Grandson spent years tracking his 'family of orphans' until one Reddit tip solved a 100-year-old mystery
They only had one piece of the puzzle. Research and comments from Reddit readers help them put together all the pieces
For decades, one family’s past remained a mystery, with little more than stories about orphaned relatives and missing records to go on. But after one Reddit user asked strangers online for help, pieces of a 100-year-old family puzzle finally started falling into place. On March 14, 2026, in a Reddit post, genealogy enthusiast u/ragerules12 shared how their search into their maternal great-grandparents’ history led to unexpected discoveries, living relatives, and answers their family had spent generations without.
Long-standing family mystery
The mystery piqued the person’s interest from the fact that their maternal grandmother's parents came from a family of orphans. Their maternal great-grandfather was born an orphan and later joined the New York Retirement Home as a janitor, where he met his wife, who was also an orphan. This created a major brick wall that hindered their ancestral knowledge, especially because their great-grandparents refused to talk about it.
Pieces of the ancestral puzzle
The only piece of the puzzle they had was the name of their great-grandfather: Hydzu, pronounced Hi-Z-Doo. His research revealed that this name originated from the name 'Stephen.' A year ago, in April 2025, they also posted the name in the Reddit group r/Genealogy, asking people for help. People helped them with more advanced research methods and similar stories that could provide a clue.
One individual helped them by researching the online birth records of New York State for all boys born on December 24th, 1907. Luckily, they stumbled upon the birth certificate of a person named Stephen Hoidu, with parents’ names Deshe Hoidu and Susan Bik, both natives of Hungary. With these clues in their bag, the grandchild started their genealogical research journey.
A rewarding research
Taking cues from obituaries, old newspaper articles, Google Maps, and social media, they started building a family tree. For months, nothing fruitful resulted. But then one day, a woman contacted them, saying that her husband could be related to them. The most rewarding experience, they said, was speaking to their 86-year-old great uncle, whose parents were orphans and who never got to see the faces of his relatives until this moment.
Another piece of the puzzle that emerged from the research was the cultural identity of the woman they identified as Susan Bik. After their DNA test, they deduced that she was 100% Jewish, and her records were probably wiped away due to the Holocaust. They also found their great-grandparents’ marriage certificate, which proved to be a good starting point. They also determined that their great-grandmother was half-white and half-black.
Mystery solved
In Part 2 of the Reddit post, they detailed all the relatives, cousins, and grandparents’ names they discovered from the research. They said this genealogical information helped resolve the cognitive biases in their brain, as it does for most people. According to Brigham Young University’s Scholars Archive, genealogy is one of the world’s most popular hobbies, with hundreds of millions of people worldwide engaged in active family research. Additionally, the Pew Internet and American Life Project shared that 24% of people went online to research their family history or genealogy.
Reddit readers became curious
In the comments section, people congratulated the person for breaking the ancestral brickwall and discovering a trove of information. A person, u/Fredelas, said, “Wow, I remember helping to research this family, and I didn't know if you'd be able to find living relatives. Well done!” u/powermaster34 shared, “That is awesome! Due to the Turkish occupation of Macedonia for hundreds of years, plus WW1 and WW2, I can't find any information about my grandfather's family. You give me hope, thank you.”
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