Struggling Father Never Met His Son. Almost Thirty Years Later, TV Host Tells Him He’s Standing Right There

Sep 13, 2020

David Winkelspecht, a struggling dad missed the last 28 years with his family. In 2015, thanks to the help of social media and the Fox5 Surprise Squad, they are finally reunited.

According to an episode from FOX5 Surprise Squad from 2015, David Winkelspecht was just a young man of 17 when he was recruited into the military. David left for the military soon after, leaving behind a newborn son. The long hours of traveling in his military life lead to the young man losing touch with his family. There was no email or social media at the time, and David no longer knew where his family was living. Time passed and David continued to miss opportunities to meet his son. One day a friend of David’s luckily came across his son on Facebook.

The father and son were reunited through the internet, but they were separated by many miles geographically. David lived in Las Vegas, while his son lived several hours away in San Diego. The cost of travel prohibited David from going to see his son, but he was determined. He began selling all his worldly possessions to pay for the trip.

David was in the midst of the sale of his possessions out of the back of his truck when he stopped for gas. There to his surprise was the Fox5 Surprise Squad of Las Vegas. The squad had planned to surprise a random person with a good deed. In this case, the squad intended to fill a random person’s vehicle with gas.

The lucky person was decided through a phone application called Periscope and ultimately the audience led the Surprise squad to David. David was extremely grateful for the gesture. He explained to the team all about the trip to San Diego to meet his son. After hearing his tale, the Surprise Squad offered him $500 dollars to complete his trip. David was near tears with emotion as the team offered him the money. The team also purchased the remainder of his belongings for $1000, well over what they were worth. 

David was so pleased that he was finally going to meet his son. He rushed off to call him and let him know that their reunion would be sooner than expected. He attributed his great fortune to an act of god.

Just before his trip, David was invited back on the Fox5 Surprise Squad show. The squad told David that it was just to recap his story, but they had another surprise up their sleeve. In the studio was his son!

What did you think about this heartwarming reunion? Did it move you to tears? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this emotional story along to your friends and family!