Show Helps Reunite Long-Lost Relatives
A woman has found her long-lost nieces in Washington state and nephew in Idaho with help from the TV show "Unsolved Mysteries."
Ethel Sheme of Powell, Wyo., had been searching for years for her sister's two daughters and son, now in their 40s. But it wasn't until "Unsolved Mysteries" aired her story March 4 that the three were found.
A niece and nephew had been raised together by adoptive parents. The second niece grew up in foster care, not knowing what happened to her brother and sister.
They will be reunited in Hardin, Mont., this summer.
"It's going to be fantastic for everyone to have them back with us," Sheme said.
Sheme came from a family of 17 children. A younger sister, Elnora Madding Hamilton, divorced in the early 1950s. She had three children, Steven Ward Case Madding, Rita Kay Madding, and Pamela Ray Madding.
After the divorce, Elnora headed to Seattle, where she found a woman to attend the children while she worked as a cocktail waitress. Eventually Elnora left the children with a baby-sitter and never returned. She remarried and moved to Virginia. She died a few years ago.
No one knew for certain what happened to the three children. Sheme believed the unknown baby-sitter found foster homes for the children.
Sheme traveled twice to the Seattle area to try to find her nieces and nephew. She advertised in Tacoma and Seattle newspapers, tried to persuade school districts to help her search and contacted
welfare agencies.
She found nothing - until "Unsolved Mysteries" aired her story.
The next day, one of her missing nieces, Rita Madding of Tacoma, phoned the TV show after learning from her foster mother she had been mentioned in the show.
The same night, the other children were contacted by their adoptive parents, who had watched the show. Steve Madding was living in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Pamela Madding was in Richland.
A few days later, Sheme had talked with Steve and Pamela and found out that they had been raised together, but had no clue where Rita was.
"This is what we wanted," Sheme said. "we wanted them to get together as a family first."