A “surreal” chain of events brought together two brothers who were unaware of one other’s existence. Randy Waites of California was watching local TV news when he found he had a long-lost sibling. He was watching a KCRA 3 programme on Lake Tahoe snowfall when he discovered the man being interviewed had the same surname as his.

Randy, who had never met his father, instantly questioned whether there was a link between him and Eddie Waites, who was being featured on TV because they had the same last name. Cambria, his daughter, verified his concerns.

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“I saw [Eddie’s] looks, and his eyes reminded me of my father. I began my search, looked up his name, and looked up anything I could think of,” KCRA was informed by her.

Soon later, the two chatted on the phone. “It simply connected, like we’d known one other for 20 years,” Randy remarked. “It’s simply incredible.”

Eddie, for one, was equally astonished, but the familial resemblance convinced him that he had indeed discovered his long-lost brother.

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“It was an immediate shiver all the way from my head to my toes,” Eddie Waites explained. “At first, I felt it was impossible. I recognised him after seeing a photograph of him. I saw our father. I had a feeling it was true.”

On Saturday, they met for the first time. A relative posted a photo from the encounter online.

The brothers are now trying to make up for the missed time. “I’ve never seen my father, and I’ve never seen a photo of him in my whole life,” Randy explained. “Eddie has been messaging me all kinds of material, photographs of my grandpa, and filling in on family history on that side that I never had.”

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“It’s almost like being out of the body,” Eddie continued. “Everything is unreal. It’s beyond words to have not just a brother but a family I had no idea existed. It’s incredible.”