He’s like, “I don’t know how to tell you this any other way.”
He’s like, “You’ve been a missing person for 42, 43 years, and your real name is Michelle Marie Newton.”

Last month, Michelle found out she isn’t who she thought she was. She’s been missing since she was 3 years old and grew up feeling like there was more to her story.

One of my relatives is like, “Ah, you’re probably on a milk carton somewhere.”

Uh-oh. They’re coming for you, Sharon.
They don’t want me. They want Reggie.
What’s up, Well, we’re here for you, ma’am. Definitely here for you. With all the information that we do have, you have a warrant for your arrest.
They’re ma’am. We’re not back. If you’re moving, please.
I didn’t do anything.

I’ve always known she’s been carrying something pretty heavy. I could tell. In one afternoon, she found out her mom was hiding her, her dad was not her real dad, and that she had a huge family that loved her.

I mean, it was a shock, but not a shock. It was like, “Oh, now it all finally makes sense.”

I’m Anna Emerson, an investigative reporter with more than 30 years of experience, and I’ve covered a lot of missing person stories, but this one, this one left me speechless. I had to hear from Michelle Newton.

I’m stepping into speaking my truth.

Michelle, take me through where this journey started for you. Um, tell me about what life was like growing up a little bit for you.

Um, I mean, I think I’ve had a normal life by most accounts. You know, I’ve had a lot of great opportunities and things that kids get to do. I mean, you know, dance lessons and music and um you know, friends, we moved around a lot and then we finally kind of landed where I live now and that’s where I’ve been for 30 plus years, almost 40 years. Yeah.

Um it’s tough to I don’t know. I’m not sure. That’s a hard one. Like I think like I said, by all accounts, I think I’ve had a pretty normal decent life. I mean, yeah, my mom did remarry and I know that man is my dad and he’s been a wonderful person in my life. They’re no longer together and she’s, you know, currently remarried who I have a great relationship with her husband now. They’re they’re all good people. I’ve been surrounded by great friends. Um, I have a good support system.

How did your mom talk to you when you were growing up as far as like how she what life was all about? Could you tell me a little bit about how she kind of described her family life and and how you came to be and a little bit of that? Like what what your story was in your head growing up?

Um all the stories that I had were probably self-created. We didn’t talk about it. Um to my knowledge, I was the only child of an only child and that was as far as that conversation really went. So I would ask questions relentlessly.

You did.

The older I got, the more I started digging. And um, of course, when you’re looking for all the wrong information, you’re not going to find anything. Um, yeah, it’s it’s always been that hands-off subject and it was always something that I could tell was sensitive. So, I steered clear of it until I had a family of my own and then I started really really digging.

So, you uh, you know, my mom used to do that. She came from a pretty unhappy background, my mom. Like when she was little, and she loved her mom to bits and pieces. Um, not so much dad, but she grew up very, very poor during the depression. And I don’t think she liked to talk about it because there was all sorts of things that she didn’t want to tell me, I guess.

Um, so I know what that feeling is like because I mean, this is what I do for a living now. So all I do is like pepper people with questions like, “What are you talking about? Why did that happen? What happened? would happen.” And so I get it because when I was little, I would ask these questions and all of a sudden we’re talking about going to the grocery store and buying, you know, dinner or something and I’d be like, “How did we get here when I was just asking you what happened to my grandmother?”

Um, was it like that? Was it like she was constantly your mom was kind of going in a different direction when you were little?

No, I think it was just very cut and dry answers and it was shut down. I mean, you’re not going to keep digging if you think people are no longer alive or if you think that there is no one, you know. So, I wouldn’t know to ask about cousins and family if I didn’t think they existed, you know.

Um, and so that the story was that you were an only child, she was an only child, and there’s just nobody for you to look for.

Yeah. Yep.

And why didn’t you take that as okay, like why are we here right now? Like, why didn’t that just stick with you? when you’re like, “All right, if I’m the only child and you’re the only child, I’ll let it go.”

