Melissa’s disappearance stayed a mystery for over 51 years

On a warm summer day in 1971, in Fort Worth, Texas, a young mother named Alta Apantenco was doing her best to care for her 22-month-old daughter, Melissa Highsmith, while also working full-time. In need of child care, Alta placed an ad in a local newspaper asking for a babysitter. A woman replied and offered to pick up Melissa from the home. Alta trusted the plan, and her roommate handed Melissa over—without Alta ever meeting the woman herself. But the woman wasn’t a babysitter. She was a kidnapper. And from that moment on, Melissa was gone.

Years went by with no answers. Every year on Melissa’s birthday, her family lit candles, said prayers, and held on to hope. Even after many police reports, searches, and public efforts, no one could find her. Melissa’s disappearance stayed a mystery for over 51 years. Then, in 2022, the truth finally came out—not from a police lead or witness, but from a small plastic tube and a DNA test. A relative had sent a sample of saliva to 23andMe, a genetic testing company, and the results showed something unbelievable: a woman named Melanie Walden shared a strong DNA connection with the Highsmith family.

Melanie was actually Melissa Highsmith. She had been living just 20 minutes away from her real family, not knowing she had been taken as a child. She had grown up under a different name and said her home life was rough and unkind. She had no idea her identity had been stolen. When she learned the truth, it was a lot to take in—but she was willing to reconnect. The reunion was full of emotion: a mother who had never stopped searching, a daughter who finally found her way back, and a family reunited after so many years—all thanks to hope and the science of DNA. Though no one has been charged with a crime yet, the story is a powerful reminder of love, strength, and how modern science helped a lost child come home after more than fifty years. Continue reading

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A group of prisoners documented the medical experimentations that German doctors were performing on them.

This photo was taken secretly inside the Ravensbrück concentration camp. A group of prisoners documented the medical experimentations that German doctors were performing on them. Joanna Szydłowska traded her bread to another prisoner for a camera. She was one of 74 Polish women subjected to cruel experiments, including unnecessary surgeries. Doctors cut open some women's legs and intentionally infected them to try to simulate battlefield wounds. Some of the women were given no medication when they became desperately ill. Ravensbrück was liberated on this day in 1945 after most prisoners had been evacuated from the camp. Some of the experimentation victims testified at trials after the war. The photos they took were part of the evidence. Continue reading #OTD #OnThisDayinHistory #Holocaust

Fugitive drug lord 'Taliban' who stole cartel's 450lb cocaine shipment is tossed ALIVE into ocean with an anchor tied to his waist

Fugitive drug lord 'Taliban' who stole cartel's 450lb cocaine shipment is tossed ALIVE into ocean with an anchor tied to his waist This is the moment a fugitive Venezuelan drug trafficker known as Taliban is dumped alive in the ocean with his hands zip-tied and an anchor around his waist in revenge for stealing 450 pounds of cocaine - and cash - from a cartel. The footage, shared to social media, shows Fuentes staring at the person recording the video. He is then dumped overboard and left to drown.'.. read and watch the video None of his kidnappers are identified but one is heard in the background of the video saying 'make sure none of our faces can be seen' and another later said 'he has no way to save himself'. Make money online: Paying sites and apps for making cash In an elaborate - and poorly thought out - ruse, Fuentes, a middleman for the Venezuelan Clan del Cartel, earlier had dumped a shipment of narcotics worth $10 million at s...

In the fall of 1944, ten-year-old Thomas Buergenthal found himself all alone in Auschwitz, destined for the gas chamber

In the fall of 1944, ten-year-old Thomas Buergenthal found himself all alone in Auschwitz, destined for the gas chamber. Thomas had already survived the Kielce ghetto and a forced labor camp by the time German authorities deported him and his parents to Auschwitz in August 1944. Typically, children were taken on arrival and murdered in the gas chambers, but, because there was no selection when Thomas and his family arrived there, he managed to survive. His mother was taken to the women's section of the camp, but Thomas and his father remained together. However, Thomas remained in grave danger. The SS guards regularly selected prisoners to be murdered in the gas chambers and as a child Thomas stood out. While he had survived a number of selections by hiding, this time, Thomas had been caught. "They saw me as a child, and they motioned me to go one way, and my father go the other way," Thomas remembered. "And that's the last I saw of ... my father." Thomas and...

Julie Keefer’s constant cries put her family in danger. In the end, this may have saved her life.

Julie Keefer’s constant cries put her family in danger. In the end, this may have saved her life. After escaping the Lwów ghetto, Julie, her sister, Tola, and their family hid from the Nazis in a forest hideout for several months. Over time, the girls’ crying put the Jewish family at risk. Their grandfather made the painful decision to place two-year-old Julie and baby Tola with a friend. Soon after they were removed, the Germans discovered the hiding place in the woods and murdered everyone inside. Julie’s grandfather, who was away visiting the girls, was the only survivor. Julie never saw her parents again. During the chaos of the war, Julie and Tola were separated, and Tola was sent to a Catholic orphanage. After the Holocaust, Julie and her grandfather desperately searched for Tola but they were unable to locate the baby. Julie never lost hope of finding her sister. Despite all that she lost, Julie chose to share her story with visitors at our Museum. “For many, many years I did no...

