A DNA match from the ancestry service 23andMe helped a family in Fort Worth, Texas, find their daughter, who was taken from them as a baby more than 50 years ago. The family announced this on Sunday.
Melissa Highsmith was just 22 months old when she was taken from her babysitter’s home in 1971, her family has said in multiple posts over the years.
Highsmith, who was given the name Melanie when she was young, reportedly spent the majority of her life in Fort Worth before realizing she was missing.
She didn’t know her family was looking for her until they got in touch with her through Facebook. She thought at first that the message might be a trick.
Highsmith told KTVT that her father texted her on Messenger and said, “You know, I’ve been looking for my daughter for 51 years.” KTVT said that the family found Highsmith through a 23andMe DNA match with one of her children.
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“The person that raised me, I asked her, ‘Is there anything you need to tell me?’ and it was confirmed that she knew that I was baby Melissa, so that just made it real,” Highsmith told the affiliate.
Saturday was the first time Highsmith’s parents saw her in a long time. They also did more “official and legal DNA testing,” the family wrote online.
“Although in the moment we saw her pictures, found out about her birthmark, and realised her ‘birthday’ is so close to our Melissa, WE KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was OUR GIRL,” the family added in a Facebook post announcing the news.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System gives a profile of Highsmith’s case. It says that the baby who went missing had a birthmark on her upper back. The report also has a drawing of the alleged babysitter and pictures of Melissa as she grew up.
A DNA match reunites missing daughter with her family 51 years after she was kidnapped. The woman had no idea she was missing. @edlavaCNN has more on this incredible story and sweet reunion: pic.twitter.com/2LOjoHYHHa
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) November 29, 2022
Alta Apantenco, her mother, told KTVT through tears, “I just couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t believe it.” “I thought I would never see her again.”
“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,” one of the Highsmith family members wrote on Facebook.
In a statement released Monday, the Fort Worth Police Department said it was “overjoyed” that 23andMe helped the family find Melissa. It also said it would do official DNA testing to make sure Melissa was who she said she was.
The criminal statute of limitations ran out 20 years after Melissa turned 18, but the department said it would keep looking into the case to “find out everything we can about Melissa’s abduction 51 years ago.”
When Highsmith went missing, her mother told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that she put an ad in the paper looking for a babysitter to watch her baby while she worked.
So happy we could play a part in this reunion ❤️❤️❤️https://t.co/wLA1OqZPq6
— Anne Wojcicki (@annewoj23) November 29, 2022
Apantenco reportedly told the Star-Telegram that a woman responded to the ad by offering to watch Melissa at her house. When the woman came to get the baby, the woman said that Apantenco’s roommate was taking care of the baby. She told the paper that she gave the baby to the woman and that the woman never came back.
The Highsmith family says that Apantenco has always been haunted by the event, even though he went on to have four more children.
“My mom did the best she could with the limited resources she had. She couldn’t risk getting fired. So, she trusted the person who said they’d care for her child,” Sharon Highsmith, Melissa’s younger sister, said in a news release.
“For 50 years, my mom has lived with the guilt of losing Melissa. She’s also lived with community and nationwide accusations that she hurt or killed her own baby. I’m so glad we have Melissa back. I’m also grateful we have vindication for my mom.”
The family says they want other people who are missing loved ones to keep believing. “Never give up hope,” Sharon said. “Chase every lead.”
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