Richard W. Connelly, Sr., was born illegitimate, abandoned at a strict, regimented Catholic orphanage and adopted out at age six, primarily to serve as a companion for the family's older son. Richard rose from a lonely, intimidating childhood to come forward with a passionate desire to find the mother and family he longed for as a child, but never knew. In his autobiography, Bloodline Detective, Connelly describes the genealogical search that led to reveal, at last, the shocking mystery of his roots.