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A woman who believes she was kidnapped as an infant wants to find her real family.  Monica Libao was a teen when she heard the story  The family moved twice a year, for 15 years CASE DETAILS  Monica had to stay home on class picture day In May of 1970, somewhere in Texas, a little girl named Monica Libao clutched her only friend and waited patiently. Her family was on the move again. Monica would move a total of 28 times in 15 years, nearly one move every six months:
Monica’s parents, Pablo and Burma Libao, were relatively old to have children her age. Monica’s two half-sisters were already grown and had moved away. Monica had learned not to question her family’s nomadic lifestyle or why she was always kept home from school on class picture days. Then, at age 16, Monica came across a long buried family secret:
 She searched for clues to her real identity If Burma Libao wasn’t Monica’s mother, then who was? Monica confronted her alleged mother Burma, and asked her for the truth:
It was true that Monica’s half-sister was much older –19 years, in fact– but was she truly Monica’s mother? Monica had to find out and confronted her sister:
Now faced with two conflicting and bizarre stories, Monica didn’t know who to trust or what to believe. After searching her home, Monica finally found her birth certificate, which indicated she was born in Chicago during the early 1960s. But strangely, it listed no hospital, no address, and no doctor. Also, the document had been filed when Monica was seven years-old, not at her birth.  Clue: Unusual shape on left earlobe Years later, in 1990, at the age of 26, Monica contacted an Illinois judge, hoping to locate her adoption records. But the judge’s response only deepened the mystery:
For the next decade, Monica was haunted by the strange and conflicting stories about her past. Still, she managed to get on with her life, marry, and have a daughter of her own.
According to Monica, her half-sister suddenly became irate. She began ranting about how, nearly four decades earlier, her mother had hidden a tiny baby from the police. Monica was stunned. In an instant, her past came flooding back. She remembered as a teenager overhearing her father talk about stashing a cardboard box in a bar, something about roadblocks, and the need to tell the truth. To Monica, a disturbing scenario had begun to emerge:
Whichever way she turned, Monica was faced with a troubling past. Had she been abducted as an infant, a horrible crime that forced Pablo and Burma Libao to constantly run from the law? Perhaps a desperate young woman had sold Monica for the price of a bus ticket? Or, maybe the woman Monica knew as her half-sister was actually her own birth mother. Whatever the answer may be, Monica is desperate to find out the truth:
Monica was born with a uniquely shaped ear lobe on her left ear, a clue that may help confirm her true identity. If she was in fact kidnapped, she believes it happened in the Miami, Florida area in 1963 or 1964. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season twelve with Robert Stack and in season six with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
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Realcuf
I did an interview with this company, if she’s already ran DNA get a hold of Mr. Middleman and submit it into his file
https://dnasolves.com/articles/
Kessie
I was going to say the same submit her DNA to find family members
Realcuf
Did Monica ever do an ancestry DNA
Skyler
Hi Monica, you should look at the Mary Agnes Gross case. Marlys Thomas gave birth to a baby girl in the early 60s. The doctor told her that her baby was dead, but later she received a photo of a family with a baby girl that she swears looked like her little girl. Then when she had her baby’s body exumed she discovered that her baby girl was not the baby that was buried in that grave. She believes that her baby was taken from her. I think there could be a connection between your case and this case.
Salty
Have you checked Edna Bette Jean Masters?
Chris
Has there been any news since the last tips?
Joann Orona
I believe Monica is my sister, my mother had a daughter she had to give away in the early to mid 60s in Chicago, I’ve view Monica’s pictures and compared them to some of mine and I see me and my daughter and my mother in Monica’s picture.
Unsolved Mysteries Post author
Thank you for sharing that with us, Joann. We have passed the information on to Monica. If you would like to send us further information, please use the tip form or email us at unsolved@unsolved.com
Kendra
Did you find out if she was your sister?
Justin
Crazy story. I wish you luck.
Joann Orona
I was told by my mother I have a older sister she had to give away because she was young and the father was killed from Chicago but anyways these pictures look a lot like me and my daughter
Allison
The problem with Elizabeth Gill and Anna Waters is that they were are 3 to 5 years of age and I have to believe that if Monica was one of them that she might have a memory of her previous life. Because you start to retain memories around 3 years of age.
C
It’s my understanding she found some distant cousins through gene tests. Why but try having someone do genetic geneology for her. Like that show genetic detective. She uses distant dna matches to figure out your family tree. She uses it to solve crimes but she can just find people. It’s really interesting stuff. Ok good luck!
