Baby Abducted by Babysitter in the U.S. Reunites with Family After 51 Years

Trusted a Babysitter They Had Never Met and Were Separated from Their 21-Month-Old Daughter
Family Tracks DNA Information Revealed After Anonymous Tip to Reunite

[Image source=Getty Images]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junran Kim] An American woman who was kidnapped by a babysitter when she was one year old has reunited with her biological family after 51 years.

According to local media including The Washington Post (WP) on the 28th (local time), Melissa Highsmith (53) reunited with her biological parents at a church in Fort Worth, Texas on the 26th. It was the first time in 51 years since she was kidnapped and went missing at 21 months old in August 1971.

Melissa's mother, Alpha Afantenko, lost her daughter in 1971. At that time, Afantenko was separated from her husband and raising her child alone, and needed someone to take care of her one-year-old daughter while she went to work. She hired a babysitter through a newspaper ad, but the babysitter, whom she had never met in person, took the child saying she would care for her at her own home and never returned.

Immediately after the incident, Afantenko reported her daughter's disappearance to the police but was unable to find her. However, the family never gave up; they held birthday parties every year for Melissa and continuously posted ads on Facebook seeking the missing Melissa. It is said that Melissa ran away from home at age 15 after a falling out with her foster mother and lived a difficult life thereafter.

Then, in September, Afantenko's family received an anonymous tip that Melissa was living in Charleston, South Carolina. With the help of experts, they tracked publicly available DNA information and eventually succeeded in locating Melissa's residence.

Melissa, who had lived believing she had no family, initially could not believe this fact. The family confirmed not only Melissa's date of birth but also that the black birthmark on her back from childhood was exactly the same. The whereabouts of the kidnapper remain unknown.

Currently, Melissa wants to abandon the name "Melanie," which she has used for over 50 years, and use her original name, Melissa. She also plans to spend more time with her mother. Melissa's sister, Sharon Highsmith, said, "Our family has gone through difficult times, but now we want to make up for the lost 50 years with Melissa," and added, "We are grateful that our mother, who suffered from the guilt of losing her child, endured the past well."