Michelle Fazzani
Real Name: Michelle Fazzani (birth name)
Case: Lost Daughter
Location: England
Date: 1964
Case[]
Details: In spring 1964, an eighteen-year-old English woman named Delia Goldie (nee Fazzani) learned that she was pregnant, so she turned to her boyfriend for support. However, he claimed that the child was not his. He did not want to be responsible for it, so they broke up. She was extremely frightened to tell the news to her strict Roman Catholic father, an Italian immigrant who ran a successful restaurant in London.
For seven months, Delia hid her pregnancy with corsets and loose clothes. Finally, when she could not do so any longer, she summoned the courage to tell her parents with the support of a friend. Her mother wanted to keep it and help her raise it. However, her father was outraged and told her that she would not be keeping it. Against her will, he sent her to the Loreto Convent, which served as an orphanage and a home for unwed mothers. It also facilitated adopting children.
While there, the expectant mothers did several chores. Those closest to term were given extra chores, as the nuns believed that the strenuous activity helped with the birthing process. On November 2, 1964, Delia gave birth a daughter, whom she named Michelle. She was only allowed to see her four times per day, in half hour increments.
When Michelle was four weeks old, Delia's parents visited the convent. She hoped that her father would change his mind and let her keep her. However, he refused to hold her, let alone look at her. Two weeks later, Delia was told that a couple had been found to adopt her, but the nun who informed her of this said it was to be a closed adoption and Delia was never to know their identity. The little information that was disclosed was that they were American, with the husband being in the Air Force, stationed at North Hampton. Delia signed papers which allowed Michelle to be adopted.
Two weeks later, at the Westminster offices of the Catholic Children's Society, she had one final chance to visit Michelle. While alone, she slipped a letter into her blanket, explaining that she loved her and did not give her up willingly. Later that day, she was given to her adoptive parents.
Delia was picked up by her parents a short time later. She married twice, but had no other children. For years, they did not discuss Michelle. Her father died in 1977, but her mother still did not discuss Michelle. Prior to her death in 1991, however, she revealed to Delia on her death bed that she learned the last name of Michelle's adoptive parents, Walters, and implored Delia to find her.
Delia now wants to find and reunited with Michelle.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the August 12, 1992 episode.
Results: Solved. In July 1992, Delia learned that Michelle had been renamed Laura Frankland. While she kept her adoptive name of Walters, she married a man by the surname of Frankland. An adoption's official agreed to send a letter that Delia had written to her. In the brief note, she said that she would be on the broadcast and asked her to view it.
Laura, who now lives in New York Mills, New York, called the telecenter and asked to be put in touch with Delia. A few weeks later, on September 19, 1992, they were reunited at Syracuse International Airport, along with Delia's son-in-law and two grandchildren. At Christmas, Laura and her family traveled to England to meet Delia's relatives. Sadly, she passed away on June 14, 2019.
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