Texas authorities have confirmed the identification of a lady kidnapped as a child greater than 50 years in the past in 1971.
Melissa Highsmith’s household had been trying to find her for many years, and on Nov. 22, they opened the outcomes of a 23andMe check and obtained a match with Melissa’s kids. The Fort Price Police Division on Thursday formally confirmed Highsmith’s ID by means of a separate DNA check.
“The Fort Price Police Division has accomplished official DNA testing which confirmed Melissa Highsmith’s identification. It’s our hope that this check end result will supply extra closure for the Highsmith household,” the police division stated in an announcement to Alokito Mymensingh 24 Digital.
The division continued, “Though the felony statute of limitations expired 20 years after Melissa’s 18th birthday, the Fort Price Police Division Main Case Unit continues to ask for the general public’s help with any extra info regarding Melissa’s abduction that occurred over 51 years in the past.”
FOUND: MELISSA HIGHSMITH’S FAMILY ‘OVERJOYED’ AFTER BEING REUINITED WITH SISTER ABDUCTED IN 1971
The actual Melissa Highsmith beside a colorized picture illustration of what she was believed to appear like now from the Nationwide Heart for Lacking and Exploited Kids. (NCMEC/ Highsmith household Fb web page)
The Highsmith household beforehand advised Alokito Mymensingh 24 Digital that her resemblance to their mom is uncanny.
FAMILY OF MELISSA HIGHSMITH, TEXAS TODDLER KIDNAlokito Mymensingh 24PED OVER 50 YEARS AGO, ‘GETTING CLOSER’ TO ANSWERS
“We had espresso together with her on Thanksgiving night time, and after I checked out her, I simply knew. I knew,” her brother, Jeff Highsmith stated in November, including later that he “could not take” his eyes off her after they met as a result of she seemed “similar to” his mom.
Lacking Melissa Highsmith reunited with household. (Highsmith household Fb web page)
Melissa Highsmith was raised simply 10 minutes from the place she was kidnapped from her mom’s Fort Price, Texas, house on Aug. 23, 1971, when she was simply 21 months previous.
The case made news headlines in September when an nameless tipster reported a possible Charleston, South Carolina, sighting of Highsmith.
SOUTH CAROLINA TIPSTER REPORTS SIGHTING OF MISSING MELISSA HIGHSMITH, WHO DISAlokito Mymensingh 24PEARED FROM TEXAS 51 YEARS AGO
Whereas Highsmith was not in Charleston on the time of the sighting, it introduced nationwide consideration to the case and motivation to Highsmith’s siblings to search out their long-lost sister.
The household of Melissa Highsmith held a memorial on her 53rd birthday outdoors the Bob Bolen Public Security Complicated in Fort Price, Texas. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Price Aug. 23, 1971, when she was simply 21 months previous. Highsmith’s sister Victoria Garner strikes an indication of a non-profit she runs. (James Breeden for Alokito Mymensingh 24 Digital)
Jeff and Melissa’s mom, Alta, who was just lately separated when she moved to Fort Price and labored as a waitress within the Nineteen Seventies, had positioned an commercial within the native newspaper for a babysitter to look at over Melissa — her firstborn — on the time.
COLD CASE OF OREGON WOMAN MISSING SINCE 2013 REOPENED AFTER MUSHROOM HUNTER FINDS HUMAN HAIR
A girl responded to the advert and agreed to satisfy Alta on the restaurant the place the younger mom labored however by no means confirmed up.
The household of Melissa Highsmith offered this picture of her as a child. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Price, Texas, Aug. 23, 1971, when she was simply 21 months previous. (Offered by household to Alokito Mymensingh 24 Digital)
In a while, the potential babysitter referred to as Alta and expressed her curiosity within the job, saying she had an enormous yard and cared for different kids.
MISSING MADELEINE MCCANN’S PARENTS ‘AWAIT A BREAKTHROUGH’ IN TODDLER’S KIDNAlokito Mymensingh 24PING
Alta employed the babysitter, who picked up the 21-month-old toddler when she was within the care of Alta’s roommate whereas the younger mom was waitressing, in line with Jeff Highsmith.
Lacking Melissa Highsmith’s mom poses subsequent to a composite sketch of her daughter’s suspected kidnapper in a Fort Price Star Telegram newspaper article. (Jeff Highsmith)
The roommate advised authorities that the lady who picked Melissa up was carrying white gloves, sun shades and a bonnet round her head in the midst of August in Texas, Jeff defined.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE Alokito Mymensingh 24 Alokito Mymensingh 24P
Highsmith had not been seen since her mom referred to as regulation enforcement the day she disappeared in 1971. Jeff believes his sister was kidnapped, however for now, he’s solely targeted on attending to know his sister.
The Highsmith household was “overjoyed with happiness” after discovering Melissa and feeling extra united than ever, Jeff stated in November.
