The Infamous Burger King Mystery With A Happy Ending

You may have heard this story before, but probably considered it just another nonsense urban legend. And who would blame you? The idea that someone found a newborn baby swaddled up in a Burger King restroom isn't exactly something you'd believe right off the bat. But this particular story about abandonment, mystery, and a search for a long-lost mother is indeed real — and it all started in the bathroom of a Pennsylvania Burger King.

Our story begins, per WNEP 16's report, in 1986 during a usual shift at a Burger King in Allentown, Pennsylvania. A worker heard the sound of crying coming from the ladies' restroom in the back and, to his surprise, discovered a baby left abandoned under the restroom sink. The baby was taken to Allentown Hospital where it was discovered that she was in relatively good health, with one medical worker describing her as a "beautiful baby."

According to the Pocono Record, the baby, now given the name Katheryn, was adopted by Brenda and Carl Hollis and knew little of her background until she entered the sixth grade. Upon doing research for a project on family backgrounds, Katheryn was shown newspaper clippings detailing her discovery in the Burger King bathroom. This began her search for her birth mother and the introduction of many complicated questions: Why was she left in a Burger King? Was there something wrong with her or her mother that prompted it?

Fortunately for all, this is one mystery that has a happy ending.

Although the odds were high, Katheryn Deprill was encouraged by her adoptive mother to post a picture of herself to social media detailing who she was to get help looking for her birth mother. Many online users took notice of her pleas for assistance and spread Deprill's photo and message as much as they could, hoping her birth mother would somehow see it. As luck would have it, she did.

According to CNN, Deprill and her birth mother finally reunited in 2014 in a meeting arranged by attorney Jim Waldron. Waldron explains that, sometime before 1986, Deprill's birth mother was the victim of sexual assault while traveling in another country and attempted to hide the pregnancy from her family. At only 17 years old and with very few options, the woman left her newborn daughter in the Burger King restroom, kissed her forehead, and then walked away, hoping someone would find the child and take care of it.

As Today reports, Deprill and Cathy Pochek were quick to make up for the lost time. Both mother and daughter live only 15 minutes apart from each other, and Deprill and her husband have four children. Deprill holds no ill will towards Pochek, having understood the conditions she was going through at the time, admitting she was grateful Pochek left her in a place where she would be found and protected.

It seems that, just like a Whopper, a happy ending was served.