Finding my father will be right back. This is a special edition of nightline. Face to face finding my father. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. Amanda holdingness has felt incomplete. Raised by a single mother, grandmother, and god parents. Shes never known her father and spent years searching for him in vain. Tonight her sto happy ending. Heres abcs elizabeth vargas. Im so nervous right now. I cannot wait until i get that call. Reporter amanda holdingness life is about to change. On the other end of that call hey, there. Hey, how are you . Reporter someone with an answer to a question shes been asking her whole life. Are you ready . Yes, maam. Reporter who is her father . Happy birthday reporter we started following her quest to find him two years ago. A doting mother herself with her own son making his birthday wishes. Moments that hearken back to her own childhood of birthday wishes. Wishes that have always been the same. To find her dad. I wanted to have a father that i would be the apple of his eye. You know, i wanted daddys girl. Reporter her mother had given her a name for the man she believed was amandas father. But other details were scarce. She described him having dark brown hair and i was thinking about elvis. Reporter and amanda says she described a man who wasnt thrilled to learn at the time that he was going to be a father. So amandas single mother moved back home to mississippi to raise amanda with the help of her own family, never to hear from him again. The absence of a father was felt all the time, but especially painful for amanda on her wedding day. Ive always seen ladies walk down the aisle with their father. And i never got it. Reporter so when she saw investigative genealogist pam slaton featured on 20 20, helping people find biological relatives. Youre so beautiful. Reporter she reached out. We were like amazed how she found longlost loved ones. This is how it happens. My stats are broken up by current, not feeling it, driving me crazy. Reporter pam, who is also a consultant for abc news, was confident she could help amanda. So she took on her case, which she thought seemed simple enough. All i did was give her five things about where he was from, where he lived when they met i put in the biological fathers name. She called me, guess what . I said what . She said, i found him. I just i started crying. I said, are you serious . She said, yes. Reporter but amandas happiness is short lived. They did a dna test just to be sure. When i sat down with amanda just a few months later, she says the results were shocking. It came back saying that he wasnt my father. That must have b devastating for you. Yeah. Youve been told all your life that this man was your father. And he wasnt. No. Did you want to give up . At first i did. Reporter pam slaton stuck with her after the crushing news. She headed down to mississippi to see her in person. And we are off reporter pam also wants to meet with amandas mother who she hoped could offer a morsel, a memory, something that could help put her on the right path. It would be crucial to get her to talk about when she got pregnant, when she was just 24 years old, living with her sister. She was serving in the national guard. Still in school, trying to figure her life out. When she found out she was pregnant. When i sit down with her ill see if shes being genuine and just doesnt really know, or is she trying to keep you from the truth for another reason we dont know about. Hi, honey, how are you . Doing good. Oh my god, this is beautiful. Let me look i wasnt having kids. She was a miracle. Reporter amandas mother reveals she was with more than one man during the time amanda was conceived. I was wild when i was young. I guess in a way i was looking for that love that i didnt have. I think its amazing that you have the courage to sit here and talk about this. I can see you genuinely want to help amanda. I believe that your hearts in the right place. Reporter another man comes into focus. Amandas mother offers up Samuel Skinner. Samuel, i lived with him before. You had a relationship with him prior . Right. I will be right back. Reporter pam returns with Contact Information for Samuel Skinner and the case again appears to be wrapped up. I want you to make the phone call. Its scary but ill get you through it. Reporter pam coaches amanda. What she says could make or break her chance to make a connection with her potential birth father. I want he agrees to do a dna test. Im just you dont want to say . I dont want to say. I just really hope my journey ends here. When you met samuel for the first time, what was that like . He kept on doing this. And he kept on i was like, why are you staring at me like that . Hes like, girl, you are a spitting image of your mama. No matter how it turns out reporter their meeting is just the beginning of the bonding between amanda and the possible father shes always been hoping for. But shes careful not to get her hopes up too high, having already been down this road once before. You hope you are her biological dad this. Well, yes, who wouldnt . I mean, want a 30yearold daughter thats not going to talk back to you no more, have them home, you know. Who wouldnt want that . Reporter the test results are in a few weeks later. Amanda is at pams house to find out. The outcome is shocking. So, amanda. I know youve been down a long, long road. He is not your birth father. Its coming up negative. Sorry. You all right . I know. Youve been down a long, tough road. Okay. To have this girl who was so excited to finally put this behind her, and to give her this devastating news that it wasnt a match was not an easy job to do. Reporter amanda calls sam, who was anxiously awaiting the news. Hello . Hey, samuel . Yeah, this amanda . Yeah, this is amanda. Whats going on . Well they told me what the results are with the dna. Okay. And . Its not good. I havent even called mama yet to let her know. Well, maybe you need to accept it yourself. Ill try and give your father advice. You dont know which way to go now. Amanda, go with what youre feeling. I hope you dont stop your search. Especially youre going for something you need. Dont let people discourage you. Reporter sam tells amanda hes ready to stay in her life even though hes not her birth father. Take care now. Byebye. Thanks. Thats the second man ive said that to. Which speaks to who you are. You have two m t love with you and would love to have you as a daughter. Reporter overwhelmed, amanda grapples with her feelings. I will remain committed to you and getting to the bottom of this, i promise you. On my word, i promise you that i will do everything in my power to