I've had never had anything nearly as close as the man in this news story, but I have met 3 times with providers who had a RL connection. There was the (obviously) now grown, childhood friend of one of my nieces, the only one that I had actually seen before-too long ago to recognize her. Then there was the niece of a coworker and a just distant enough (3rd, once removed) cousin. I actually know all my cousins closer than 3rd, so none of them could sneak up on me. In each case the connection was discovered in the after action chit chat.
http://www.unitednews.org/lexington-...-wife-arrived/