Homeless man reunited with daughters at train station

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - It had been 24 years since he had seen them.

Jose Lopez, 61, was homeless, living in the train station, when he was reunited with his two adult daughters last Thursday.

“I’m thinking I’m in heaven,” Lopez said at a press conference about the reunion Tuesday afternoon at Newark Penn Station. “(I felt) empty without them. I hated the feeling.”

Lopez, a former Long Branch resident, made his way to New Jersey after living in Miami. He was discovered by NJ Transit police officers in Secaucus Junction on August 6.

The officers put him on a train to Newark Penn Station to meet with Officer Sean Pfeifer, a crisis outreach officer with NJ Transit Police.

Pfeifer searched for Lopez’s family by contacting two dozen numbers and leaving messages on each one. He finally reached Lopez’s daughters - Angela and Kristy Viviani - and connected Lopez with them. Before reuniting, Pfeifer gave Lopez a haircut, shave, and new clothes.

Lopez was able to meet his grandkids for the first time. He had spoken to some of them on the phone before, but not for many years.

“They love grandpa,” Kristy Viviani said. “(We) told them stories of him. They stick to him like glue. (They’re) very attached, as if he was never apart.”

When asked about being reunited, Angela Viviani said, “It was like I was a little girl,” before tearing up and hugging her sister for comfort.

The reunion got attention after NJ Transit posted on Twitter a video of it Tuesday.

The women grew up in Belmar. The last time they saw their father, Kristy was 17 and Angela was 10. Lopez declined to elaborate on the details of their parting, or how he ended up on the streets. His daughters Tuesday were just happy that he was back.

“It was a very emotional moment,” Pfeifer said. As a husband and father of two children, Pfeifer said he wanted to do everything in his power to help Lopez see his family again.

“This story is a good example of the incredible impact and difference our Crisis Outreach Officers can make in someone’s life,” NJ Transit Police Chief Christopher Trucillo said.

Lopez is currently working with the PATH program through the Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris County to find permanent housing. He spent the last weekend with his daughter in Bradley Beach, enjoying time with this family.

“(We) didn’t know what happened (to him),” Kristy said. “(We’re) grateful for this moment.”

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