Um, I think, you know, over the years there’s little blips and pieces, especially when I was much younger and we were living in Florida and there were parts where like I go back to old projects that I did as a kid, you know, writing in school about my family tree and there were other things written there and I’m like, well, that doesn’t make sense. So, I would start to kind of question like this this doesn’t jive and then just this gut feeling of like there’s more to it.

Um, and it’s sensitive. You know, there’s that part of me too that wants to protect my mom’s privacy right now. And and you know, I’m trying to not say too much without, you know, still not speaking my own truth because that’s important to me right now. Truth in general is just super important to me right now. Um, but I think there’s also that part too where as a kid you you realize like, oh, I’m I’m stepping in an area here that I can clearly tell is not something that she wants to speak on.

And um it was always just better to kind of protect my relationship. That was more important. So I would do digging on my own. I’ve done a lot of digging on my own again. But you you just go in circles because you’re looking for all the wrong information. Your your leads are you’ve got false information to begin with. So you’re just working with this false narrative that doesn’t add up. Right.

When you thought about that false narrative, when you when when in your head you start clicking over like I need to I need to find the truth like you said, what did you feel like? Like what was that like to feel sort of realized that that you were not living your truth yet?

Um, you know, I think up until maybe two years ago, I would say it probably was driving me crazy and then I just let it go. And that’s a whole other story for another time. But I just let it go. I haven’t thought about this for probably two years. I just really had peace and I said, I’m never going to know. And I choose this relationship with my mom and that’s more important to me and I’m okay.

And I was like, you know, sometimes people just don’t know. There’s people out there with all kinds of stories. You know, people if they’ve been adopted and they just sometimes you just have to accept that this is what you’re in. And when I chose to just accept it, I was like, “Okay, I’m happy again. I’m I’m all right. I can stop digging and looking and chasing.”

And then, you know, all of this lands in my lap. So now, I think right now is when I’m starting to say, “Okay, I’m stepping into speaking my truth.” Over the last three or four weeks since this has all erupted, there’s like a huge change in myself in just um I don’t know. I keep joking with everyone. I think I found my backbone. I’m like not afraid to just stand up and say no, I’m not going to stop challenging and persisting and I I’m not going to back down from it.

So take me from in and whatever you can kind of share with me right now. There was a period of your life, how many years that you spent looking to find out what where you really came from, like trying to understand where you really came from. How many years were we talking about?

I think I started really questioning things when I was like 11 12 years old. Um again I mentioned my mom had remarried and that man has been a huge component of my life. Um he he’s he’s dad and and and you know Joe Newton is dad. I have both and you know even her husband right now in a lot of ways is dad. So I’m blessed I have that great network.

But there was a point in time where he had expressed interest in formally adopting me and I was like yes I have a dad now. you know, it was it was so exciting and that couldn’t happen and there was this just, you know, not being old enough to understand it yet. And we’ve talked, you know, him and I have spoken many times about this over the years and he never understood it. He was just like, you know, your mom was just always very protective and and I’m sure she had her reasons and um didn’t matter. He stole my dad, you know what I mean?

But uh I think at that point is when it started when the internet kind of evolved and access to information became readily available. I was college age and resources ancestry.com you know um all these these websites start popping up and you have the ability to start really digging and I have folders file folders over and over of just what I pursued and looked for and um again I just hit dead end after dead end after dead end.

So, um, and so you hit all these dead ends and you’re if you don’t mind telling me like, um, like how old are you at that point when you sort of like a couple years ago, you kind of put your hands up and you’re like, I need to be at peace. This is driving me crazy.

Yeah, I would say I was probably 44. That’s like I said about two years ago. Um, and that’s just personal things that I went through and my own healing. I mean, my own um, selfwork, therapy, whatever you want to call it. And I just kind of got to a point where I’m like making like I’m making myself crazy, you know, and sometimes you just don’t get to know and that’s okay and that’s that’s part of life.

What happened? How did it how did it actually happen? What what triggered this avalanche of new life and information that came through?

Uh I I traveled out of the country, went on this little searching journey. That’s about as easy as I can put the story. and uh spent some time by myself and just really reflected and got to a point where I said, you know what, no more. I’m making myself nuts. And be grateful.

