Woman fights for answers after ancestry test shows local businessman could be her father

Yahoo

20-05-2025

GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. (WIVB) — A young woman is fighting for answers after her life was turned upside down when she realized the man who raised her may not be her biological father. Instead, according to an Ancestry.com result, a local businessman, who passed away in 2020, could be her dad. And an unaffiliated Manhattan family and matrimonial attorney said he's never heard of a case quite like it before.
'It might be a case of first impression,' said Ankit Kapoor, a founding partner with Cohen Stine Kapoor LLP law firm, indicating it could feature an uncharted legal issue.
Jordan Tripi, a Grand Island native who now lives in Florida, said when she thinks of her dad, she pictures a hardworking, blue collar construction owner who always made sure his family was cared for.
'He removed every barrier that he ever could so that I could pursue the fullest life,' Tripi said.
Those loving memories live on, three years after his passing. After a short illness in the Spring of 2022, he died the day after her wedding day.
'It shakes your whole world,' Tripi said. 'And I think the circumstances around it, shook my world even more.'
Those circumstances are the results of a DNA test from Ancestry.com.
'I was really interested to know more about my family, and the origin, and the story about my ancestors' life,' she said.
But the results didn't indicate any of her dad's Italian and German heritage. It did show her mother's roots.
'I just assumed it was a fluke,' Tripi said. 'We all really resembled [our mother's] part of our genetics. The number of times I got from fellow students, peers, saying 'You don't look Italian at all,' I could count on my fingers and toes.'
One of the strangest parts of the results: two people on the Ancestry.com app she did not know showed up as a slight DNA match with her. She said their last name was McGuire.
Questions built up in Tripi's mind in the months after her dad passed away. She eventually sat down with her mom to ask questions.
'She was also shocked and confused by the results,' Tripi said. 'She had felt assured that I was my dad's.'
But that last name jogged her mom's memory of another man. They realized her dad might not have been her biological father.
'In many ways, this rebooted … made me start the grieving process all over again,' she said.
The man Tripi now believes to be her biological father is Frank McGuire, a local businessman who passed away in the summer of 2020.
'I would never know my biological dad, and he would never know me,' Tripi said.
McGuire, the chairman of the McGuire Group, was 92 when he passed. According to an obituary in The Buffalo News, McGuire built a business of more than 30 companies that employed 1,700 people in Western New York.
'To think he was such a staple, such a man of notoriety in the city of Buffalo, and for her (my mom) to never mention him … I knew of no connection there,' Tripi sad.
For two years now, Tripi has fought to get a definitive answer about her biological father.
'At 30 years old, I found out that every medical record that I filled out my family history was completely inaccurate,' Tripi said. 'On a lighter note: that history project that I did at Heathrow Elementary was grossly inaccurate. In a deeper sense, knowing our heritage, our ancestors, where we came from — [it's] important for the soul.'
What Tripi wants now is for one of McGuire's seven children to do a DNA swab, to prove whether or not she is in fact their sibling.
A year ago, State Surrogate Court Judge Acea Mosey decided in Tripi's favor. But the McGuire siblings argued a privacy concern. It's now being appealed.
Kapoor, the Manhattan attorney, said he hasn't found a case like this, where a sibling was forced to take a DNA test.
'DNA testing is definitely not uncommon in New York courts,' Kapoor said. '[But] in terms of Jordan Tripi's case where the siblings are ordered to do a DNA test, that I believe might be a case of first impression. I did not encounter other cases where siblings are ordered. An identical twin of the descendant was ordered … the grandparents in a case were ordered … but siblings might be something new.'
Another issue at play is McGuire's sizeable estate.
'When I consider the fact of his wealth, of his empire, I don't assume any of it to be mine,' Tripi said.
News 4 reached out to the attorneys for all the children of Frank McGuire. They released a joint statement, saying in part: 'If Ms. Tripi had shown any interest in getting to know us, rather than filing a claim for 'go away' money in Surrogates Court, we are sure family members would have been more welcoming. In fact, Ms. Tripi only reached out to one of seven siblings more than a year after her legal effort began. While none of us are beneficiaries, we would like to see our father's wishes and bequests in his will fulfilled, rather than dragged out in this tawdry process.'
In the court decision a year ago, Judge Mosey said a challenge to Frank McGuire's will would be a matter for another day. Kapoor said challenging the will would be an uphill battle.
'One of the main things I noticed was the will of Frank McGuire does not give what's called a 'class gift' where he named his children in the will,' Kapoor said. 'If his will said, 'I leave X to my wife, and X to so-and-so, and the remainder to my children,' than any child out there will be entitled to make a claim against the benefit. But when you name children, then you're limited to the children who are named … generally speaking, but there are some exceptions.'
Kapoor said if Tripi wins the appeal and is able to prove she's a daughter of Frank McGuire, she'll have to try and invalidate his will if she wants a piece of the pie. That would be difficult. Instead, there could be non-probate assets she could go after, like a life insurance policy or retirement account.
But Tripi exclaims, that is not what this is about.
'For those who assume I am pursing this because he is a millionaire,' Tripi said, 'they're likely missing the piece that I just genuinely want to know who my dad is — and conclusively.'
Kelsey Anderson is an award-winning anchor who came back home to Buffalo in 2018. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.
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