Woman abducted 51 years ago and reunited with family reveals horrid childhood trends now

Woman abducted 51 years ago and reunited with family reveals horrid childhood trends now
Woman abducted 51 years ago and reunited with family reveals horrid childhood trends now

Woman abducted 51 years ago and reunited with family reveals horrid childhood trends now

The Texas woman that was abducted 51 years ago by the babysitter shared her horrific childhood and the sexual abuse she endured by her stepfather before she became a teen runaway living on the streets to survive, DailyMail.com can now reveal.

Melissa Highsmith now 53 was miraculously reunited with her biological parents - Jeffrie Higshmith, 72; Alta Alpantenco, 73 and siblings - Rebecca Del Bosque, 48; Vicitoria Highsmith, 47; Sharon Highsmith, 45 and Jeffrey Highsmith, 42 - on November 26- five decades after she was abducted in 1971 when she was only 22 months old.

As her family spent decades looking for their family member, Melissa whose nam was changed to Melanie was barely surviving.

She shared with DailyMail.com some of the hardship and horror she endured at the hands of the woman she thought was her mother and her stepfather - having no idea she was adopted until a week ago - and had this giant family searching for her.

'I thought she was my real mom but I thought she regretted having me. There was no closeness... no love. She told me all of my life I was brain damaged and I was mentally retarded,' she said. 

Melissa she when she was a child her mother had put her in special classes despite her teachers telling her that she did not belong in them. She said that her two other siblings, a younger and older brother, had lived with her too. She recalled her older brother, who she said she wasn't close too, getting treated differently than she and her younger brother.

 'My dad was very abusive to us. My little brother ended up moving in with my grandma and then it was just me and my stepfather,' she said. 'My mother was emotionally abusive and my stepfather was sexually abusive.'

She told DailyMail.com that she never got pregnant and when she was 15 years old, she ran away from home.

Melissa and her birth mother are overjoyed that they have found one after 51 years now they plan to spend the rest of their lives getting to know each other again

Melissa and her birth mother are overjoyed that they have found one after 51 years now they plan to spend the rest of their lives getting to know each other again  

Baby Melissa with her biological parents Jeffrie Highsmith and Alta Altapanco taken sometime before her abduction on August 10, 1971

Baby Melissa now 53, all grown and reunited at last with her mom and dad after 51 long years

Melissa meets her parents- her dad Jeffrie Highsmith, 72 and mother Alta Altanpanco, 73 for the first time since she was kidnapped in August 1971 when she was 22 months old 

A black and white composite sketch of the babysitter from the 1970s - identified as Ruth Johnson. The mother's roommate, who handed baby Melissa to the babysitter told the authorities she was wearing a bonnet and white gloves

A black and white composite sketch of the babysitter from the 1970s - identified as Ruth Johnson. The mother's roommate, who handed baby Melissa to the babysitter told the authorities she was wearing a bonnet and white gloves

'I tried to runaway when I was 14, but it was unsuccessful. I didn't have nowhere to go so it was easy for them to track me but the second time I had somewhere to go. When they found me the police came to get me and I told them I wasn't going back so I never went back.'  

She and her high school sweetheart, she described as her 'first love,' married and the pair had a rough time of it and were living on and off the streets.   

She was arrested at least four times and charged with misdemeanors related to prostitution, according to Texas records, The Washington Post reported. 

'I did things I didn't want to do,' she said,  'but I supported me and my husband.' 

By the time she was 19, she was a mother of three but, said her children were taken away from her and put up for adoption- two boys and a girl.  She said she had her tubes tied after that and was no longer able to have children.

After leaving her first husband she started working in a host of different jobs from working at a bar, to a few fast food joints, and waitressing to support herself. 

She married again. Her husband, she said, was in and out of prison most of the time. They were together for 16 years and she finally left him because of his addiction.  

Eventually, Melissa found love again with a new man. She said they had a 'good marriage,' and were together for ten years but it ended, she said, after he fell into addiction

'I couldn't go down the walk he was walking so I chose to go another path,' she said. 

Undated photos of Melissa from the time she was a child to a teen and as a young woman

Undated photos of Melissa from the time she was a child to a teen and as a young woman 

A photo of Melissa with her younger sibling. It is not clear if the adult in the picture is the woman that Melissa claimed was the person she called 'mama' most of her life and the one who abducted her

A photo of Melissa with her younger sibling. It is not clear if the adult in the picture is the woman that Melissa claimed was the person she called 'mama' most of her life and the one who abducted her 

During this period, she became more religious and relied on her faith to get her through and started cleaning churches and eventually people's homes to earn some income. A job that she proudly says, she still does today.

 'I had PTSD from things that happened in my past so I couldn't really work around a lot of crowds so I started the cleaning business so I could do one-on-one which was easier for me.'

'It keeps me busy. I do like tow or three jobs a day,' she said. 

In April 2022, Melissa found her soul mate, a man she had met in church, John Brown. The couple wed in April.

On November 27, Brown posted on Facebook the emotional reunion that took place when  Melissa met her birth mother for the first time.

 'This is my beautiful wife Melissa Brown meeting her mother for the first time in 51 years,' he wrote.

In the video, the pair embrace and sob in each other's arms.

'I have seen all the pictures of when we were young,' Melissa says.

Her mother removes her sunglasses to get a better look of her long lost daughter, and responds:   'I used to be young and beautiful. I changed getting old,' she said, 'And missed all these years with you. Maybe we can get to know eachother better.'

Melissa asks: You live in Forth Worth?'

'I live in Forth Worth,' her mother says. 'Seventeen minutes away from you.  

 During the tear-jerking meeting she also met her father and one of her cousins who she learned was named Melissa after her.

In April 2022, Melissa found her soul mate, a man she had met in church, John Brown. The couple wed in April

In April 2022, Melissa found her soul mate, a man she had met in church, John Brown. The couple wed in April

Melissa hugging her dad for the first time as her mother overcome with emotion looks ahead

Melissa hugging her dad for the first time as her mother overcome with emotion looks ahead

The Facebook post the family sent out when Melissa was 'found.' The image shows Alta, as a young mom holding a photo the newspaper story that ran when her daughter went missing

The Facebook post the family sent out when Melissa was 'found.' The image shows Alta, as a young mom holding a photo the newspaper story that ran when

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