Searching for them. He wanted them. Reporter obsessed with finding his missing children, from when hed been a young Army Sergeant in south korea, another country, another lifetime ago. The twins hed been forced to leave behind but could never forget. You had no way of knowing it that day, as you boarded the plane, that was the last time you would see your children. They were taken away from me. Reporter but if anyone can bring them back together again, this woman can a professional people searcher that 20 20 brought in. This will be okay. Reporter she is his last, best hope his only hope. Hes been through hell and back. Work with me. Lets make this right. Reporter so tonight, come a 45yearold cold case, a mad dash across two continents and all the detective work. Lets see how persuasive i can be. Reporter the detours. Nobody called you to say your kids are being adopted . Well, thats bull they could have been separated. Reporter the blind alleys and brandnew leads. Im coming. Youre not getting rid of me. Reporter the hope and the heartache. So messed up. I found both of them. No way. Way. They are both alive. Oh, my god reporter the unforgettable emotion of a family about to be reunited. Are you ready to meet your twins . Tonight on 20 20, the searchers. Im elizabeth vargas. And im david a story thats quite fitting as so many families come together. Alan thomas serveduny in viel facebook, and asked how theyima 20 20. T young lady i want to talk to. Im the girl, hopefully for the job. Y mossyrock, washington, to join forces with former Sergeant Allen thomas. The retired veteran fought for his country. Now, pam vows to fight for him. If i dont get the answers i want, ill work my way to the top. But i can assure you that if anyones going to try hard its going to be me. So that much i can guarantee you, okay . Its fair enough, i reckon. Come on in. Reporter allens daughter eg nice to meet you. You okay . These are fo reporter pam brings flowers and hugs, and hope. This will be okay, this will be okay. My names pamela slaton. Im an investigative genealogist, and my passion is reuniting people. I put in the biological fathers name. Reporter you may remember pams work in a previous episode heartwarming, sometimes heartstopping revelations about missing loved ones. On a neverending search for the missing pieces of peoples lives. With her husband mike at the wheel, pams personal story is never far from her mind. She too was adopted and tracked down her birth mother. Now shes putting her years of experience to work for allen thomas. His story begins in 1966, the year of bonanza, the beaes and the baltimore orioles. But half a world away, south korea is still a divided and dangerous country with its hairtrigger demilitarized zone. That is where the u. S. Army sent this 19yearold g. I. To work on helicopters. Had you ever been overseas before . No, no, the first time i had been overseas, i excited in a way and scared, uh, homesick. Reporter korea had a thriving nightlife luring all those Young American servicemen. And allen soon met a woman at the noncommissioned officers club. Her name was sunkeum. But he had a very american nickname for his new companion. He called her connie. She was five years older than him, with a son from a previous relationship named jame. What was she like . Short, petite. Reporter mmhmm. Very nice. Reporter then connie got pregnant. Was that a surprise . Yeah. Yeah. It was great surprise far as i was concerned, i think it was with her, too. And, you know, so yeah, i was all for it, you know . Reporter when the time came, september 10th, 1967, allen rushed connie to the hospital in and when did you find out it was twins . Oh, we didnt find out it was twins till she had them. Reporter are you kidding . No. Wow, i remember that day, yeah. Reporter what was it like setting eyes for the first time on these two little babies . I loved it. I got a family right now. I was really super proud. Reporter connie and the proud father named the twins sandra and james. About a year later, as soon as the military would allow it, allen married connie and adopted her older son, jame. Judging by the old photos, the twins and their big brother were inseparable. Yeah, really fond, fond memories. Reporter but when his tour in korea ended, allen says he could not get his new family back to the united states. The twins were already american citizens with passports, but there was a problem with passports for connie and jame. Allen figured it was just a matter of time and red tape. And we were corresponding and she kept asking for money so i kept sending her money. Reporter how often would you hear from her . You know, thinking back on it, every time i heard from her seemed like she wanted more money. Reporter allen