This story was about to darken significantly.

Following his service, Mario returned to Puerto Rico and in 1954, he married Anthony's grandmother, a woman named Ada Otero Rey.

Mario and Ada moved to New York City soon after.

And Anthony's father was born in Brooklyn in March of 1958.

But then, tragedy struck.

"Martínez, Ada, wife of Mario, date of death, January 28th, 1959.

Place of death, Brooklyn, New York."

Sadly, less than five years after they were married, your grandmother, Ada, passed away, and your father was not even 1-year-old, when he lost his mother.

Did you know that?

I knew he lost his mom really young.

I didn't know it was at one years old, though.

1-year-old.

I didn't know it was like that.

How do you think that affected your father?

I can't imagine that doesn't leave a hole in you for your whole life.

Yeah.

A lot of questions you'll never get answered.

Your father never talked about any of this.

My dad never spoke to me about any of this.

Wow.

Ever.

Hmm.

And I think maybe it's just 'cause he tried to bury it.

Mm-hmm.

Too painful.

It was too painful.

This terrible loss effectively severed Anthony's connection to his roots in Puerto Rico.

But, those roots had not disappeared.

When we focused on his grandmother, Ada, we were able to trace her ancestry back more than three centuries to a ship that arrived in Puerto Rico in the year 1695.

On board were Anthony's ninth great grandparents.

And they were coming from a place that he'd never associated with his heritage "List of 20 families that will board the brigantine named Jesus, Maria Y Joseph."

Wow.

"In the port of Santa Cruz, of this island of Tenerife to make the voyage to the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico."

Do you have any idea what you're looking at?

I mean, was this when all my family members traveled to PR?

This is the moment your ancestors left the old world for the new world.

And you now know the moment and the name of the boat, which they sailed to the new world.

Jesus, Maria y Joseph.

From Tenerife.

From Tenerife, that's like, that's the Canary Islands.

Mm-hmm.

- Wow.

- That's where your family's from.

What's it like to learn that?

Yo, that is bananas!

The Canary Islands are an archipelago off the coast of North Africa.

They were conquered by the Spanish in the 1400s.

And some of Anthony's ancestors arrived not long after, but they only stayed in their new home for a few generations.

In the late 1600s, the Spanish crown began offering incentives to shipping agents in the Canary Islands, who could entice people to resettle in the Americas.

The goal was to populate Spain's New World colonies.

And Anthony's ancestors were soon recruited to sail for Puerto Rico, which tells us something significant about their lives.

So, what would motivate a person to come to the wilderness?

You know- I mean they must have been broke.

You got it.

100%.

Broke.

Most of the immigrants were poor and landless.

And once they arrived in Puerto Rico, they got free land.

They got a stipend from the Crown.

They got seeds to plant and supplies to plant the seeds.

- Pretty good deal.

- Yeah.

It was a risk.

You know, you had to have a pioneer mentality.

You had to roll the dice, but you go, "What the hell?

I'm living here in poverty."

What have I got to lose if it's already hard?

Yeah, you got it.

After arriving in Puerto Rico, Anthony's ancestors settled around the city of San Juan.

They would remain there until the early 1950s when Anthony's grandmother, Ada, set off for New York.

Meaning that there is a continuous paper trail mapping Anthony's roots from the Canary Islands in the 1500s to his own birth in Brooklyn in 1991.

What does it mean to you to have this incredible history restored to you, and it'll never be lost again?

It means a lot.

Gives me a newfound definition of what my identity is, where it comes from.

'Cause I didn't know any of this.

I mean, I never had a relationship with, I mean I had a short relationship with my mom's mom, and that was it.

The rest of all three of my other grandparents, I didn't know 'em.

Wow.

You know, so I didn't grow up with grandparents, you know, and I think that was, you know, that was a hard thing for me.

You know, I hear stories, you know, from my friends about how they can't wait to see their grandmother or their grandfather and they, you know, "I love my Nan, or I love my Ito."

You know, and I just, I didn't have that.

Right.

You know, ever.

So, it makes me feel closer to them.

Yep.

Now you got 500 years of grandparents.

500 years.

500.

By name.

Right?

Yo.

Yo, that's crazy.