Man speaks out after he was reported as a missing person for 33 years without even realising

A man at the centre of an astounding missing persons case has spoken out about the moment he discovered he was 'kidnapped' as a baby.

Steve Carter had always grown up with several questions about his childhood. The salesman was raised in Philadelphia but had been adopted, and had no idea about his biological parents' identity.

However, his curiosity about his life prior to being adopted took a hugely unexpected turn after he learnt about the story of an Atlanta woman, who had been abducted from a hospital as a baby in early 2011.

With his interest peaked, Steve then decided to browse the database MissingKids.com - and was stunned to find a photo of himself staring back through the screen.

Steve Carter now. (Youtube/Tamron Hall Show)

After looking up the phrases 'Hawaii', 'missing 34 years' and 'male' on the website, Steve unearthed the case of a missing baby named Marx Panama Moriarty Barnes and immediately knew it was him.

"I got chills," Steve said in an interview with People Magazine in 2012. "I was like, 'Holy c**p, it's me'."

He initially brushed the similarities off until he showed the website to a friend, who urged him to contact the police.

Steve told CNN: “I let them know my info and they ran with it," adding: "They were the ones who did all the legwork."

What he learnt next would shock him.

Marx Panama Moriarty Barnes was born on 17 January, 1977 and had been reported missing in June that year by his father Mark Barnes after his mother, Charlotte Moriarty, took him for a walk and never returned.

The poster Steve found on the missing children's website. (MissingKids.com)

It transpired that Charlotte had gone on to a stranger's home and later gave a fake name and date of birth for the child.

She was later taken to a psychiatric hospital, with the child taken into protective care.

Due to the fake name given by Moriarty, the baby was made a ward of state and later placed into an orphanage - where he would be adopted from three years later by parents Steve and Pat Carter.

The couple took their son - now also named Steve - to be raised in New Jersey, where he would continue to face questions about his true identity.

Steve would later take a DNA test to confirm that he was baby Marx Panama.

The age progressed photo of created from baby Steve. (MissingKids.com)

A year after he discovered his origins, Steve decided to make contact with his biological father and half-sister.

"All I could say was, ‘Wow. Oh, wow. Wow," Mark told People of their first phone contact after 33 years, adding that he had never given up hope on seeing his son again.

"I always expected a knock at the door or a phone call."