It's still not clear what made a nurse at the old Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis tell Zella Jackson-Price 0ver 49 years ago that her premature born baby had died, when in fact the child was very much alive.
The lie denied Jackson-Price now 76 years of age and her child, Melanie Diane Gilmore now nearly 50 of a mother- daughter relationship, one completely unaware of the existence of the other.
Gilmore who now has kids of her own ended up in foster care and being adopted by another family at 16-years of age.
Gilmore's kids knew of their mother's desire to find information about her biological mother and so, started the search on her behalf using Facebook, where they met Jackson-Price.
They exchanged messages which resulted in a DNA being carried out. The test result shows a 99.9997% match confirming both as mother and daughter.
Zella an accomplished gospel singer and daughter met for the first time in nearly 50 years in a very emotional reunion, both completely overwhelmed with joy.
Zella speaks amidst tears how God has given her back what the devil stole from her.
Attention is now being turned to the hospital which closed in 1979 and reopened in 2003 as a senior living facility to try ascertain what happened exactly.