In April 1981, the body of a young white woman was found in a ditch on Greenlee Road in Newton Township, Ohio

In April 1981, the body of a young white woman was found in a ditch on Greenlee Road in Newton Township, Ohio. She was wearing a buckskin poncho, so investigators called her the "Buckskin Girl." That same day, her body was examined. It was found that she had suffered serious injuries to her head and neck before being strangled to death about 48 hours before her body was found. Despite many years of hard work by investigators, the identity of the Buckskin Girl remained unknown for over 30 years. On April 9, 2018, the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory announced that they had identified the woman as 21-year-old Marcia Lenore King from Little Rock, Arkansas. Marcia had last been seen by her family in 1980. Although she wasn’t officially reported missing, her family had kept searching for her. The identification was made possible by detailed DNA testing. Sadly, the person who caused her death has still not been found. Continue reading

MAN CUTS OFF FOOTBALLER’S GENITALS, SLITS THROAT OVER WHATSAPP PRANK

MAN CUTS OFF FOOTBALLER’S GENITALS, SLITS THROAT OVER WHATSAPP PRANK A footballer found dead with his genitals cut off was tortured and killed “in barbaric fashion” over a drunken whatsapp prank, it is claimed. Daniel Corea's body body was found in the Brazilian city of Sao Jose dos Pinhais on Saturday, October 27. He had been castrated and his throat slit with such force that he was almost beheaded. The 24-year-old, who played for , had been at the 18th birthday party of Allana Brittes at a nightclub in Curitiba before he was killed. Three days later, Allana’s dad, Junior, 39, confessed to killing Correa, telling police he had found the footballer trying to rape his wife Cristiana. On Monday, pictures emerged showing Correa in bed with a sleeping woman, thought to be Brittes’ wife. They had been sent by the footballer to his friends on WhatsApp in his final hours. Police said the pictures were most likely taken as part of an “immature stunt”. Sources added that Correa suffe...

Brunhilda had the worst death due to the way she was killed

Brunhilda had the worst death due to the way she was killed Brunhilda of Austrasia Bruhilda was a Gothic Princess in the Early middle ages who married the King of Austrasia while her sister Galswintha married Chilperic I of Nesutria Brunhilda (c. 534 – 613)[1] was a Visigoth princess. Her father was King Athanagild of Spain. She married King Sigebert I of Austrasia. She ruled the eastern kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy in the names of her sons and grandsons. At first she was known as a fair and just ruler. She later became known for her cruelty and vengeful behavior. Before her arrival to the Frankish kingdoms, Brunhilda was an Arian Christian, but later converted to Roman Catholicism. Brunhilda traveled to Austrasia to marry King Sigebert I. King Sigebert I's half brother, King Chilperic I married Brunhilda's sister, Galswintha. However, Galswintha was not happy, and wanted to go home and take back her dowry. King Chilperic refused, and murdered her. King Chilperic remmarri...

“In Auschwitz, I never cried, and people around me never cried.”

“In Auschwitz, I never cried, and people around me never cried.” Irene Weiss was just a teenager when she learned to turn off her feelings in order to survive. When a Nazi officer selected Irene to perform forced labor at Auschwitz-Birkenau, it gave her a chance to survive that was denied to her mother and younger siblings, who were murdered upon arrival. She was assigned to a unit responsible for sorting through the stolen personal belongings of Jews. The storage barracks where she worked were next to one of Auschwitz's gas chambers. Irene often saw the faces of those unknowingly headed toward their deaths. Sometimes they would stop and talk to her. Other times, she heard their screams. “When we worked night shifts … this place was close enough to the train platform that you could hear in the night the whistle of the train and then you would hear the humming noise of large crowds. You could hear people in the distance. Within a few minutes or so the large column of young women, mo...

Michał Klepfisz was born in Warsaw on April 17, 1913. His mother was a school teacher. His family was Jewish, but not particularly religious. He went to university in Warsaw, where he studied polytechnics

Michał Klepfisz was born in Warsaw on April 17, 1913. His mother was a school teacher. His family was Jewish, but not particularly religious. He went to university in Warsaw, where he studied polytechnics. In 1939, after the war started, he lived in Lviv and later in Donetsk. Eventually, Michał heard the rumors of what was happening to his friends in family in Warsaw and came back to the city. He lived outside of the ghetto under a false name: Tadeusz Mecner. Eventually, Michał became connected with the ŻOB- the Jewish fighting organization in the ghetto. Due to his knowledge in polytechnics, Michał was able to help the resistance produce explosives. He was later caught and arrested. He was sent to the Treblinka extermination camp, but jumped off the train, therefore escaping almost certain death. He was injured from his jump, but made his way back to Warsaw to continue helping the resistance. When he returned home, Michał helped sneak food and weapons into the ghetto. On Ap...

Klaus Barbie had no regrets about sending thousands to their deaths.

Klaus Barbie had no regrets about sending thousands to their deaths. He personally tortured members of the French resistance and was responsible for the deportation of thousands of Jews from German-occupied France. As head of a local office of the Gestapo, the Nazis' political police force, Barbie made a name for himself as the "Butcher of Lyon." In 1944, he learned that 44 Jewish children were being sheltered in a nearby village. He had the children arrested and sent them to Auschwitz. None survived. Years after the war, and after escaping to South America, Barbie was captured and tried for crimes against humanity. Despite his conviction in 1987, Barbie remained a devoted Nazi, stating: “I am proud to have been a commanding officer of the best military outfit in the Third Reich, and if I had to be born a thousand times again, I would be a thousand times what I’ve been.” Photo: Wikimedia #Holocaust #History

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