wanted to get back to korea and his family so badly he volunteered to serve in vietnam, now a war at its worst, 30 days leave in korea. More than 11,000 americans would be killed in 1969 in vietnam. Back home, the Antiwar Movement with its protest songs was in full swing. You asked to go to vietnam in 1969 . Oh, yes, maam. I figured if i went over there, i would extend, then id go to korea and get this situation squared away. Reporter you were hoping to be able to visit korea, visit your children. Visit korea, yeah, and see whats going on. Reporter and visit connie, and see whats going on. But when he finally got to korea, more than a year had passed, and while he loved seeing the children, things with connie were strained. A lot of things had changed. Reporter like what . Our relationship. I could tell right off, and i sensed that things were different. Reporter he still remembers the day he had to leave to return to the war. Connie, the twins and jame went with him to the airport. I said my goodbyes, but when i turned and started walking on the plane, you know very hard. Reporter it was hard . Just hard. Reporter why . Because youd had that special 30 days with your kids and i couldnt turn around. Reporter why . Because i i wouldnt leave. Reporter theres a snapshot from that day allen has saved all these years. It shows little james saluting his dad the sergeant. You had no way of knowing it that day, as you boarded the plane back for vietnam, but that was the last time you would see your children. Mmhmm. Yeah. Reporter allen kept sending support, including u. S. Savings bonds, until his letters began bouncing back from korea. And then he heard from connie one last time. She wrote offering to hand over the twins now 7 years old if allen would come get them. At that time i had just w through a bankruptcy, it was really hard, and there was just no way i could get, get over there. Reporter thats when allen says connie vanished, somewhere in south korea, taking the children with her. He couldnt even find her to serve the divorce papers. Army, married a woman in his home town and began raising a family in colorado. Went to work as a machinist in a factory. But even with his growing family in the united states, allen never forgot about that family in south korea. My mom had helped my dad search for so long, they did everything they could with the resources that they had. But always seemed to run into roadblocks. Reporter four decades worth of roadblocks, but they are no match for searcher pam slaton. Help this man. Have compassion. Hes been through hell and back. Work with me. Lets make this right. Reporter when we come back, a tearstained letter that reveals stunning news about the whereabouts of allens twins. Are they closer than allen ever realized . Stay with us. Its a good thing that you are working with humana and your doctor to maintain your health. Becae you are going to be 67. And on that day you will walk into a room where 15 people will be waiting. 12 behind the sofa, 2 behind the table and 1 and a half behind a curtain. Family surprise but only one of them will make a life long dream come true. Great things are ahead of you when your health is ready for them. At humana, we can help you with a personalized plan for your health for years to come. Then moisturize with isaveeno® skin relief. With oat oil and natural shea butter, it softens and smooths extra dry skin and lasts for 24 hours. Aveeno®. Naturally beautiful results® ted a 10speed directshift crafted interior. Lye. All of these are feats codistribution. Theit. Is a feat of amazing. Experience the firstever 471horsepower lexus lc 500 or the multistage hybrid lc 500h. Experience amazing. Since i came to know you baibe ive been telling you how sweet youre. Ive been telling you how good youre. Please tell me how i look. You look so good, fantastic man. 20 20 continues. Once again, elizabeth vargas. Reporter the epic story of a soldier searching for his twins now leaps across time and distance from an Army Airfield in 1960s south korea, to the present day and a home in south jersey. Thats where we find pam slaton. And thats where she finds lost loved ones. Theres probably 15, 20 cases in there. Reporter pam slaton is an author and a onewoman forced to give up my 7yearold daughter, please help us find our son. C comprehend how many people are hurting and still out there trying to find somebody ife. A my twins is about to spark a worldwide searti with veteran allen thomas, he shows her two letters that broke his heart. They arrived in the early 1980s frand the Ar OrganizationAsian American children abandoned in away their children, the twins. And amazingly, the letters say he would have no legal right to his children. You must have been apoplectic. I