After Highwater died in 2001, researchers found his correct Social Security Number, and thereafter his California birth certificate. This upended his misrepresentations about his parents, birthplace and birth day, and early life. He was born on 13 February 1931 in Los Angeles as Jackie Marks to parents Martha (Turetz) Marks, then 27, and Alexander Marks, then 49; they were born in Philadelphia and New York City, respectively. His parents were found by researchers to each have immigrant grandparents of Eastern European Jewish ancestry; his father's family had likely anglicized their name to Marks. His father's Jewish identification was affirmed by his family requesting a Star of David for his military gravestone. Alexander Marks was a veteran of World War I.