Lost letter reunites father and son decades later

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (KABC) -- An elderly Michigan man has been united with his son for the first time, thanks to the recent discovery of a long-lost letter.

At 81 years old, Tony Trapani of Grand Rapids says he feels like a new dad. His 61-year-old son, Samuel Childress, is in his arms for the first time.

Childress' mother sent Trapani a letter in 1959, saying her then 5-year-old son was his child. But Trapani never received it. He says his wife intercepted the letter and hid it in a filing cabinet all these years.

Trapani came across the letter after his wife passed away.

Childress said his mother told him that she had sent the letter and he assumed his father chose to ignore him.