Friends Discover They Are Actually Brothers

They hit it off right away and became best friends, but little did these boys know they were actually brothers. INSIDE EDITION caught up with the brothers who met purely by chance.

Two boys are celebrating their happiest Christmas ever because they just discovered they are brothers after meeting completely by chance.

Here's how it happened—13-year-old Dakotah Zimmer, and 12-year-old Isaac Nolting live just 20 minutes apart in the city of Washington, Missouri, near St. Louis.

“I was really shocked, like boom, it happened,” said Dakotah.

They both love to swim, and were introduced by a mutual friend at the city pool last June.

“I didn't think anything of it at first.  I thought he was just a regular kid,” said Isaac.

Isaac and Dakotah hit it off immediately. They even engaged in some friendly horseplay at the pool that caught their friend's attention.

“He said, ‘You two are fighting like brothers,’ so, I just got curious,” Dakotah said.

The boys noticed they have features in common, like their ears.

“It’s unattached and here it's unattached too. We have the same buck teeth,” said Dakotah.

Even their noses look the same.

Dakotah, who is 13-months older, remembered that his grandmother once told him he had a younger brother named Isaac. So that night, he asked his mother, Dawn, for the truth.

Dawn told INSIDE EDITION, “He said, ‘Mom am I adopted?’ and I said, ‘Isaac, what makes you say that?’ He says, ‘Because I think I found my brother."

The boys were right.  Dawn had never told Isaac that he had been adopted when he was just 9-days old.  His birth-mother was a teen mom who died tragically at age 27. 

Meanwhile, Dakotah was raised on the other side of town by his grandmother.  

“I can't even explain how happy I was to have a brother,” said Isaac.

The brothers found that they have a lot in common. Both love hot wings and wrestling, even though Dakotah usually wins.

They are thankful they finally found each other, just in time for Christmas.

“Having a brother is the best gift I could possibly ask for,” said Dakotah.