Global Courant 2023-05-05 20:30:48
Texas authorities have confirmed the identification of a woman who was abducted as a baby more than 50 years ago in 1971.
Melissa Highsmith’s family had been searching for her for decades, and on Nov. 22, they opened up the results of a 23andMe test and got a match with Melissa’s kids. The Fort Worth Police Department officially confirmed Highsmith’s identity through a separate DNA test on Thursday.
“The Fort Worth Police Department has completed official DNA testing that has confirmed the identity of Melissa Highsmith. We hope this test result will provide additional closure for the Highsmith family,” police said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The department continued, “Although the criminal statute of limitations has expired 20 years after Melissa’s 18th birthday, the Fort Worth Police Department’s Major Case Unit continues to seek the public’s help with additional information about Melissa’s abduction that occurred more than 51 years ago.”
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The real Melissa Highsmith next to a colorized photo illustration of what she looked like now from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (NCMEC/ Highsmith family Facebook page)
The Highsmith family previously told Fox News Digital that her resemblance to their mother is uncanny.
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“We had coffee with her on Thanksgiving night, and when I looked at her, I just knew. I knew,” her brother, Jeff Highsmith, said in November, later adding that his eyes “didn’t could keep her off” when she met because she looked “exactly like” his mother.
Missing Melissa Highsmith reunited with family. (Highsmith family Facebook page)
Melissa Highsmith grew up just 10 minutes from where she was kidnapped from her mother’s apartment in Fort Worth, Texas, on August 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old.
The case made headlines in September when an anonymous tipster reported a possible sighting of Highsmith in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Although Highsmith was not in Charleston at the time of the sighting, it brought national attention to the case and motivated the Highsmith siblings to find their long-lost sister.
Melissa Highsmith’s family held a memorial on her 53rd birthday outside the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex in Fort Worth, Texas. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Worth on August 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old. Highsmith’s sister Victoria Garner moves a sign from a non-profit she runs. (James Breeden for Fox News Digital)
Jeff and Melissa’s mother, Alta, who had recently divorced when she moved to Fort Worth and worked as a waitress in the 1970s, had placed an ad in the local newspaper at the time for a babysitter to watch over Melissa—her firstborn.
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A woman responded to the ad and agreed to meet Alta at the restaurant where the young mother worked, but did not show up.
Melissa Highsmith’s family has provided this photo of her as a baby. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Worth, Texas on August 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old. (Provided by family to Fox News Digital)
Later, the future babysitter called Alta and expressed her interest in the job by saying that she had a large garden and took care of other children.
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Alta hired the babysitter, who picked up the 21-month-old toddler when she was in the care of Alta’s roommate while the young mother was waitressing, according to Jeff Highsmith.
Melissa Highsmith’s missing mother poses next to a composite sketch of her daughter’s suspected kidnapper in a Fort Worth Star Telegram newspaper article. (Jeff Highsmith)
The roommate told authorities that the woman who picked Melissa up in Texas in mid-August wore white gloves, sunglasses and a beanie on her head, Jeff explained.
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Highsmith had not been seen since her mother called the police the day she disappeared in 1971. Jeff believes his sister has been kidnapped, but for now he just wants to get to know his sister.
The Highsmith family was “overjoyed with happiness” after finding Melissa and felt more united than ever, Jeff said in November.
Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.