2-Year-Old Gets Lost In The Crowd. 43 Years Later, She Uncovers Mystery Behind Her Own Disappearance

Feb 21, 2019 by apost team

War is by far the worst experience in the human condition. As soldiers die in the violence and whole cities are swallowed up by destruction, innocent men, women, and children can get caught in the crossfire.

As these civilian noncombatants struggle to evade the pandemonium, whole families can be split up in the conflict. One family from Colorado knows all too well how war can divide and destroy families.

Berni Slowey was born in South Vietnam at the height of the Vietnam War. Her parents were a South Vietnamese woman and an American soldier. Together, the couple had two children: Berni and her little sister, Rose. In April of 1975, during the closing days of the war, Berni’s family got caught up in the chaos of the final evacuation of Saigon.

Berni’s mother was intent on getting her family far away from the troubled country. Rumors were spreading throughout the city that North Vietnamese soldiers were planning on killing anyone who had any association with the United States military. As the wife of an American solider, Berni’s mother feared for her life and the lives of her children. Arriving at the evacuation zone, the family was met with chaos as the crowds feared the approaching enemy soldiers. In the confusion, Rose, who was just two years old, somehow wandered away from the family and was nowhere in sight.

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Berni’s mother faced a terrible choice. On the one hand, she could escape with her older daughter and start a new life in America. On the other hand, she could stay and try to find Rose, uncertain of what fate would await her in the cruel hands of the North Vietnamese.

In the end, Berni’s mother chose to leave the war-ravaged country. Even as she started a new life in Colorado, Berni’s mother was haunted by the uncertainty of what happened to her little girl. As Berni grew older, she too could never forget her long lost sister.

Berni’s life took an unexpected turn when she received a message from someone named Vanessa Pham. Vanessa had recently learned that her mother had actually adopted her in Vietnam in the 70s. Intent on finding her biological family, Vanessa put her DNA into an online database.

Finding out that Berni was her sister, Vanessa contacted her hitherto unknown relative. Vanessa learned that her birth name was Rose and that she had been separated from her family because of the horrors of war. Berni and Vanessa are now getting to know each other, finally reunited after 43 years.

What do you think of Berni’s story? Have you ever put your DNA into an online database to see if you have any unknown relatives? Let us know in the commetns and be sure to spread the word about this amazing story!