Betsey Felton
Hi Monica….I just saw your story on Unsolved Mysteries…This is Sept 2020…I was touched by your heartbreaking story and need to know who your birth parents are. Have you found anything else out I hope?! Were your parents that raised you immigrants?! Could they have been Gypsies or Romi since they are known for their nomadic lifestyles?? Will your adoptive sister tell you anymore? Have you reported to police that you believe you were kidnapped and not legally adopted?! I’d like to hear from you. God bless you in your search.
addy
sup
Belle
Monica,
Perhaps you could submit your DNA to ancestry & other DNA sites. They may be able to find a relative of yours.
Chris
Monica-
Perhaps you could check the Black market-Gray market registry, since you have an idea that an event related to your situation happened in Florida. The website is: gsadoptionsregistry.com.
I hope you find the answers you need.
Best-Christina
virginia
I think I found you!!! Earlobe thing. http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3419dfbc.html
Kelly
Wow that looks like the same ear too.
Allison
I agree about the ear thing but I do think that since Monica believes she was born between 1962 to 1964 and this child was born in 1958. That is 4 years age difference at the shortest period and I have to believe that if you were being passed as 4 to 6 years younger that it would become apparent.
virginia
I agree the Elizabeth Gill looks good. Check Sheri Johnson at http://api.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/959565/2/screen
Then Anna Waters out as well. at http://api.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/601935/1/screen
Abby
For all of those saying it is the Gill baby, please stop. That little girl had a completely formed earlobe. It couldn’t possibly be her.
William Uchtman
I think a major problem in this case is in trying to match Monica to a missing person. What if Monica’s mother was the missing person? Has anyone searched the Doe Network for missing women who could be Monica’s mother?
Hollie
On June 13, 1965, a two-year-old (Elizabeth Ann Gill) was kidnapped out of Missouri. Her baby pictures and yours look similar.
Sarah
Could it be that she was adopted on the black market? I think it’s super unlikely for a baby in the US to not get reported missing. But apparently DNA testing did conclude that she isn’t biologically related to the people that raised her.
Michelle
When I saw this story I was deeply touched and sad for Monica I would love to know when she recovers her true family
Anonymous
Hello Misty,and Thank you for getting in touch with me,This is definitely worth looking into,however more information will be needed,on a more private bases,can you please send me an email to monka44@live.com or if you have facebook my Name is Monica Susie Libao Wolfe ,you can send me a pm there also and again ty <3 God Bless <3
B K
I know a group that can help you! PM to me & I can pass on information.
Anonymous
Monica, this is a terribly heart breaking story. In your position I would see the police or a lawyer and have them interrogate the people who raised you. It is incredibly cold and naïve of them to think that it is ok to raise a child that is not their’s and have no official adoption papers or any other documents to explain the situation.
Good luck.
Anonymous
My friend of 17 years, William Pelski, was mayor of Pompano Beach FL during the early 60s. He told me 2 little girls went missing. Among other measures to find them, he had all the sand on the beach removed, checked, replaced. The girls were never found. Could you be one of them?
Missing Persons of America
One had a scar on her abdomen and the other had a scar on her eyebrow.
Anonymous
Wow, we are shocked such kidnap against baby outside Christ, all saints at local churches are support you talking to your real mom in Christ.
Tom
What does this have to do with Christ? If Jesus were real like Santa then why did she get kidnapped in the first place!? She doesn’t need to be evangelized to right now…
Anonymous
I like she may be the Gill baby that went missing in 1965. So many similarities. The baby pictures are almost identical. The Gill family hired a private investigator out of Florida although the baby went missing out of Missouri I think. The Gill family is still looking for Elizabeth Gill.
CeCe Moore
For those of you who suspect that you might be related to Monica, please submit your DNA to one of the three commercial genealogy DNA databases: AncestryDNA, 23andMe or Family Tree DNA Family Finder. Monica is in all three databases and your DNA will be compared to hers there. Thank you.
