Scottish woman discovers long-lost dads secret life as New York mafia informant after DNA test

A woman who was searching for information about her long-lost dad has discovered his secret life as a New York City mafia informant.Paula Colville, 60, was raised by her mom Elizabeth, who became pregnant while working in New York City as an au pair in the 1960s.After returning to Scotland, Elizabeth refused to speak to Paula about her past – with Paula only discovering her own father’s name aged 15, after a conversation with her grandmother.Once Elizabeth passed away, Paula, from Lochgelly in Fife, decided to try “one last time” to find out more about her family, and took a DNA test in the hopes of being matched with any living relatives.Shockingly, she was put in contact with half-sisters and half-nieces from California and New York – and together, they discovered that Billy Elson Lawson had lived in New York City, acting as an undercover mafia informant, before fleeing the state after an attempt on his life.“My mum was never forthcoming with any information about my father,” said Paula.“My mother made it very clear that I was a bitter reminder of the man that she’d loved and lost.“As a 15-year-old, I was given a small amount of information by my gran – she told me his name, and said that my father was 20 years older than my mum, and was the owner of the George Washington hotel in Lexington Avenue.“That wasn’t true, but she did tell me his name was Billy Lawson.“So, when my mum was at work, I went through the entire White Pages – which is the New York phonebook – to try and find him. “Of course, I didn’t find him because his name had already changed at that point, but I wasn’t aware of that.“I tried again throughout the years – I even went to the Salvation Army, because they help to find missing people.I hoped that they might be able to help, but they couldn’t find anything. “I gave up for a while after that.“But then my best friend passed away in January 2022, and he’d said to me that I should really give it on...