There’s like a whole level of gratitude that came from that experience just looking around at everything I have in my life. And even right now, um as we’ve kind of uncovered this is it’s gratitude. I wouldn’t have the family that I have right now, the journey I’ve been on, the things that I’ve learned, the things I’ve done and accomplished.

I look at my dad Joe um and the role he’s played in people’s lives and he’s he’s got stepchildren he’s raised he’s told me every time I would get frustrated or angry or you know I would take this responsibility on I’d be thinking about how would I want somebody to parent you you know because he didn’t have that and he had no idea if I was alive dead um right and I think a lot of good can come out of something it’s not the way it should have happened but at the same time it happened for whatever reason and um I don’t know.

I just I I think I’m at a point in my life where I don’t have time or I I choose not to have anger and hate and all these emotions that just all they do is kind of poison you. You know, you carry it around and you feel it and some of that searching and that frustration was also doing the same thing. So, I just, you know, got to a point where I said, “Let it go and be happy for what you have.” And I am. I’m I’m tremendously grateful.

Michelle, when did you get the word? How did how did you three weeks ago when all of this happened? What happened?

Um, I was coming home from work and one of my kids called me and said, “Mom, the police are at the house. Um, they’re not going away.”

And I was like, “Oh, that’s not good.” I’m like, “I don’t get in trouble.” So, I’m thinking, “What is this?”

And uh, I I was here. So I I zoomed home and um the the gentleman, the police officer came up and he said, “Are you my current identity?”

I said, “Yes.”

And um he said, “I need to speak with you. Let’s let’s go inside and sit down.” I’m thinking, “Oh my god, what did I do? I’m getting arrested.” You know, and he said, “You know, it’s it’s about scary, too.”

Yeah. I that memory will live forever there. I mean, just the feeling and what it felt like. Um, he said, “I I need to talk to you about your mother.”

And immediately, like, I thought she was dead. I thought something was was wrong with her physically. And after he calmed me down from that, he said, you know, she’s okay. And the second he said, “She’s okay.” Like, I just I just knew. I don’t know, like you you don’t know what you don’t know, but I knew this was the moment that it all breaks open.

And I don’t And then he said, you know, you’re he’s like, “I don’t know how to tell you this any other way.” He’s like, “Your your mother um is in custody and you’ve been a missing person for 42 43 years and your real name is Michelle Marie Newton and I need a DNA test.”

I was like, “What?”

Um, yeah. DNA test right then and there. Um, he was really wonderful. He wanted to make sure I was okay and then he went back to the station and got everything and came back. He was phenomenal. I mean, and I’ve spoken with him since. if there was ever a person to deliver that news, this gentleman was the right one to do it. And um just very kind and supportive. Yeah. Yeah. Can’t say enough. Just really, really good person.

That’s amazing because you could only hope for that. I mean, when I think of like law enforcement, I’ve got a lot of people that I really respect and appreciate in law enforcement as well, but I have to say like if somebody comes to the door with a badge and a vest and a gun and everything else, um I don’t think of where I’m in fuzzy feelings about the fact that I’m about to find out my true identity.

Yeah. Oh, I I mean I mean it sounds like he was a bit of an angel, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Um no, he was he was phenomenal. I I even told him when he was inside doing the DNA test, I said like I’ve had a lifelong phobia of police officers. Like I I get that shaky feeling. I respect them so much, but when I see somebody in uniform, I’m immediately, oh no, you know, um and he he was just phenomenal. If anything, I think he probably nixed that fear. It was like, “Oh, okay. I’m safe. It’s good.” It was it was a because we’re rule followers.

I’ve always wondered what that feeling is like. Is it because we’re rule followers? Because I I do the same thing. I’m like, what did I do wrong?

Yes. But you didn’t do anything wrong, did you, Michelle? You spent a long long time trying to figure this out.

I did. Yeah. Yeah. And that’s a whole weird lens, too, to kind of shift yourself like I I’m in the public eye right now and I’m everywhere and I can’t get away from it and I didn’t do it. It’s not, you know, it’s just got to ride the storm out. It is what it is.

