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Texas -- November 28, 2022: Chirstmas came early for a family on Sunday. The family of a woman who was kidnapped more than 50 years ago was reunited with her.
Melissa Highsmith was 21 months old on August 23, 1971, when a person hired as a babysitter kidnapped her. A newspaper ad for a babysitter was created by Melissa's mother, a 22-year-old waitress in Fort Worth, Texas.
When a woman responded to the advertisement, she agreed to meet the mother at the restaurant where she worked, but she never did.
The family announced the news on Facebook:"
"BIG NEWS We are beyond thrilled to announce that WE FOUND MELISSA!!! There are so many details we would like to share, but for now, we would just like to say that we followed a 23 & Me family DNA match that led us to her. Our finding Melissa was purely because of DNA, not because of any police / FBI involvement, podcast involvement, or even our family’s own private investigations or speculations. DNA WINS THIS SEARCH! Mom & Dad met Mel for the first time yesterday after 51 years and did further official & legal DNA testing, although in the moment we saw her pictures, found out about her birthmark, and realized her “birthday” is so close to our Melissa, WE KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was OUR GIRL. We are of course waiting for official confirmation for the naysayers in this world.
We would like to sincerely thank and give a big applause to our genealogist enthusiast and advocate, Lisa Jo Schiele, for her guidance in helping us understand the DNA results and for leading us down the path that brought us to discovering our very own Melissa Suzanne Highsmith, who has been living in Fort Worth for most of her life!
The joy is palpable amongst all family members, and we invite you to celebrate and rejoice with us, and also allow our family some moments of privacy as we process this exciting news! Thank you for your support over the years!"
No information on the about the kidnapper at this time.
WNCTIMES by Marjorie Farrington
Photo Credit Facebook "We Found Melissa" group
