Matthieu Heimel grew up knowing nothing about his biological parents. 

His life in Perth had been enough for him until his two children began asking unanswerable questions about where he came from.  So in late 2018, Mattieu embarked on a DNA search for his mother and father. 

He found his father Jerry relatively easily. He was a US serviceman who had been stationed in the Philippines in 1978 when Matthieu had been conceived. 

Finding his mother proved far more difficult. 

Using social media, he connected with members of his mother’s family. He was told that Nenita, the woman who had given birth to him 42 years ago, was missing. As he asked more questions, he learned that she’d moved to Melbourne in 1985, and then a few years later, she’d vanished. 

The closer he looked, the clearer it became that Nenita had likely been murdered. 

CREDITS
Guest: Simon Illingworth

Host: Jessie Stephens

Producer: Lem Zakharia 

LINKS

• The SBS on Demand series, Every Family Has a Secret… https://bit.ly/2SzrK0c
• Simon Illingowrth’s book, Filthy Rat… https://www.booktopia.com.au/filthy-rat-simon-illingworth/book/9780980417043.html

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