After being missing for 51 years, Melissa Highsmith has been reunited with her family. Highsmith was kidnapped from her Fort Worth, TX, family in 1971 when she was 22 months old. Who was her kidnapper? Well, that was her then first-time babysitter, a woman Melissa’s mother had just met. Shockingly, Melissa’s kidnapper did not abscond with her to another state or country. In fact, Melissa was raised in Fort Worth under the name “Melanie.” Highsmith had no idea she was kidnapped, nor did she know that her family was searching for her. Thanks to a 23andMe DNA match, the mystery of her disappearance has been solved and Melissa has been reunited with her parents. While the love of a parent for a child is the heartwarming aspect of this story, from a sociological perspective, it opens the door for us to discuss the broader topic of family.
For our purposes, family is defined as a group of people connected by blood, marriage, adoption, or agreed-upon relationship. Even though Melissa’s background was significantly outside the norm of what most people experience, she still experienced a family of orientation, the family in which you are raised and socialized as a result of birth, adoption, or a blended family. In Highsmith’s case, she was born into one family and socialized for the majority of her childhood in another.
Families are socially constructed and historically changing. This means how families look varies over time and from society to society. For some people, marriage is a prerequisite to starting a family. Marriage is a socially constructed relationship that assumes financial and sexual cooperation between two people. Interestingly, the rate of marriage in the United States has been on a steady decline. In the 1990s, it was 9.8 per 1000. In 2020, that number dropped to 5.1 per 1000. While this might not seem like a huge change, it is worth noting that the rate was 12 per 1,000 in the 1920s. Instead of marriage, many couples are choosing cohabitation, a residential pattern in which a couple lives together without the benefit of legal marriage. Recent research has found the rate of cohabitation in the 18-34 age bracket is 242 per 1000. That number stands at 60 per 1000 for adults over the age of 50.
Melissa’s kidnapping means that for 51 years, she lost access to her biological nuclear family, a family consisting of one or more and children. She was not raised by her parents, nor was she able to grow up with her four siblings. Highsmith also missed out on a relationship with her biological extended family. This would have included other kin such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins living in the same household or nearby.
According to the Child Crime Prevention and Safety Center, each year in the United States, over 840,000 children are abducted or reported missing. To put this into perspective, that means a child is abducted or goes missing every 40 seconds. Thankfully, nearly 99% of abducted children are found and returned safely to their families. This is because most children are abducted by a family member, not a total stranger, as in the case of Melissa Highsmith. Additionally, modern technology has been an effective tool in helping law enforcement solve kidnappings and abductions.
After considering the case of Melissa Highsmith, we are left with one final question: What about the woman who kidnapped and raised her? Melissa’s kidnapper is still alive, and Melissa has confronted her about the situation. Sadly, there will be no legal ramifications. The statute of limitations for prosecuting Melissa’s kidnapper expired in 2009.
Thompson is a co-owner of UITAC Publishing. UITAC’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable, and socially responsible online course materials.
Images used in this blog:
- “Missing persons 2” by Keith Tyler is licensed under CC BY 2.0. This image has not been altered.
- “Wedding in New Orleans” by Jami430 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This image has not been altered.
- “Amber Alert” by Bob Bobster is licensed under CC BY 2.0. This image has not been altered.
