Fort Worth Police confirmed the true identity of a Texas woman, Melissa Highsmith, who was abducted as a toddler 52 years ago.  She was found through DNA testing and was reunited with her birth family after more than five decades of separation.

Police confirmed the family's private DNA testing results this week.

Now 53 years old, Melissa grew up as Melanie Brown. And she was raised just ten minutes away from where she was kidnapped.

She never knew she was taken from her parent's home in Fort Worth in August of 1971. And that the woman who claimed to be her mother kidnapped her while posing as a babysitter. 

A baby is kidnapped

Melissa Highsmith's biological mother, Alta Apantenco, posted a newspaper ad for a babysitter shortly before her daughter was kidnapped. A woman responded to the ad, agreeing to meet then-21-year-old Alta at the diner where she worked, but never showed up.

The prospective babysitter called later, telling Alta that she really wanted the position and had previously babysat other children in her large backyard. Without meeting in person, Alta hired the woman over the phone out of desperation, having recently separated from her husband, Jeffrie Highsmith.

On August 23, 1971, a mysterious, well-dressed woman wearing white gloves showed up at her Seminary Road apartment.

While Alta was asleep, the woman told the Apantenco's roommate that she had "come to pick up the baby." She took away Melissa, who was last seen wearing a pink dress and white sandals. 

The Highsmith family continued to throw birthday parties for Melissa after her disappearance. 

After years of searching for her long-lost daughter, 73-year-old Alta Apantenco said that she had nearly given up hope. 

DNA testing finds a match

The Highsmith family hired a genealogist and had 23andMe DNA testing done that led them to the Fort Worth woman in 2022.

On Melissa's 53rd birthday, a match for recently submitted DNA was returned.

 The Ancestry service linked her biological father Jeffrie Highsmith's sample to those of Melissa's three children with her husband, John Brown.

On the weekend after Thanksgiving, Melissa was reunited with her parents. And two of her four siblings were also present.

 Melissa's biological sister Victoria Garner posted a message on Facebook saying, "I couldn’t stop crying. 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.”

Sharon Highsmith, Melissa's younger sister, said that the discovery was "overwhelming and incredible." 

"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 labs and investigators. And yet, these DNA tests, which are available to anyone, helped us find our lost loved one.”

The Highsmith family credited their long-awaited reunion with Melissa to their strong Christian faith.

Jeffrie, Melissa's father, said, “We give all the credit to God. We believe it was — we're people of faith, and we believe it was through prayer."

 "The whole time I was there, it was a bad childhood," Highsmith said of life.

 "I wasn't allowed to go outside and play, and she always sheltered me," she recalled. "And she said the reason she sheltered me was that I was born at home and that I had brain damage... I used to wonder, 'Why did she even have me if she didn't want me?'"

 Highsmith ran away from the woman who raised her when she was 15-years-old.

Despite the years-long ordeal, Melissa's kidnappers will not be prosecuted. Authorities claim the statute of limitations for the Texas crime ran out 48 years ago.