mean, what do yoy,me father. I was highly, highly. Where are my rights . I was told i had no rights. Reporter there was o of good news in that letter. It said the twins had been adopted, together, in the unit okay, so this is 1980 now. Youre finding out these kids were adopted out into the u. S. . Nice to meet you all. Reporter but since that allen gets a m named keonsu lee. It turns out lee is a policeman in seoul specializing in finding missing children, a korean he runs an investi korea and holds the world record for finding over 3,000 missing children. I feel like i need to go on a plane and go to korea, but i dont speak the language. Reporter thats when the worldwide resources of abc news went to work for allen. In seoul, south korea, abc news bureau chief joohee cho helps us pull back the curtain on the fourdecade mystery. Her first stop, a meeting with mr. Lee. Translator the most important thing for us is to figure out the mothers identity. Reporter almost immediately, a breakthrough. Lee finds the twins mother allens exwife connie, she is listed in the korean government registry. She gave birth to twins. And also she was married to allen thomas. So were like, bingo yay. Reporter but the registry says connie died in 2007. It was her heart. So joohees next stop on the advice of mr. Lee is korea social service, a small Adoption Agency. Joohee mentions connies korean name to the woman at the agency. When i told her the name of pae seongeun, and she had twins and, you know, there was this whole story on facebook, i got a feeling that she knew who i was talking about, but she wouldnt admit it. Reporter the agency tells her allen has no right to access the adoption records, but there is someone who does. She said, only siblings have rights to ask for it. She gave me that hint. It was like, wow we didnt even know that loophole. Reporter remember little jame . The twins older brother, the boy allen adopted when he married connie. Joohee finds him. All grown up now, married with children, he now holds the key to finding the lost siblings, allens twins, back in america. The doors were locked, unless jame gave you the key, in essence, with his permission. Yes. Reporter but theres a problem. Even after all these years, jame resents allen thomas, the man who once adopted him because he believes allen abandoned them. When you first contacted jame, he wanted nothing to do with you. He said no. Reporter joohee goes to visit jame and his wife in person. Jame remembers the day his little half brother and sister vanished. Translator i came home after school and they were gone. I asked my mother about the twins and she told me they went somewhere, so i just accepted that. Reporter joohee shares some insight about why connie may have given up the twins for adoption. What would it have been like for these children in, growing up in south korea, these g. I. Babies . Impossible for the mothers to raise them because they wouldve been disowned by their family if they reporter if they brought home a mixedrace baby . It was considered that bad. It was, yes. Reporter still reluctant, jame is finally persuaded by his wife to give permission for the Adoption Agency to release the records. M slaton is in the u. S. To receive them. I woke up. And i could see that i got an email from korea. And i cant even tell you how excited i was. Reporter this was the break shed been waiting for. In korea had changed the twins date of birth making them appear to be a year younger and making tracing them nearly impossible. So you had spent all that time searching. Yes, yes. Reporter and had that birth date off by a year and a month. Yeah. Reporter but pam is finding out nothing is easy with this search. And i start working my databases over and over again, and im coming up empty again. Reporter even with the correct birth date . Even with the correct date of birth. Reporter everpersistent, pam goes looking for the twins adoption records. There are copies in the archives of the pearl s. Buck foundation in pennsylvania. Pam calls, but gets nowhere. And i said, well, please let your boss know, ill be stopping by. Ill be in the area. I was kind of like, im coming. Youre not getting rid of me. Im presently in percasie, pennsylvania. Im about to go see the pearl buck foundation, i dont know ag to disclose to me. Lets see how persuasive i can be. Reporter not persuasive enough, as it turns out. They still offer no help. Because adoption records here are kept private by law. I got all queens girl. Reporter you went queens girl on her . I went queens girl, being the stubborn woman that i am, i call the agency back, can you check whats known as the order of adoption . She gets back on the phone. Shes like, wow, she said, youre right. Their names were