Family of Fort Worth girl kidnapped 51 years ago headed to South Carolina for search

Jeff Highsmith can’t wait any longer for more information on whether his sister, who has been missing for 51 years in Fort Worth, may have been seen in the Charleston, South Carolina, area.

The Fort Worth man and other family members of Melissa Highsmith are scheduled to be in Charleston on Oct. 22, passing out fliers in search of her and trying to find the tipster who provided authorities with a lead.

“I have to try,” Highsmith said on Thursday in a telephone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Last month, officials with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children passed along a tip to Fort Worth police from a South Carolina resident who reported possibly seeing Melissa Highsmith, who went missing 51 years ago after a babysitter picked her up and never returned.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children received the anonymous tip in early September. The tipster reported the possible sighting in the Charleston, South Carolina, area.

“We understand that the person who provided the tip may have known her,” Highsmith said. “An IP address of the tipster was traced to a government building in Charleston, S.C.”

Jeff Highsmith, who was not even born when Melissa Highsmith went missing in 1971, is going to South Carolina with his wife and the father of the Highsmith family, hoping to pass out at least 8,000 fliers about his missing sister.

“Daniel Island is where it was reported that she may have been seen, so we will go door to door and leave the fliers,” Highsmith said.

For years, Jeff Highsmith and his wife, Rachel, have worked at trying to find Melissa Highsmith, hiring a private investigator, setting up a special Facebook page and creating a Help Find Melissa Highsmith fund.

Melissa Highsmith’s mother still lives in Fort Worth and her father lives in Orlando, Florida.

“No parent should have to go through this,” Rachel Highsmith said on Thursday. “I love this family and I will do anything I can to help find her.”

Melissa Highsmith was 21 months old when she disappeared from Fort Worth on Aug. 23, 1971, according to the missing children center’s records.

“Even though we don’t know if this tip will lead to answers, we know law enforcement is working steadfastly and we hope that his information and the renewed attention the public has for Melissa will continue to bring awareness that she is still missing,” said John Bischoff, vice president of the missing children division at NCMEC, in a news release. “We know that answers are always possible. The public is vital to bringing home missing children and we know that it only takes one person to see the right thing, report it and help bring a missing child home.”

The center provided these details on the case:

Melissa’s mother was 22, and worked as a waitress in Fort Worth. The child’s mother had just separated and had just moved to Fort Worth. She placed an ad in a newspaper looking for someone to care for her child. Melissa was born on Nov. 6, 1969.

A woman answered the ad and agreed to meet Melissa’s mom at the restaurant where she worked, but she never showed up. The babysitter called the mother later, saying she really wanted the job, had a nice big yard and cared for other children as well.

The mother hired her, and the babysitter picked Melissa up at their apartment when the mother was at work. Melissa was in the care of the mother’s roommate at the time.

The roommate said the woman who picked up Melissa seemed nice and was dressed to impress, wearing white gloves..

Melissa was not returned to her mother, who called Fort Worth police. At that time, Melissa had brown eyes and hair, and she was about 2 feet and 8 inches tall and weighed about 27 pounds.

Melissa’s mother never saw her again.

The tipster told officials that Melissa may have been spotted in the area of Daniel Island. Melissa would be 52 years old now.

“It’s been frustrating,” Jeff Highsmith said referring to the search. “One year, we get a lead and then it goes cold. Then we get another tip, and nothing.”

But Melissa Highsmith’s brother will not stop.

“I just can’t quit,” her brother said. “There is a lead now and we have to check it.”

If you have any information, please call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678.)

This report contains information from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s archives.