ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — You could say it was a family reunion that was decades in the making. Three siblings who were separated as young children connected online a few months ago and met in St. Louis this weekend, face-to-face, for the first time.
“It’s truly a blessing. We all get along good. We’re in love with each other,” said Diana Ross.
Ross, Tanja Griffin, Larry Pleass and a 4th sibling who couldn’t make the reunion, were all born to the same mother in Germany. However, they said she couldn’t afford to care for all of them and gave up Ross and Pleass to be adopted.
“I was adopted in Germany and then came back and stayed with my family in the Colorado area,” said Pleass.
Griffin and a sister were raised by their mother who now lives in the St. Louis area. Griffin said she found out at age 30 that she had two other siblings and was about to hire someone to help her find them.
“A private investigator,” she said.
Ross knew she’d been adopted and had already begun to search with the help of her husband, Earl. She said they recently did a search online for anyone closely linked by DNA and that’s how she discovered the name of her mother and late father. Another search found an obituary with the names of children and soon Ross was reaching out on social media.
“And the moment we saw each other I knew that’s my DNA. That’s my DNA, I knew it, these are my siblings,” said Griffin.
The reunion in St. Louis was the first time Ross and Pleass met their mother since they were given up for adoption.
“To hear her voice it’s like angels singing all the time I see her. I’m in love with her,” said Ross.
Pleass said he’s grateful to Ross for her efforts to search and find her long lost siblings. He said it’s changed all their lives.
“There’s something to be said about someone searching for you. There’s something to be said about something in someone’s heart saying I’m not fulfilled till I find this,” said Pleass.
Their mother is 85 years old and has Alzheimer’s. The siblings now believe there’s a fifth sibling who’s the oldest and was raised by her father and still lives in Germany. And they say they won’t stop till they find her.
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