Long-Lost Son Beckons Father to Manila Reunion

After 18 years, Barry Bauer says he has found his long-lost son--in a slum in the Philippines where the youth has been scrounging for food in garbage cans most of his life.

Bauer, who said he was stationed near the Philippine capital of Manila during the mid-1960s and had a son by a woman there, discovered the boy was living in the slums after the youth showed an old California driver’s license bearing his father’s picture to a Swedish tourist.

“I checked it out and it sounds like he’s my kid. His name is Barry Lewis Bauer Jr.,” the elder Bauer said. “I hope to God no one is playing a trick on me. I put every penny I have into making this trip and going after my son.”

Bauer, 37, is a lithography cameraman who is divorced and has a 15-year-old son by that marriage. He lives alone in San Jose and said the existence of his other son has haunted him for 18 years.

“I was so upset I tried to commit suicide a couple of times,” Bauer said.