Misty Fields
My mother’s aunt Violet had an infant that was kidnapped in the early 1960’s. I believe that she was living in Miami at the time. The only information that I have are stories that my mother told me many years ago. The story that I have is that Violet may have been unwed and left home out of shame and she had made friends with a couple that had been helping her. Only days after having the baby girl Violet had complications and had to stay in the hospital and trusted this couple to care for the baby unit she was released but when she got out the couple was gone with the baby and was never found. This is all I know and my mother and my aunt Violet are both deceased but I know she never forgot about that baby! I don’t think she ever had any other children but she still has family in Kentucky. I know that it’s a long shot but worth looking into. Surely there should be police records or something. If nothing else if you happened to be that baby I would be a blood relative. I would definitely willing to take a DNA test. Good luck in your search.
Mike Neverett
Misty,
Interesting for sure. I’ve worked on Monica’s case for years. Would like to talk with you more about your Aunt Violet to compare ome notes.
ANGELA Ruble
Is it at all possible Monica could be a few years younger than she believes she is? Possibly born in 1969?
James Connaire
I seen your story on unsolved tv and I found it to be very interesting and sad
I will pray for you,i wish you all the best
I wish I could help.
My mother always says the power of prayer.
James Connaire
Cincinnati,Ohio
Austin Brock Miner
This is so so sad I just saw the story today
isobel baxter
Hi Monica I have watched your story on unsolved mysteries here in wales UK. I hopethat you get aall the answers that you need soon. I have asked archangel chamuel to help you find your family. He is archangel who helps to find lost families .u wish you all the best.x
India
I just saw your case today on Unsolved Mysteries, and it just made my heart so sad. I don’t know why I am so drawn to this case… I guess because I can’t imagine finding out in my adult years that I was kidnapped, and my “family” won’t tell me who my biological family is, or at least where I was born, so I could get a lead on information. I pray that the cousins you did find can help you with something. God bless you.
Monica Susie Libao Wolfe
I Just Want to thank you all for showing Interest in my case,A lot has happened over the years and i have had many helpers,dna was done with the family that raised me and all was negative,with that result i am almost sure i was kidnapped,i always have known inside my heart, Also my dna was submitted into the national codis for the missing,as well as many ancestry sites,though i have found very distant cousins,no one seems to know or remember me,i believe with all my heart that my case will be solved ,we are very close now ,again thank you all for prayers and support ,God Bless <3
heather mondragon
Monica, hi my name is Heather and you have an amazing story. I was separated from my family biological siblings when I was a baby and didnt even know they existed until I was in my 30s. I have actually become very good at tracking down documents and info and after a hunt found my family. I would like to help you. Can you please email at dragonlady2129@gmail.com to discuss this further? If you have names of cousins or anyone connected I am almost certain I can help you locate who you are looking for. After, I found my family, i have helped other people find theirs with very little info, including my husband’s own father. I would definitely give it a shot for you because I believe time is running out and you deserve answers!!
Jimbo
I think Monica should sign up to Long Lost Family. Now, it’s been renewed for season two.
Anthony durrant
l have no missing persons that l know of in my family, but l feel drawn to this case in a way l could never explain if l tried. Ms. Libao, I would suggest you take your case to the Doe Network, a group who locates missing persons and whom l have presented a case file myself to on another matter.
Anthony durrant
There is no missing person that l know of in my family, yet l have always felt drawn to this case for reasons l could never explain if l tried. l wish Ms. Libao all the best of luck for the forseeable future.
William
I have to say that this is one of the top Unsolved Mysteries cases I’ve followed over the years, and with all the new advancements in DNA research that can trace what part of the country a person is from, etc. I find it incredulous that this case has yet to be resolved. It makes me wonder if there was unmitigated circumstances around Monica’s birth that she can’t trace down her true family.
Anonymous
Try doing an ancestry.com dna profile?
Eric W Bohannon
I Get She was kidnapped by extended family, I see fake docs. the family is or was a friends of a friends. I See inter action you even attended church together, with your family, but they did not know, I think you and a real sister, is making the 4 of us is making contact, your family, real mom, was tending a booth at a swap meat, right next to the kidnappers, and did not trust them concerning you, in her gut, she knew. you were told you were 2 or 3 or 4 or 5th cousins. or friends of friends they are in tx, your real did is a repairman of some kind, your mom and a sister are insurance adjuster people. They are outside of Houston, TX hope this helps
Anonymous
There is a lot of information that might help Monica on http://www.familysearch.org.
Researcher
There is a missing girls case on Google she went missing from Florida in 1965 get name was Elizabeth gill I hope maybe this can help if someone out there knows …
Rachel
Just saw your story today. I pray you find your parents soon.
james lemon
In the show it was stated that monica last name was wolfe, is this correct? I and many of my siblings were born at the cook county hospitol in the 60’s. My mother adopted many of her kids to families who could not have kids or wanted a particular gender. My mother mentioned Wolfe , to me days before she past away. Monica could very well be my sister.
Darcy
Wolfe is her married name.
sara garcia
there was a child miaain on march 18 from tyrone pa might want to look into it the childs name is kathleen shea she was born on 02/02/1959 she was 6 years old at the time she has blue eyes couldnt tell what color your eyes were on umsolved
Debbie skinner
I would like to know if Monica has found her birth mother yet? Monica I hope you have been able to find your mother or father. I think it must be very difficult for you to not know who they are. Good luck.
margie
Elizabeth Gill was kidnapped on a Sunday afternoon in 1965. The age progression looks a lot like MS. Libao http://www.officialcoldcaseinvestigations.com/showthread.php?15337-Search-for-Cape-girl-who-vanished-in-1965-continues-with-help-of-Florida-private-inve
sinni
why don’t you take a dna test
concerned
She did take a DNA test & was found to be unrelated to those who raised her. It’s also been submitted to a national database
Anonymous
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3419dfbc.html Case File: Edna Bette-Jean Masters – 3419DFBC You look just like the age progression picture
Beth
For some reason I can’t see the age progression pic. Is it of an adult, because I only see childrens pics.
Ashley
Did you try to email the link to the address she provided above?
Steven
Why hasn’t Monica taken a DNA test? And why isn’t she out there looking for her birth parents? Why not go to Chicago if they are still around? Surely her birth parents would have remembered her left ear if they were watching that story.
Gina Chavez
She has done this. She is entered in CODIS and determined to not be related to the family that raised her.
angela0040
Monica if you’re still checking these posting’s here’s a case you may want to look at-
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3419dfbc.html
The ages and time frame are a somewhat off, and the girl went missing from Canada and not the US, but what caught my eye was a note about an ear lobe deformity. Since it’s such a distinct feature I thought I’d post the link so you can at least take a look at it.
Thanks and good luck,
Amy
Cindy S.
This story caught my ear. The words “Chicago”, “Kidnapping”, “Early 1960’s”, “Mother was Trash”. I don’t know that my story can help Monica find the truth but there’s a very strong connection to much of her story. In (or around) Aug.- Oct. 1962, my Aunt “kidnapped” my older sister while we lived in “Chicago”. She bought a “Bus or Train Ticket” & returned to Hamilton, Oh. She was supposedly paid by my Grandmother to do this. My Aunt was “Trash” & had approximately 5 children, giving all of them up except for the last 2. I only know 3 of her children (girls) & am aware of 2 more (boys), adopted by family members. She was very capable of many many dirty deeds. The fact that she’d been stricken with Polio at age 5, & walked with arm brace crutches, did not stop her from “Kidnapping”, being shot in a bar, having many children & giving them away, doing drugs & serving at least 2 prison terms. She was born in (or around) 1937 – 1939 & would’ve been in her early to mid 20’s at the time of my sister’s “Kidnapping”. It would not surprise me, if I learned she’d sold her own child or Kidnapped & sold someone else’s for the Bus / Train ticket. She had no child with her (nor gave birth to any during this time frame) when we all moved to Chicago in (or around) March / April 1962, I was only a few months old at the time, my sister was 7. She was definitely paid or acquired funds to catch a Bus/Train back to Hamilton, as we were very poor & my Mother told of how (in search of my sister & Aunt), they had only enough money to either walk to Bus/Train Station & catch a ride back or catch a ride to the station & walk back. They did the latter & told of having to walk over & around much filth & many “Chicano’s” laying in ditches even, many Puerto Rican & Spanish people in the area. There’s so much more to this story & may not be related but if any of it can help Monica in her search, I can fill in some details later. Please don’t hesitate to contact me, best wishes to Monica & her search for the truth. Cindy
Martin Williams
National Geographic operates a genealogy service which involves sending a DNA sample ( cheek swab ) and costs about $50 I think. The results show a number of people with high probability of being closely related. If mom and half-sister also contributed to this analysis it seems probable that further evidence would be developed. Of course it is not likely that Monica’s mom is in the database but someone related to her may be. There is reasonable probability that someone from the region of Monica’s birthplace and distantly related is in the database. A cluster of DNA relatives might be indicative of birthplace and might be able to provide information if asked.