By Associated Press, 2/4/03

VISTA, Calif. — When Riverside County telemarketer Al Kinkade began a call to Daniel and Kellie Kinkade, he mentioned that they share a surname.

After a little small talk, Kellie realized that her 27-year-old husband is Al Kinkade's son.

"Dan, it's your father!" she shouted.

"Give me the phone," her husband replied. "You're messing with me."

"I just about fell out of my chair," Al Kinkade said. Kinkade, 49, had called to solicit a donation to a police and sheriff's Explorer Scout program.

Father and son compared notes and every question had the right answer.

Did Al work as a security guard in 1975? Yes.

Did Dan's mother Shirley Jean Weaver drive a blue 1969 Chevy Nova? Yes.

The Vista couple began searching seven years ago for Dan's father. All they had was his full name, Alfred Robert Kinkade, and two photographs of him with Dan's mother. She died of colon cancer at age 39 when Dan was 9, and Dan was raised by an aunt and uncle in Los Angeles.

Al Kinkade had been hard to find because of years of substance abuse that led to homelessness. He decided to go sober on April Fool's Day in 1998.

Father and son now talk daily by phone. They have also gotten together, and Al met his 4-year-old granddaughter, Sierra.