Michelle, what did you do right after that? because you have your own family. I would assume again assuming that you’re trying to now like deal with, you know, your your parents’ generation and your own children’s generation. Now, what did you do? Like what do you do when when that happens? What did you do?

Um, I mean, immediately in the moment, like I just even for for my career, I’m very get stuff done mode. I I go into work mindset. So, that was it. I just told the kids, I said, “I have a major situation. I need you to take a few minutes upstairs. I need to make some phone calls.”

And um my my kids are pretty aware of the digging and the looking I’ve done over the years. It’s not a secret. Um I’m probably too open with my kids on a lot of things, you know, just because that’s how I I frame the way I wanted to raise them. Um so this wasn’t a shock.

And in my friend circle and family, this wasn’t I mean, it was a shock, but not a shock. It was like, “Oh, now it all finally makes sense.” Because we would sit up for late nights and talk about it and wonder. And we would joke. My one of my relatives is like, “Ah, you’re probably on a milk carton somewhere. You know, you might be in the witness protection program.” We had all these wild theories and stories. Wow.

And um yeah, I mean that’s and now it’s now it makes sense. So, um it’s like I said, been a wild ride, but at least there’s there’s answers now and I can process. someone I have truth I can just be like okay I have a story then I can start working forward and just you know move past it but um

Take me through like you go you find this out you tell your kids look mom’s got a a situation um were you happy or were you just in work like you weren’t anything yet were you weren’t

I think I was numb it was like shock I remember getting on the phone with a detective in Kentucky who I was advising to call. I I was able to speak with my mom and make sure that she was okay. I mean, she was in custody, which she was in custody scary for her and my heart right there, you know, like everything. I’m just like, I got to see I got to save her. I got to get her out. I got to take care of her.

So, I’m like, all right, let me call whoever I need to call and figure out what I have to do. And uh the detective in Kentucky, I had to apologize to her after. We met in person when I was in Kentucky a few days later, but I was pretty rough on the phone and I was like, “You have this all wrong. You don’t understand. You don’t understand. my my mom has been protecting me. I don’t know these people. This has got to be all wrong.”

Um, and she kind of very patiently walked me through and gave me some information and some of the backstory of what had happened. Um, and then asked if I would want to talk to them. And I’m like, well, that’s the only way I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I have to. Uh, I wasn’t like I was excited and scared at the same time. It’s kind of hard to break it down because you don’t know these people and then you’re kind of in the in the moment like within a 30 minute window trying to reconcile all the stories that you you have or that you’ve picked up or that you think you know or little tiny bits of information where over the years something would slip out and I’d be like, “Oh, wait. That’s an inconsistency. I was an only child of an only child. That doesn’t make any sense.”

So, you’re trying to process all that and get on the phone with like I I have my dad and he’s one of 13 kids. So, I had all these aunts and uncles. It wasn’t even the whole group and they’re just what bobbing and crying on the phone and everyone’s excited and we love you and we found you and it’s like I don’t know these people. So, there’s that. But I want to know these people, you know? I want to again I want to get to the bottom of it. So, um my mind works that way. If I get a problem, I start ripping into it and just trying to digest it until I can see all angles and figuring out, okay, what is the real lens?

Um, and that’s kind of where this started. Like again, I was in work mode. It was just I got to dig. And after I got off the phone, I don’t know what shifted. First of all, when I heard my dad’s voice, it was very like instantly like I know this voice now. I don’t have memories of him, but the voice it hit. And over my life, like there’s been people with that same kind of voice or that same like accent, and I’m like, “Oh, I’m drawn to this people.” You know?

Um, so that was very familiar. Uh, I made the decision to get in the car the next morning and drive. So, 11 hours straight through to Kentucky. And, um, I want to leave. You know, I was there for all through Thanksgiving. Had to come back for a little bit and then, you know, it just I it was it was tough to explain. I literally glued to the hip to my dad.

So, um, and the whole family just kind of like immersing myself and trying to figure out who you are. It’s it’s the weirdest thing because every single one of them, you know, they’ve been sitting here missing and mourning and wondering and worrying and I’m like, I didn’t even know you existed. You know, you’re trying to kind of balance that. You’ve got

He had 13. So, he had 12. 13. Mhm.

