Abducted girl home for holidays after 50+ years
After 51 years, one family reconnected with their loved one this Thanksgiving.
Melissa Suzanne Highsmith was 22 months old when she disappeared in 1971.
Her mother, Alta Apantenco, had left the toddler in the care of her roommate and their home in Fort Worth, Texas. The roommate handed off Melissa to the babysitter on Aug. 23. No one who knew the girl had ever seen her since.
Though missing for decades, the family never forgot about Melissa. They continued to throw birthday parties for her, including the most recent one in November.
That same day, the family found a match in DNA results.
Those DNA results as well as public records research helped them find their long lost loved one. Melissa reunited with her parents and two of her four siblings for the first time this weekend.
“I couldn’t stop crying,” said Victoria Garner, Melissa’s sister, according to a Facebook post. “I was overjoyed and 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.”
The family hosted a celebration Saturday at their church in Fort Worth.
“It's overwhelming and incredible to me,” said Sharon Highsmith, Melissa’s younger sister. “We have worked with law enforcement and we've tried to do our own private family investigations. For decades, my parents have chased leads, hiring their own labs and investigators. And yet, these DNA tests, which are available to anyone, helped us find our lost loved one.”
DIY detective work helped connect the family to Lisa Jo Schiele, a clinical laboratory scientist and an amateur genealogist. Schiele helped the family interpret the DNA results. From there, Schiele mined publicly available records to locate Melissa.
“This is not the hardest genealogy puzzle I’ve ever solved,” she said. “I hope what I do gives other families the confidence to do the same. Never give up.”
Melissa’s disappearance occurred half a century ago, after her mother faced a difficult choice.
A single mom and fearful of losing her job, Apantenco hired the babysitter without meeting face to face.
“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 said. “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.”
Sharon, age 45, lives in Spain. She expects to meet Melissa at Christmas.
Sharon and her siblings, Rebecca L Del Bosque, Victoria Garner and Jeff Highsmith as well as their mother and father, Jeffrie Highsmith, are speaking out, advocating for families like them.
“Our family has suffered at the hands of agencies who have mismanaged this case. We’ve also suffered at the hands of media outlets who’ve sensationalized our family’s pain. This adds to the hurt our family is already experiencing.” Sharon said. “Right now, we just want to get to know Melissa, welcome her to the family and make up for 50 years of lost time.”
Sharon, her siblings and their parents encourage other families with missing loved ones to keep believing.
“Never give up hope,” she said. “Chase every lead.”
Written by: Katie Ryan-Anderson
November 27th, 2022