Well now things are getting interesting! I've gotten a few responses back, and now the Amato cousins are starting to make a bit more sense, although I'm still not entirely sure where they would tie into the Poths.

Mia's mom has been really helpful. Benjamin is the father to both Christine and David, full siblings. All are still alive, with Benjamin in his 80s, so that's the Benjamin I've already found. I'm still mightily confused as to how my closest relative here is an octogenarian, but at least I know for certain who it is. My DNA shared with Benjamin, David, Christine, and Mia is congruent with the relationships that Mia's mom knows, so this is the family. She told me that Christine, David, and Benjamin were all unlikely to respond to me, but did not elaborate. She said that she would reach out to Benjamin and see if he knows anything.

I also heard back from Rene, and what a tale she has to tell. She knows exactly how I feel, as she had to do the exact same thing that I currently am doing. She didn't elaborate, but it seems like only her biological father was unknown. I won't be presumptuous and say her mother is also a ho, but the possibility does exist. In her search, she learned that Benjamin is her father, and Christine and David are her siblings. Christine and David know nothing about her, and she has no access to them.

All this ties everything into a nice little bow, except for the fact that my closest relative is 51 years my senior. I have been searching the lower rungs of this tree looking for the people of interest, assuming that the Benjamin name was carried down farther and that the Benjamin I was looking for was much younger. I guess it's back to tree building, centered around him.