‘I beg of you to call me’: Melissa Highsmith’s mom pleaded with baby’s kidnapper in 1971
Two weeks after Fort Worth toddler Melissa Highsmith vanished in 1971, her mother wrote a desperate, heart-breaking plea to the unknown kidnapper who had pretended to be a babysitter.
“Open letter to a kidnapper” appeared on the front page of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Sept. 8, 1971. “I beg of you to call me,” Alta Highsmith wrote. “I’ve been going out of my mind.”
But no one ever called — at least not the mysterious woman who responded to Highsmith’s newspaper ad for a babysitter for Melissa and showed up at her Seminary Road apartment early one morning, well-dressed and wearing white gloves. Highsmith was still asleep, but the woman told her roommate, “I’ve come to pick up the baby.” Melissa, wearing a pink dress and white sandals, was never seen again by her family.
That is, until last fall when the family’s DNA sleuthing remarkably found a match. On Thursday, police confirmed that Melanie Brown was indeed Melissa Highsmith, solving one of Fort Worth’s oldest unsolved missing children cases.
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The toddler’s kidnapping on Monday, Aug. 23, 1971, was front-page news.
Two weeks later, after police had exhausted leads, Highsmith penned her open letter to the kidnapper.
“Whoever has my baby, please bring her back to me,” the letter began. “I’ve pleaded with you so many times before on television, radio and by the papers. So far you have not even tried to call.
“I’m begging you again for the return of my little girl. You must realize that I’ve been going out of my mind with worry, wondering where my baby is and how she’s doing. You could have at least called to let me know she’s okay.”
Highsmith offered a bargain for the safe return of her child.
“I would forget about your kidnapping Melissa in a minute if you would just bring her back.
“I don’t understand why all this has happened to me, but the sooner Melissa is back the better. I’m begging and pleading with you for my baby. Please read this and understand that what you’ve done is wrong and know that you must return Melissa to her mother.
“Please let me hear from you. ... We can arrange for you to send the baby back to me without anyone knowing.
“I beg of you to call me.”
Melissa Highsmith’s family members say they don’t know what happened to the woman who took the child and that they expect police will investigate.
“Although the criminal statute of limitations expired 20 years after Melissa’s 18th birthday, the Fort Worth Police Department Major Case Unit continues to ask for the public’s assistance with any additional information concerning Melissa’s abduction that occurred over 51 years ago,” police said in a statement Thursday.
This story was originally published May 5, 2023 at 10:20 AM.
