Ancestry Search Reveals Adopted Woman's Dad Is Murderer Wanted By FBI

An adopted woman's ancestry search has revealed that her birth dad is a suspected murderer wanted by the FBI. Watch her open up about the revelation here:

Kathy Gillcrist, from Carolina Shores, North Carolina, USA, always knew she was adopted - but she only recently realised how different her life could have been if she wasn't.

She took her first DNA test in 2017 and it led her to her third cousin, Susan Gillmor, who happens to be a genealogist in Maine.

Susan subsequently convinced Kathy to do an ancestry DNA test to uncover more familial links and she used her professional skills to unearth a harsh truth.

"I'm looking at the surnames, I'm looking at names in common, I'm looking at geography - and his name is William Bradford Bishop, Jr," Susan told WECT.

Bishop has been wanted for decades and is accused of brutally murdering his wife (37), mum (68) and three sons (five, 10, 14) after missing out on a promotion at work.

Kathy's dad - who would now be 84 - is alleged to have bludgeoned his family members to death with a hammer, before transporting them 300 miles and burning their bodies.

Bishop's car, containing maps and hiking information, was found at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, but authorities were unable to track down the 'avid outdoorsman'.

FBI

He was added to the FBI's most wanted list in 2014 before being replaced by another fugitive in 2018.

FBI case agent Charles Adams said: "To be able to take a hammer to your children's heads and faces while they're sleeping, I think, really exhibits the brutality of the crime.

"[He] dug a hole, a shallow grave and laid the bodies in that shadow grave and then proceeded to set them on fire."

Recalling how Susan broke the news to her, Kathy said: "[Susan] said 'Okay, I found your father. All I'm going to do is give you his name'. I said 'Is it someone famous?', she said 'Um, yeah'."

Kathy took the bombshell in her stride though.

She said: "I just laughed. We have a great sense of humour in my adoptive family and I thought 'of course, my father's a murderer!"

As for Bishop, Kathy believes her multi-lingual dad is still alive, having reportedly been sighted in Europe.

Kathy has written about the process of tracking down her family in a memoir entitled It's in my Genes.

Topics: Interesting

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey