Friday, March 25, 2011

Adoption and Abduction Intersect: Kidnapped by Shirley Berthelot

Like Jaycee Lee Dugard, she from the time she was 5 years old with her kidnapper...in the back seat of cars and sleazy motels....on the run.

After 37 years - a woman who has been called Pepper Smith by her abductor - finds the parents she never forgot only to discover they were not her natural parents either! They had adopted her in a sleazy adoption and then the "family freind" who had arranged it had stolen her!

The story is told on Dateline and here, and video here.

2 comments:

Robin said...

I read this story in Glamour magazine and was shocked that Pepper's a-mother would let her go off with the woman who arranged the adoption. Most APs from that era don't want to have anything to do with anyone involved with the adoption once it is finalized. Also, since Pepper Smith was raised with another girl, Renee, who turned out to truly be her half-sister, I'm wondering if Shirley (the abductor) was actually Pepper's first mother. I don't recall the article mentioning Shirley's age so it's just a thought.

Mirah Riben said...

There are a lot of unanswered questions STILL about this convoluted case...at least for me!

How did the ap "legally" adopt a baby who was brought to her by an alleged "friend" of the birth mother??

Was Shirley, the alleged friend, actually the mother of the girls?

Why didn't the police - 40 years ago - pursue the kidnapping? The ap claims the police told her that they didn't because she willingly allowed her child to "visit" with her friend.

I'm sorry, but the child protection agencies that put photos on milk cartons were all in effect at that time...parents who take a child and do not return them were at that time and still today pursued as kidnappers...so it doesn't make sense! I think she never pressed the police because it was NOT a legal adoption!

Finally, why in the world, after being fully aware of the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnap and find...why didn't "pepper' go to the police and tell then she believed she was kidnapped?!? Give the police the info she always remembered about their names - and apparently the DOB she had. Instead, how odd that someone at vital record gave her her birth certificate??

RussiaToday Apr 29, 2010 on Russian Adoption Freeze

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RT: Russia-America TV Interview 3/10

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