Elizabeth Bersanetti
Real Name: Carlos Reza
Case: Lost Father
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Date: 1963
Case[]
Details: Elizabeth Bersanetti grew up with an adoptive family in Southern California. For as long as she could remember, she was fascinated with anything French, especially the language. In 1984, she formally requested a reunion with her birth mother through the agency that had handled her adoption. However, when she was told that she needed her adopted mother's consent, she changed her mind, as she did not want to hurt her feelings. She soon began having disturbing dreams where a shadowy woman would appear, whom she would believe was her birth mother. In the dream, she learned that her birth mother had cancer and would not live much longer. A few weeks later, she had a dreadful feeling that her birth mother was going to die before she could meet her. The dreams inspired her to again start searching for her birth mother.
Through an adoption agency, Elizabeth learned that her birth mother had requested a reunion with her in the same year she had. She learned her name was Nicole Rolland, a French Canadian. When she finally made contact in Canada, she found that Nicole had died the same day that she had the dream of her dying. She also learned that Nicole's life was focused mainly on France-related topics, including that she taught French at the University of Waterloo, Ontario and had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.
Although she never got to meet Nicole, Elizabeth was reunited with her family and friends, including her half-sister. During the reunion, she found even more links to her and Nicole. She then felt the need to draw a house, which she drew and later learned that it was the one where her mother and half-sister lived in. Before she left, a final connection was made. A friend of Nicole's gave her a book of poems written by Nicole's favorite author, who happened to be hers as well; in fact, she brought the same exact book with her to Canada to meet her family.
Elizabeth has just one more goal: to find her birth father, Carlos Reza, who was a young medical student from Mexico City. He was born in 1938 and last saw Nicole in Montreal in 1963.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the October 14, 1994 episode, which also included those of Don Larkin and Lorelei Smith.
Results: Unsolved
Links: None