That’s a lot of people for you to start remembering names and faces and and you see them and they all look slightly like you. A little familiar, right? There’s just this extraordinary moment where you realize you’re part of this clan.

Yeah. And they are a clan. They are tight. They most for the most part all live very close together. Um, two have passed away, but I’ve gotten to hear stories about them and see pictures and you know, every every Newton household you go into, they all have their family photos on the wall and like family is the core of everything. It’s it’s so evident. They meet just about every weekend and play cards and games together. I mean, they’re so connected, the the core group of aunts and uncles.

Um, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much love in my life. like you know you walk into this room and everyone’s just like she’s back you know it was just right it’s kind of surreal but it was a beautiful moment and it’s um the happier part of of all of this you know and then on my mom’s side to find out she had a sister I have four cousins you know her her kids are incredible we share a lot of similarities and personality traits and they’re also very close and tight-knit and the two families have stayed connected over the years I’d say in the past you know maybe 101 years just as I think people just thought we were gone and we weren’t going to come back and they kind of had to accept it much like you know I said I found my piece I think they kind of found their piece.

I mean you’ve been gone for 40 years so it was like there was just probably like this um it it must have been frantic for them at the beginning though right?

Yeah. my dad and you know this the frustrating part is you go online and on the internet and there’s so many people that want to jump in and weigh in and and it’s their own experiences right I know that the the family system uh the family court system um on both sides of the coin is not perfect and I know so many people both men and women that have gone through custodial battles and and dealing with um you know maybe not being heard or feeling like they need to make an extreme decision.

Um, when when I went missing, my dad in 1983, there was no framework for a man in Kentucky to go get help to get his child. I mean, the things he tells me about what he ran. I’ve seen the paperwork. He he’s he’s gone in and like, “where’s my baby? Where’s my baby?” And people would say, well, she’s with her mom. You’re fine. You don’t need to worry. He’s like, no, I want my kid.

So the process he went through and the hoops he had to jump through and the things he had to do and the way that the family came together and supported him emotionally, time-wise, financially, I mean like everyone jumped in. This was a unified effort.

Um so it it breaks my heart when I see the instant judgment on my dad. There’s people that have assumed what he was or wasn’t and he wasn’t those things. My mom has told me he wasn’t those things. So um there’s that part I feel like I really need to step in and defend him. Um there’s also the piece where it it mistakenly says in some of the reports that he couldn’t be contacted and stopped looking. That is not correct.

Um and he never stopped looking for you, did he?

No. No. He’s exhausted his resources. He’s gone through and and continued to to dig and find ways to to keep looking. Um, my aunt Margaret, uh, who is absolutely an angel and I would say she’s the one kind of responsible for this staying alive and continuing to be looked for. I mean, she never stopped. She she she never gave up. Um, yeah. Sorry. You don’t give up on a baby. I wouldn’t unmine.

And I think to see the general public just assume that he did or to to not read deeper or and I know there’s so much that hasn’t been talked about yet that I I really can’t talk about. Um I feel the need that I have to step in and defend him and and the rest of the family because they all did.

I mean my my aunt on my mom’s side, her parents, they were involved. They all worked together. They drove to Georgia to look for us. I mean and it wasn’t just one time. time they went to states to to try to find to follow up on leads because the the assistance that they got wasn’t always um wasn’t always there. You know, you’d go to the police and say, “We have a lead” and it would just be like, “well, this has been cold for 5 years.” You know, so they did a lot of that on their own.

Um and I think there’s a lot of places where as a dad, he didn’t get the support he needed. And I know it can happen both ways. I I get it. But this was not on him.

No. And you know, my first thing when I saw that picture of you two together was sort of my first exposure to your story about what was going on was first of all how much y’all look alike.

Yeah. Yeah. Especially when I have glasses on. Yep.

