A woman who went missing as a young girl from Kentucky nearly 40 years ago has finally been reunited with her father after learning that her mother kidnapped her, changed their names, and started a new life in another state.
According to Fox News 35 Orlando, Michelle Newton vanished from Louisville, Kentucky, in April 1983, when her mother, Debra Newton, told relatives she was relocating for a job opportunity. Both disappeared soon after, leaving Michelle’s father searching for answers for decades.
Mother Placed on FBI’s Most Wanted List After Disappearance
Following their disappearance, Debra Newton was indicted for custodial interference and added to the FBI’s Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution list. She was also named one of the agency’s Top 8 Most Wanted parental-kidnapping fugitives.
Despite several attempts to locate Debra and Michelle, the investigation went cold. The case was dismissed in 2000 after authorities failed to contact Michelle’s father, and her name was removed from the national missing child database in 2005.
Family Member’s Persistence Reopens the Case
In 2016, detectives reopened the investigation after a family member urged authorities to take another look at the case. For years, the trail appeared to lead nowhere—until a new tip in 2024 provided the breakthrough investigators had been waiting for.
The tip identified Debra Newton, now 66 years old, living in Marion County, Florida, under the name Sharon. She had remarried and retired with her husband, living quietly for decades under her assumed identity.
A photo match and DNA testing conducted with her sister confirmed the truth — Sharon was indeed Debra Newton, the mother who vanished with her daughter four decades earlier.
Michelle Discovers the Truth and Reunites With Her Father
The case took another emotional turn when Michelle, now an adult, contacted the sheriff’s office herself. She revealed that she had lived her entire life under a different name in another state, unaware that she had been listed as a missing child.
Michelle told investigators that she had no idea she was kidnapped and only learned the truth after discovering inconsistencies in her family history. Once her identity was confirmed, she reunited with her father and other relatives, ending a mystery that had haunted her family for decades.
Debra Newton Arrested and Extradited to Kentuck
Authorities arrested Debra Newton in November 2025 and extradited her to Kentucky, where she now faces a charge of custodial interference.