Missing Woman Reunites With Family 51 Years After Her Abduction

Families are meant to stay together despite life’s toughest problems, but this is not the reality for some people as they, unfortunately, have to face life separated from their loved ones.

Working Mom

Alta Apantenco was working as a waitress in August 1971 so she placed an ad in the newspaper that she was looking for a babysitter for her 22-month-old daughter.

She Was Kidnapped

Alta wasn’t able to wait for the babysitter to arrive at her apartment to pick up her daughter, Melissa, so a roommate passed off the toddler to the babysitter who never brought the toddler back to her home.

Looking For Melissa

Jeff Highsmith, Melissa’s father, said, “We never gave up hope looking for her through the years. We had several tips, we would go off to other states. We would go off and talk to different girls, have DNA made, and our hopes were dashed. It was hard.”

Awful Accusations

To add insult to injury, terrible law enforcers even accused Alta of taking her own daughter’s life and hiding the crime.

A Great Suggestion

As years passed by, the family started a Facebook page named “Finding Melissa” where a genealogist suggested they try submitting a DNA test to 23andMe.

Unexpected Reunion

Melissa was found three weeks after Alta and Jeff tried 23andMe, and their family reunited during a celebration at a Fort Worth church.

A Christmas Miracle

Victoria Highsmith, Melissa’s sister, was overjoyed with their reunion. She said, “I’m still walking around in a fog trying to comprehend that my sister is right in front of me and that we found her. It’s a Christmas miracle! It’s amazing meeting her. It was like looking into myself — she looks like me, like us.”

Under Investigation

Melissa and her family believe that the woman who raised her is the kidnapper, even though Melissa was told that she bought her “off the street for $500” when she was a baby. Fort Worth Police Department will be conducting its own DNA testing to confirm Melissa’s identity, and they commit to “completing this investigation to uncover all of the available information concerning Melissa’s abduction that occurred 51 years ago.”

Watch Alta and Melissa’s emotional reunion in the video below.

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