10 Kidnap Victims Found After the Longest Time

10-Kidnap-Victims-Found-After-the-Longest-Time

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re looking at victims of kidnapping or imprisonment that were found after decades of being missing.

Blanche Monnier

1876-1901

Being kept a prisoner is terrifying enough, but being locked away in your own home must feel even more hopeless. When Blanche Monnier was 27, she had dreams of marrying a lawyer. Her mother didn’t approve, and she expressed that by locking her daughter away in their attic. Her family kept up the ruse, pretending as though she had gone missing entirely. Her suitor passing away and her friends being left in the dark meant she was alone, with no one looking for her. After twenty-five years, an official received word of her imprisonment. When she was finally found, they were met with the sight of an extremely emaciated older woman, a shell of the socialite she’d been before being subject to such cruel treatment.

Lydia Gouardo

1971-99

Being imprisoned by your loved ones is a harrowing thought on its own, much less the idea of being tortured by them. Lydia Gouardo’s girlhood was put on abrupt hold when her stepfather entered her life. As a young girl, she became his victim. She claimed to have made attempts to escape as a child, but was always returned by the police. The abuse escalated well into adulthood, where he thwarted more of her efforts to free herself. She remained in his clutches until his fate in 1999, when she was in her late thirties. Since then, she’s dedicated her days to making her story known, and criticizing the authorities that allegedly failed her throughout her youth.

Jermaine Mann

1987-2018

It’s estimated that a majority of kidnappings are done by the victim’s own kin, including their guardians. This was unfortunately the case for Jermaine Mann, who was purportedly taken across the border from Canada into the United States by his father as a toddler. The manipulation went on his entire childhood, with him being raised to believe he was born in America, and that his mom had died during his birth. Mann would’ve gone the rest of his days believing these lies, until interviews with other relatives revealed his location to the police in 2018. Although the search for his dad continues, Jermaine was able to reunite with his mother in his thirties, debunking one of the biggest lies he’d been told.

Feng Lulu

1989-2021

Her story is proof that everything can change in one horrific instant. In 1989, Feng Lulu was still a little one when she was suddenly captured. She had been sold to another family and raised as their own, being fed constant stories that her parents had sold her after supposedly not being able to afford her. While she knew she had been adopted, she wouldn’t know her true identity until the 21st century, when she was found in a database. That information made it possible for her to be found and located, finally ending her lifelong ordeal. She was in her thirties by the time she met with her mother and father, but that didn’t stop them from immediately embracing her.

Li Jingweh

1989-2021

While some children who are abducted at a young age have no memories of their previous lives, some are able to cling to them. Li Jingweh was ripped away from everything he knew, and bought by another household. Although they gave him a new name, he never forgot his true roots. He spent his youth drawing what he remembered of his town, keeping it in his mind. He was able to rely on those memories as an adult, posting his drawing online in hopes of gathering information. It was spread far and wide, allowing officials to eventually find his biological mom. They were able to embrace for the first time since he was a boy, bringing an end to their long nightmare.

Mao Yin

1988-2020

The feeling of being with your child one second, only for them to vanish the next, is every parent’s worst fear. In 1988, that unfortunately came true for Mao Yin’s father, who had been the last one to see his son before his unexpected disappearance. Yin’s mother proceeded to spend the following decades attempting to get him back, no matter what. Her efforts helped dozens of other families be reunited, with no luck of her own. With the use of facial recognition software, authorities were able to eventually track him down. His identity was confirmed in 2020, allowing them to reunify. After thirty-two years and several families reformed, she was able to relax, and finally bond with her son.

Holly Clouse

1980-2022

Her world was turned upside down before she could even walk. Holly Clouse was a baby when her parents were killed, and she was whisked away from the scene of the crime. Investigators had no idea that she’d been relocated from Texas to Arizona, and raised by an unsuspecting pastor. Indeed, for more than 40 years, until her parents’ bodies were identified, the police didn’t even know there was a child missing. In 2022, they found her alive and well. She lived a full life, unaware of the horrific event that led to her adoption. She connected with her relatives for the first time as an adult.

Melissa Highsmith

1971-2022

As an infant, Melissa Highsmith had been left with a babysitter and subsequently stolen. She grew up believing her captor was her matriarch - and amazingly was relocated just ten minutes away from her true family. After years of being excessively sheltered and told she had brain damage, she eventually ran away at fifteen. This inadvertently put even more space between herself and her true family. Eventually, a DNA test confirmed a link between one of her own children and her dad, allowing her to reunite with her parents. Shortly afterwards, she legally changed her name back to Melissa Highsmith, reclaiming the moniker that had once been taken from her.

Susan Gervaise

1969-2022

What started out as a potential trip to Disney World ended in something much more insidious. In the late 1960s, a child named Susan Gervaise was allowed to travel with a couple under the guise of going on vacation. That was a lie, resulting in her being transported from the United Kingdom to Canada and then Australia and New Zealand. She made it to adolescence without realizing anything was amiss. Even after learning the truth at 16, she was content to not know every detail. It wasn’t until later on that she realized the reality of her situation, and set out to find her birth parents. She had an answer within a half-hour, enabling her to see her father again after over half a century.

Dollie Ann Henson

1954-2009

She’s living proof of how resilient some people can be. When Dollie Ann Henson was lured away and taken across the country as a young girl, she had no idea just how long she’d remain missing. Her birth certificate was rumored to have been changed along with her name, making it impossible to trace her origins. Although her kidnapper attempted to sour her against her family, she never lost hope. When her records were lost to a fire, it seemed like her efforts would end there. However, in 2009 she was finally able to locate and meet several relatives, including her sister. At 61, she had finally found what she had spent a lifetime searching for, allowing her to finally be at ease.

Did any of these cases leave an impact on you? Let us know in the comments below.