New Yorker Meets Sister After 57 Years

Fifty-seven years ago, a boy was born to an Italian woman who died soon after. He was adopted by Americans and his sister was sent to live with an uncle. Now, Peter Hart is 57 years old, and he's about to meet his 72-year-old sister, Liliana Bonato, for the first time, the New York Daily News reports. The two were reconnected after a friend of Bonato's contacted former Pentagon intelligence analyst Marc Garlasco, who took on the task for free. After losing his own nephew, "I wanted to help bring a family back together again," Garlasco says.

Hart, who was aware he had a sister, got an email from Garlasco last week saying his "family in Italy is looking for him." At first, Hart and his wife thought the email might be from a hacker. "I almost deleted it, but I opened it and saw a picture of myself." Garlasco "knew details only I would know." The former analyst had tracked him for three months before posting a note on Facebook that led him to Hart. Now, Hart and Bonato have been video-chatting, despite the language barrier. "There was no need to talk. All they did was look at each other and cry," Hart's wife says. Her husband is going to visit Bonato in Italy this summer. (More Peter Hart stories.)