New details about the life of Ronald Poppo, the victim of Saturday's gruesome face-mauling attack, reveal an even sadder tale.
Not only was the homeless man estranged from his family for the last 30 years, he also had a daughter who was desperate to meet him living in nearby Pembroke Pines in 2008, reports the Miami Herald.
The New York Daily News tracked down Janice Poppo DiBello, now living in New Jersey, who had just learned the father who left her mother when she was just 2 is the same man making headlines as the victim of a cannibalistic attack.
Dibello told the News she hired a private investigator to track down her estranged father about 15 years ago to no avail.
According to reports by South Florida news outlets, Poppo had bounced around from New York to New Orleans to Miami, where he worked as a band roadie, but mostly lived on the streets. He cycled in and out of jail, outreach programs, and the hospital.
Most recently, Miami Police were called to rouse Poppo from sleeping on the top of the parking garage at Jungle Island.
A few days later, he was unlucky enough to be found sleeping by Rudy Eugene, who is thought to have been experiencing a drug-induced delirium when he gnawed off 80% of Poppo's face in a attack off the MacArthur Causeway.
Poppo remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Both his siblings and his daughter have no plans to visit him.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: The Jackson Memorial Foundation has set up a fund to assist Ronald Poppo in his recovery, which experts in facial reconstruction have said will include lengthy treatment, staged reconstruction, and psychological care. Donations can be made by check or online at jmf.org.
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