Genetic mystery unraveled

DC Carson and his wife, D Michaels, pose with a photo of Carson’s newly found extended family at their Indigo East home at On Top of the World in Ocala on July 8, 2025. Carson lost his older son, Troy, 50 to a rare form of cancer in 2018. In 2021, his younger son, Cody, 40, died in a jet ski accident at Lake Weir. Then, in 2024, he received a phone call and learned that a 23andMe genetic test was a direct match to his sister. One phone call later, he became a father and a grandfather. He has met them all recently. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.

Cancer claimed his son, Troy, at age 50 in 2018. Then a jet ski accident took the life of his remaining child and son, Cory, at age 39 in 2020.

To say DC Carson, 75, of Ocala, was depressed is an extreme understatement.

But one day Carson’s phone rang and his nephew, Ron Curry, was on the line with some seemingly unbelievable news. DNA tests showed that Curry was related to Mike Busby, in Tucson, Arizona. And, by the way, either Carson or Carson’s brother just might be Busby’s father.

Carson knew that, for a number of reasons, it couldn’t be his brother. But Carson also knew—or at least he thought he did—that he hadn’t been to Tucson anytime in the months before Busby’s birthdate.

Then, Carson’s sister took a 23andMe genetic test and it became pretty obvious that Carson was the answer to the question of Busby’s paternity.

Carson started thinking. And then he remembered a business trip he had taken to Tucson and a woman who wore a uniform.

Carson decided he should call Busby and tell him about the rare blood cancer that had killed Troy and about his own heart issues.

But that phone call perhaps could have been more cordial.

“It didn’t go so great,” Busby said. It didn’t seem that Carson wanted to stay in touch.

Carson explained his less-than-enthusiastic first phone call to Busby.

“I thought, ‘I can’t go through losing another child. He probably doesn’t need to lose a dad. Maybe we should leave it alone,'” Carson said.

But after a week, “I came to my senses. I decided I needed to talk to him,” Carson said.

“He called and he apologized,” Busby said. “He said he would like to get to know me better.”

They Facetimed in April 2024 and then Carson flew to Arizona and they met.

“It went super well,” Busby said.

As Busby explained, “He had just lost both of his sons. … And getting hit with this was kind of a lot. … But knowing that he had a son and two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Well, it was still an opportunity to have a son. And it’s been really awesome.”

“It still is a lot to think about,” Carson said. “But hopefully, I will be around when the great-grandchildren graduate from high school. It’s like the saying, ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.'”

Since that first meeting, the two have done a lot of catching up.

For instance, Carson and his wife, D Michaels, are from Denver. Carson worked for Seagate Technology. D produced art festivals. Both are on second marriages. They met at a sushi bar. They moved to Florida to escape cold winters and to be closer to D’s mom, who lived in Brooksville.

Meanwhile, Busby, when he was 11, learned that the man who had raised him was no longer to be considered his dad. His mother and the man, Mike Zick, were getting divorced. Busby’s two younger brothers were going to live with Zick, but Busby had to stay with his mother, Joy. His older sister was in a group home.

“I was pretty angry,” Busby said. “I flattened all his tires so he couldn’t leave.”

Busby said his mom had explained that his birth father, Larry Busby, had paid money to a young Italian woman and he had taken in Busby.

Later, after he took the genetic test that led him to Carson, Busby discovered he is zero percent Italian. He would have liked to have known that before he got “Italian” tattooed on his chest when he was 18, he said.

He’s discovered that on Carson’s side he’s English and Irish, and on his mother’s side he’s English, German and French.

He also would have liked to have known earlier about Carson.

“He and I have been cheated out of what could have been a good relationship,” Busby said. “And I didn’t get to meet my two other brothers. Sometimes people’s actions affect other people for their whole life.”

Busby said he had a rocky relationship with his mom, who worked as a hairdresser and seamstress, making wedding dresses. She also made wedding cakes. And, yes, she formerly had been in the military.

He said she kicked him out of his home at age 13 and he stayed with a friend and then with his maternal grandparents. He later lived with his mom and then went back to his grandparents. His mom and grandparents since have passed away.

Busby graduated from high school and went on to become a painter and then a project manager for a remodeling company.

Interestingly, Carson’s son, Troy, was a painting contractor. D said that’s not the only resemblance to Carson’s family as his father and Busby share the same ears—they’re big, she said. Cody Carson also inherited the family ears.

When DC saw Busby’s photo, he said he told himself, “That’s my father.”

And Busby’s wife, Deanna, said, “They have the same smile, the same eyes. DC and our son walk the same way. It’s kind of crazy. It brings up the old ‘Is it nature or is it nurture?’”

Busby said that before he knew about Carson, he looked up the man whom he believed was his birth father.

That didn’t work out.

And when Carson wasn’t effusively loving during their first phone call, Busby said he thought, “Well, forget it. Nobody wants to be my dad.”

He said the call “brought up some resentment. I thought, ‘Well, that’s this guy’s loss.'”

But then Carson phoned again. And now both men can see a humorous side to their long-time non-relationship.

For one thing, the two have skipped “the turmoil of teenage head-butting,” Busby said. “Now, we’re two grown men who can enjoy each other’s presence.”

A month ago, Carson attended his new granddaughter Christina’s college graduation in Texas. Her fiancé is Daniel, and they have two children, Nylah and Emmie. Carson’s new grandson is Michael, 13.

What’s it like discovering at 75 you have a full-grown son?

“It’s a boy,” Carson deadpanned.

Does he have any recommendations for people contemplating taking a genetic test and then considering whether to get in touch with potential relatives?

“Be sure you don’t have anyone in the family who’s in the witness protection program,” Carson said jokingly.

“Just be prepared. Go into it open-minded. And be prepared for anything,” Busby said.

Carson said the genetic test-kit makers provide ways to contact potential relatives only if everyone agrees to it.

“Take it slow,” Carson advised about getting in touch.

Reaching out to a newly revealed relative can be “a hard thing. But it’s such a good thing,” he said.

DC Carson – Newly Found Extended Family

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