changed. Reporter changed to what . Well, i said, i said, for instance, sandra, something may be similar to sandra . She said, something similar. Reporter wow. What about james . James first names completely changed. She said, however, he did keep part of his name. Well, thats telling me his first name, james, is now, probably, his middle name. So i said, well, thank you very much. I will try not to bother you again. Reporter so the two of you are basically playing a little game. Were playing a game. Cough if im close. Reporter right. With the correct date of birth, and information that allens son may have the middle name james pam dives back into her databases. So, i figured, okay, let me pop james in the middle, see what i get. And im going through all my list, and then this one person, Timothy James parker catches my eye. Reporter Timothy James parker, could he be half of the 40yearold mystery . When we come back, pam gives him a call. And someone answers his phone. I said, is he a twin . Reporter the answer ahead. Its so messed up. Standby. Hey katy, let me show you how behind schedule we are. Yeah. Are those the pyrotechnics that are gonna startle me from a distance . Yep. And my impractical wardrobe changes, those all set . Not even close. Oh, this is probably going to shine in your eyes at the worst possible time. Perfect. Were looking at a real train wreck here, am i right . Wouldnt it be great if everyone said what they meant . The citi® double cash card does. It lets you earn double cash back with 1 when you buy, and 1 as you pay. The citi double cash card. Double means double. Art. Or painted in luxurious strokes. It can be sculpted, bringing to life beautiful detail. And in rare cases. Both. Depression is a tangle thats why theres trintellix, a Prescription Medication for depression. Trintellix may help you take a step forward in improving your depression. Tell your healthcare professional right away if your depression worsens, or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior or thoughts of suicide. Antidepressants can increase these in children, teens and young adults. Do not take with maois. Tell your healthcare professional about your medications, including migraine, psychiatric and depression medications, to avoid a potentially lifethreatening condition. Increased risk of bleeding or bruising may occur, especially if taken with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin or blood thinners. Manic episodes or vision problems may occur in some people. May cause low sodium levels. The most common side effects were nausea, constipation and vomiting. Trintellix had no Significant Impact on weight in clinical trials. Ask your healthcare professional about trintellix. We, the entertainmentloving people, want all our rooms to be tv rooms. Because those are the best rooms. Because they have tvs in them. And, when were not in those rooms, we want our shows to go with us. Anywhere . You got that right, kid show thing. Get a directv allincluded package for 4 rooms. Onavailable for at t unlimited guplus customers. rs. Now look what you made me do you and me baby it takes two bringing new moves to the Old School Time we can go left go rigt save me a dance for the end of the night when im with you its a party dont care where were it takt 20 20 continues with more of the searchers. Reporter the hunt for two missing children bridges two two cultures east and west. And now the case is closer to being solved than at any time in our searcher, pam slaton, and ef joohee cho, who has just arrived in new york after a 14hour flight. Im joohee. I know you are. Nice to meet you. You did a lot. You were the key that unlocked the door. Reporter theyveeen working toge and now theyre about to crack the case. After combing through countless false leads and phone numbers, pam finds one that rings true. She finds a number for a man in missouri named Timothy James parker. Pam believes he could be allens longlost son. Hes not home when she calls, but a roommate answers. And i said, well, is he by any chance korean . He said, oh yeah, he is. I said, oh, i said, um, is he a twin . He says, yeah. I said, he has a twin sister named he says, yeah, susan. I was like, oh, my gosh. I mean reporter you did it. I had to contain myself. Reporter now pam has a name for the female twin, named sandra when she was born in korea. She is now susan living in wisconsin. Now, i jump on the computer. I run, susan parker. Boom. There it is. Reporter wow. And i just got goosebumps because it was this incredible moment. You with me . Reporter pam gives her a call. And she just got so emotional, so emotional, straight out of the gates. Are you sitting down . Reporter after four decades, pam had solved the puzzle in four months. But