Abandoned 71 years ago, woman seeks help to find identity

LONDON - Abandoned in a hotel doorway in Britain 71 years ago when she was just three months old, a woman has made an emotional appeal to the public to help her find out who she is, a media report said Tuesday.

Pat Fitzgerald was dumped in a plush hotel doorway just after the start of World War II. She has spent a lifetime not knowing the identity of her parents - and if she has any brothers and sisters, Daily Mail reported.

She returned to the hotel Monday in a desperate bid to solve the mystery of who she really is.

Pat said: I’ve waited years to find out who I am. The world has changed a lot - and I hope someone, somewhere now will give me the answer.

I know it’s a long shot after all this time. But I have to try.

Someone may have been keeping the secret for all these years - but now is the time to come into the open.

Pat was found wrapped in blankets on the steps of the Royal Hotel in Cardiff’s city centre in December 1939.

She then spent months in hospital before being adopted by a loving family. But it wasn’t until Pat was 27 that she discovered the truth about how she was found.

The retired clerk said: I would guess my mother was a young woman whose circumstances must have been absolutely desperate to abandon me in the middle of winter.

She must have been at the end of her tether. But at least she wrapped me up warmly and made sure she left me in a place where I would be found quite quickly.

Pat was adopted by steelworker Peter Ross and his wife Edith and spent a happy childhood with them at their home.

Today she has four children and six grandchildren of her own - but desperately wants to solve the mystery of her lost family.

Divorcee Pat said: I have made various appeals over the years including getting the Salvation Army and children’s charities involved.

An anonymous caller claimed she knew a woman who may have been my sister, but it ended up like everything else - a dead end.

Pat’s only connection with her past is the Royal Hotel where staff gave her VIP treatment to mark the anniversary of the night she was found.

Hotel manager Jon Swingler presented her with an engraved plate reading: To our Royal lady, given to us on 15th December 1939.

He said: We would love to help this lovely lady solve the mystery of her life.