Texas woman kidnapped as a child reunites with family over 50 years later
Melissa Highsmith was kidnapped from her home in Fort Worth in 1971 as child and her family has not stopped searching for her since the abduction. On Sunday, November 27, the Highsmith family announced that they got an early Christmas gift as they were finally reunited with Melissa after over five decades thanks to the results of a 23AndMe DNA test.
The family posted in a Facebook group saying they are “beyond thrilled” to have found Melissa, sharing photos of Melissa, now 53, hugging her mom and dad when they met for the first time in 51 years.
“Our finding Melissa was purely because of DNA, not because of any police [or] FBI involvement, podcast involvement, or even our family’s own private investigations or speculations,” said a family member, Sharon Rose Highsmith, in the Facebook post.
Melissa was taken from her home in Fort Worth by her babysitter at just 22 months old. The family spent decades searching for Melissa, even coming upon a tip that she was possibly sighted in South Carolina in September. That never panned out, CBS news reports. Then a 23AndMe DNA test connected the Highsmith family to Melissa’s children, so they decided to reach out to her on Facebook.
Melissa hugs her dad, Jeff, after seeing each other for the first time in 51 years.
Courtesy of Sharon Rose Highsmith
It turns out that she was living in Fort Worth as Melanie Walden. She thought it was a scam at first.
“My father texted me on messenger and he told me, ‘You know, I’ve been looking for my daughter for 51 years,'” Melissa told CBS News. “My heart right now is just full and bursting with just so much emotion. I’m just really, really happy.”
She told CBS News that she plans on changing her name back to Melissa. No details have been released on her kidnapper.
