DiNoccos didn’t know at the time was Joe’s birth mother had also spent countless hours looking for him.

“It was somebody missing. It was a puzzle piece missing that she couldn't find,” Lambert said. “My older sister who passed away, she was doing all the searches trying to find him.”

The breakthrough came the day the law went on the books which just happened to fall on the birthday of Joe’s adoptive mother. After some more research, Joe gave his long lost little sister the surprise voice message of her life.

“I called him back and I said are you the one who we've been looking for all these years,” Lambert said. “He cried. We cried.”

Joe, Correll and Lambert were in tears again while they talked about their search on the phone.

“To find out they were spending all that time looking for me?” he said. “Made me cry. Just thinking about it now fills me up.”

Joe has reached out to his father’s side of the family and discovered that Manny Vincent also had 4 children. Sadly, of his 8 siblings, Joe said 3 half sisters and 1 half brother are still alive. And oddly, Joe has discovered that he actually worked with Manny Vincent Jr. when they were employed by the City of Providence. He now knows Vincent was his half brother.

The whole family wants Joe back in Rhode Island for at least a visit but finances are slim. Still, they're hoping to find a way to bring him home to meet the loved ones he could only dream about.

“I've got to touch him. I’ve got to know he's really there,” Lambert said with a laugh that underscored tears of joy in her eyes.

“Oh my goodness gracious,” Correll added. “If he could be here yesterday, he would.”

“I think I'd give my right arm if I could get up there," DiNocco added, provoking more tears.

Rhode Island is one of 3 New England states that recently changed their laws regarding adoptee birth certificates, joining Maine and New Hampshire. But the debate rages on in other states including Connecticut.

Send your news tips to Walt Buteau at wbuteau@wpri.com and follow Walt on Twitter: @wbuteau