'We never thought this would happen': Girl kidnapped aged four miraculously reunited with family 53 years later

7 October 2022, 00:18 | Updated: 7 October 2022, 11:04

A woman has been reunited with her family 53 years after being kidnapped aged four
A woman has been reunited with her family 53 years after being kidnapped aged four. Picture: Facebook / Hamilton Gervaise

By Daisy Stephens

A girl who was kidnapped at the age of four has been miraculously reunited with her family 53 years later.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Susan Gervaise, now 57, was taken from her biological family in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, by a couple in 1969.

The pair asked if they could take the girl on a trip to a Disney theme park, promising her birth mother they would return her - but instead they raised her as their own daughter, taking her to Canada, then Australia, and then New Zealand.

Ms Gervaise grew up thinking she was adopted and her biological family had disowned her.

"I was told I was adopted but never really thought much about it," she told the Wakefield Express.

"I was happy."

Ms Gervaise was just four when she was taken
Ms Gervaise was just four when she was taken. Picture: Facebook / Hamilton Gervaise

It was not until she was 16 and needed to get a passport requiring a parental signature that her 'adopted' dad told her the truth - that she had been stolen.

But even then she did not think about contacting her biological family until one day a woman asked her if she wanted to know what they were thinking.

"It was like a lightbulb moment," Ms Gervaise said.

Her husband Hamilton Gervaise posted on a Pontefract Facebook page and they located Ms Gervaise's family within 30 minutes.

The pair then flew to the UK for a family reunion in September.

Ms Gervaise (front left) was reunited with four of her six siblings
Ms Gervaise (front left) was reunited with four of her six siblings. Picture: Facebook / Hamilton Gervaise

At the time Ms Gervaise was taken she was living on a traveller site with her mother and siblings.

A passport was not needed in order for her to travel - just a birth certificate and parental permission.

Whilst Ms Gervaise's 'adopted' mother died from MS when she was young, she said she was "raised in the hub of a travelling community" and was "very loved".

"I have always been happy growing up," she said.

"I travelled the world."

She returned to Australia aged 19 and married Mr Gervaise.

The couple have three children and four grandchildren.

Her 'adopted' father died when she was 21.

Ms Gervaise (right) pictured at her biological mother's grave
Ms Gervaise (right) pictured at her biological mother's grave. Picture: Facebook / Hamilton Gervaise

Meanwhile in Pontefract, the search for the missing girl never stopped.

Her mother, who died in 2014 without knowing what happened to her daughter, used to go out looking for her, according to Ms Gervaise's niece Emma Mcfadyen.

But tracking her down was a near-impossible task because she had a different surname - first her 'adopted' dad's, then her husband's.

Read more: Horror in rush hour as three-have-a-go-heroes stabbed stopping phone thieves on bikes in Bishopsgate

Read more: Come to Ukraine to see horrors first hand, former president tells Elon Musk after he offers 'solution' to war

Ms Mcfadyen said it was "amazing" they were reunited.

"We never thought this would happen," she told the Wakefield Express.

Ms Gervaise said she wanted her story to give hope to families with missing loved ones.

"It gives a message to anyone who has lost someone that miracles do happen," she told the paper.

"There is hope."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Moscow has launched a intercontinental ballistic missile in retaliation

Russia's revenge: Moscow 'launches intercontinental ballistic missile’ in attack on Ukraine

Hannah Ingram-Moore and Captain Tom

Who is Hannah Ingram-Moore? Captain Tom's 'leading businesswomen daughter'

The "Prescott Punch" is one of the most iconic moments in modern British political history

Infamous moment John Prescott punches protester who threw egg at him

Exclusive
Gordon Brown pays tribute to "working class hero" John Prescott.

Gordon Brown pays tribute to 'colossus' John Prescott after his death aged 86 following battle with Alzheimer's

(L) British lawyer Simone White, 28, is seriously ill in hospital. (R) Bianca Jones, 19, has become the fourth person to die after consuming alleged 'methanol-laced' drinks in Vang Vieng, Laos

London lawyer fights for her life and Australian backpacker dies after drinking 'methanol-laced' shots from bar in Laos

Russia is threatening to use new missiles in Ukraine after US and UK rockets were used in their territory

Putin 'to retaliate with new Frontier missiles in Ukraine' after US and UK give green light to fire rockets in Russia

Smaller drones, costing a fraction of Watchkeeper’s £5.2 million unit price, are being used to great effect in Ukraine for reconnaissance and precision strikes.

The British Army’s £1.35bn Watchkeeper drone programme: From ambition and innovation to delays, failure, and abandonment

GERMANY-TRANSPORT-TRAFFIC

Hundreds of drivers left stuck in vehicles in freezing conditions on M2 after serious crash between pedestrian and lorry

TV host Ellen Degeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi are reportedly planning to move permanently to rural England

Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi 'to flee US and move to England' after Trump's election win

Exclusive
‘The storm of war is gathering’: Defence cuts leave UK critically unprepared for a 'bumpy decade', warns ex-minister

‘The storm of war is gathering’: Defence cuts leave UK 'woefully unprepared' for a 'bumpy decade', warns ex-minister

Tony Blair leads tributes to John Prescott

'Devastated' Tony Blair leads tributes to John Prescott after former deputy PM dies aged 86

North Korea Deepens Russian Alliance: Troop Deployments Prioritise Advanced Weapons Technology Over Financial Gains

North Korea deepens alliance with Russia, trading troop support for advanced weapons technology to fuel nuclear programme

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has died aged 86

Former deputy PM John Prescott dies aged 86 following battle with Alzheimer's

Exclusive
Soldiers are being trained in trench and urban warfare

'Kill him before he tries to kill you': LBC visits Ukrainian troops being trained by British soldiers

Rolf Harris has died aged 93

Paedophile entertainer Rolf Harris died penniless after 'wiping out £16m fortune to make it harder for victims to access'

Exclusive
Captain Sir Tom Moore's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore

Money 'reasonably expected' to reach Captain Tom's charity never did, commissioner tells LBC