Melissa Highsmith

Ricky, still legally her husband, was never too far away from her, even as she embarked on new relationships.

By then, Melissa had decided their relationship could only ever be friendship.

Any romantic love she'd felt for Ricky was long gone, replaced with something closer to that of a sibling.

She forgave him for the violence and chaos of their years together, recognizing they'd both been young, traumatized, and ill-equipped to handle parenthood or addiction.

Start of message.

Hi, my name is Jennifer, and I'm calling from Tucson, Arizona.

I'm calling about the case with, um, involving Melissa Suzanne Highsmith.

I believe I am her.

He said the woman looked nearly identical to Vicky Highsmith, Melissa's younger sister, and he should know.

Randy Seinn was Melissa Highsmith's cousin.

He, too, grew up hearing of her abduction.

So I had photographs of Melissa.

Uh, I, I'm really afraid to say anything, you know?

Why was Randy Seinn warned to stay away from pursuing this? And who was it that warned him? Why was he scared? At first, it seems like another dead-end lead, a road to nowhere brought on by a paranoid man with too much time on his hands, or maybe with mental illness.

He contacted police, the FBI, a journalist at a local newspaper, begging for someone to help him find this girl, convinced she was Melissa Highsmith.

No one listened.

So yesterday I was on a long drive from East Texas down to Austin and I put on the first episode of a new podcast by some friends of mine, Sean Kipe and Jason Hoke.

The show is called Baby, the Melissa Highsmith story.

and i don't know y'all it's like as i was listening i was just swept up in the story of this woman from fort worth who was stolen as a baby and wasn't reunited with her family for half a century like she had no idea but her family never forgot about her they never stopped searching It's really powerful.

By the time that first episode was done, I was like, I need listeners of The Unforgotten and Deviltown to also hear this story.

So I asked Sean and Jason if I could share the first episode for you here.

And if you like this story as much as I do, please track it down on Apple or Spotify.

It's called Baby, The Melissa Highsmith Story.

And like, subscribe, leave it a review.

Do

you realize that right across the street is where Melissa was taken?

He's like, hey, there's this lady that's really insisting that she knows who Melissa

is.

I call him and I say, hey, this is Detective so-and-so.

Cover art and design by Reese Lodano.

A special thanks to the Highsmith family for their participation.

For more on Melissa's story, including never-before-seen family pictures and videos, visit babythepodcast.com. Don't forget to subscribe to the show, and if you loved Baby, please rate and review it on the podcast app of your choice.

A Fort Worth woman who was abducted as a baby more than half a century ago.

In 1971, 22-month-old Melissa Highsmith was abducted from her family in Fort Worth, Texas.

Melissa was hacked during a disappearance that spanned 51 years.

This is the incredible, true story of Melissa Highsmith.

For the first time since discovering her real identity, Melissa Highsmith pulls back the curtain on a 50-year ordeal built on lies, longing, and loss.

I've experienced things, and I've been through things that should have killed me.

But I'm still here.

As she did, she again noticed the woman wore long white gloves.