help you. Reporter the owner of the dna Database Company that amanda did her tests with offers another possible step. If your mother would be willing to do a dna test, we can do what we call a triangulation. Reporter its a hail mary. How distant a relative can there be in your data bank . For you to have the beginnings of a thread for pam to follow . We need to find a third cousin or closer. We could find siblings of your great grandfathers childrens children. Which would be lots of people today. When nightline returns, the key that finally unlocks the answers. Now are you ready . That amandas wanted her whole life. My name is amanda and ive never met my father and i want answers. Reporter after two devastating false leads, Amanda Holdiness is still determined to find her biological father. Its just its been an emotional roller coaster. Reporter now she has new hope. Her mother offers her own dna so that her blood relatives will be eliminated from the pool of matches. That investigative genealogist, pam slaton, will search in the ancestry. Com database. Lets see whos sharing this dna. Its like searching for a pot of gold, in a weird way. Reporter after sifting out amandas maternal biological relatives, she can now focus only on the paternal dna matches. It leaves her with only two second cousin matches. So i had to figure out the common denominator between those matches and i was able to come up with the name, a last name of hurt. Reporter a new last name. A huge breakthrough. Pam runs with it compiling a list of a half dozen ageappropriate men in wyoming with that last name. She sends amanda the list. I want this chapter to be over with. Reporter a hopeful amanda jumps on facebook to track down photos of the men. There is one photo that she is drawn to in particular. You see the facial features. I mean, you see the lips. Reporter she messages that man. And halfway across the country there i was minding my own business and this thing pops up. Reporter a man named larry herot is on the receiving end of her questions. I he tells her, yes, he knew her mom in the 1980s. I had one question. Was your mother ever in the Army National guard . She goes, yes. I wanted to cry, i wanted to jump up and down. He actually knows my mother. Reporter larry says she dated for a month but he didnt know she had gotten pregnant. Loved her to death. Strong woman. And i appreciated that. The red hair got me. I love redheads. Reporter however, amandas mother vivian says she doesnt remember larry at all. He was a truck driver back then. Just as he is today. Working out of a small city called casper with four Adult Children of his own. There we go. Were ready to rock and roll, kiddies. Reporter now larry herot becomes the potential fathers to agree to a dna test. Its been probably about two and a half weeks since he sent it in. Reporter it is an excruciating wait. Amanda is about to get the call giving her the latest test results. Im so nervous right now. I cannot wait till i get that call. Hey, there. Hey. How are you. So are you ready . Yes, maam. Whats your gut telling you . My guts telling me that hes the one. Guess what. What . He is your father. He is . He is. Oh my god. Giving me goosebumps. Thank you so much. You must be so relieved. I just knew it. I just had that gut feeling that he was the one. You never had that before, did you . No. Is he on standby now waiting for the call to come in . Yes. Well, then why dont i give you a kiss. Thank you so much. Thank you, amanda, love you, honey. Love you too. Byebye. Oh, god. God, let me call him. Hello. Daddy . Yes, maam. Youre my daddy. I am . Yes. Yes . Reporter they promise to meet soon. Okay, sweetie. Okay, love you. Love you too. Okay, byebye. The chapters closed now. I have a daddy. I cant wait to see him. I cant wait to see him. Now a new chapter for amanda begins. She and husband mack have traveled to wyoming to meet her dad. I know ill be really happy to see her. And to hold my little girl. Im tearing up now. Just thinking about it. I just cant wait to show her how much i love her. Its going to be good. Reporter they are finally about to be face to face. The embrace amanda has waited for for a lifetime. Oh, finally. Yeah, finally. I have another piece of my heart that has been mended. I knew something was missing. And i finally found it. My boy. Twins, really. Pretty much. I look just like you. Im telling you. Reporter over the next several hours, we were with them. Larry literally did not leave amandas side. This is amanda. This is richard. Reporter bringing her to work. Great to meet you. Hi. Reporter later at dinner, amanda would meet her uncle. How are you doing . Doing good. Reporter larry momentarily leaves amandas side so his brother can chat with his newfound niece. Youve got to move, youve got to trade with me now. Reporter that seating arrangement doesnt last long. You can sit with your reporter after 32 years apart, these two plan on savoring every moment they can now spend together. Im so happy right now. This is awesome. Reporter for nightline, im elizabeth vargas. Our thanks to elizabeth vargas. Well be right back. Finally tonight, it was American WriterDennis Waitly who said, dont dwell on what went wrong. Focus on what happens next. You can see more stories involving investigative genealogist pam slaton online at abcnews. Com. Thank you for watching abc news and as always were online on our nigh here at millionaire, there are no Second Chances. If you get a question wrong, youre done. Except for this week, because every day, were bringing back some players whose first time here didnt go so well, and were giving them another try at the million dollars. Its Second Chance week on who wants to be a millionaire. [dramatic music] Second Chance week here on who wants to be a millionaire. [cheers and applause] todays Second Chance contestant is the ultimate millionaire fan whos been dreaming of a Second Chance for the last year. From louisville, kentucky, please welcome back my man jerry ellis. How are you, buddy . Hello, chris. Good to see you. Good to see you too. Thank you. Now, jerrys been trying to get back here for Second Chance week for a while. How bad did you want to be back here . What were you pulling . Bad enough that, uh, i left home, drove to another city, and auditioned again. Which youwhich you cant do because you were already on the show, but you went and auditioned i auditioned. I passed the test. I had the interview. The, uhyeah, the interview. And, uh then our people said, wait a minute. Jerry. Then i was discovered, yeah. Yeah. What are you doing . You, uh dont we remember you . Yeah, we remember you. And, uh. And you told em, hey,