And I just saw this natural sort of ease which I I don’t think I was expecting when I saw it. And I think it’s it it speaks to what a kind person you are, Michelle, too, that you know that that you’re a lovely person that you could actually accept what was happening to you as opposed to fight it. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Like I said, I I’m at a point in my life where those like anger and those emotions, I mean, they pop up, but they dissolve. And I will say a lot of that probably comes from him. Um, my dad and I are very similar. The way we handle things, the way we look at the world, the way we just view things.

I will tell you, he’s not said a single negative thing about my mom. Everything he said has been kind. Uh, the first night that we really talked, he he sat down and laid it all out. Skeletons in the closet. Here’s what I’ve done. This is my life. This is the the places where I don’t feel good about myself.

But he is so full of grace and so full of of kindness and and he just said, “Look, I don’t care about anything else right now other than having you back in my life. So whatever you want me to do, I will do.”

Um he’s like, “I don’t want to see your mom go through anything. I don’t want to hurt you like that.” Um and he he has been the first one to defend her and say, “Hey, this third part of the equation that isn’t public.” Um that’s the reason. and it’s not her fault and she was young and it’s it’s I mean he he has been probably her number one champion.

Um so I How how young were they? They were young, weren’t they?

When down they got married uh she was 17, he was 18. They were high school sweethearts and I see those pictures and they are so beautiful the two of them together. you see the hope and the love and it in talking to both of them I think you know sometimes you’re just too young or as you kind of grow together you grow apart or you just make different decisions um I wasn’t there for that I’m going off of their stories obviously but right uh yeah they I mean they were young and they were hard workers they were both really hard workers and I think um had they had they stayed together it could have been something different but life again goes the it’s supposed to.

And well, as you as you alluded, there’s there’s a whole another part to this story that you’re still working on, but um I want to ask you like it how are you dealing with mom on this and how are you and mom talking if you don’t mind sharing with me because obviously this is a Pandora’s box.

Sure. Um, she’s my mom. So, I think anybody out there, I mean, I’m as a mother of my kids, right? If you have children, folks will understand this. Your kids sometimes make a mistake or they do something. And I’ve had some big whopper of mistakes with my kids, but I love them no matter what. I view it much the same. I love my mom.

Um, we have a lot to work through, but she has a lot to work through for herself right now. And I really at this point kind of just want to navigate getting her through the next few months, getting to that place where there’s some safety for her and where she’s at a point where she can start, you know, working on herself, working through whatever she needs to work through, and get to a point where we can have transparency.

So, well, transparency and also a sense of like you’ve had to give up a lot. There’s I know that you’re being you’re being very um generous right now with mom and I’m sure there’s moments where you’re like, “Hey, you know what? When I turn off the camera, maybe I don’t feel so generous. Um have you been up and down?” I guess is what I’m asking. Has it been a bit of a roller coaster ride as far as Yeah. Why did you do this? Like why did you do this? No matter what the problem was, why couldn’t we stay together and figure it out? Like have you had those conversations?

We have. I don’t know that pushing those things right now is going to do anything. I think when I put myself in her situation, and this is how I do everything. I mean, I put myself in my dad’s shoes. I put myself in my cousin’s shoes. I put myself in her shoes, uh, in her husband’s shoes, right?

I I think um, you know, there’s expression there’s there’s no point trying to teach someone to swim when they’re drowning, right? And I’m looking at where she’s at right now. All she needs is somebody to hold on to her, right? That’s I can do that. Okay, I can do that. She’s my mom. Um, the rest of it will come. It will come. There’s there’s no timeline. I don’t have to sit here and need answers immediately today.

Uh, I have enough to understand the gist of how the situation went down and what happened. And again, the general public doesn’t know all that. They don’t need to know. When it’s time for that to be said, it’ll be said. And I’ve been very clear with her as far as my expectations of where this is going to go in terms of wanting truth and complete open honesty.

Um, but I also know she’s got her own trauma, right? And that that does a whole lot. And to see um I’ve always known she’s been carrying something pretty heavy. I mean, we talked about it before this even came public. I could I could tell. And I feel like she gets to put this down now. she can stop having to um live with the stress on her shoulders and and you know, whatever the rest of the story is. When she’s ready, we’ll we’ll get through it.

But um when she uh when it obviously you’ve seen it, um the body camera, you know, her neighbors, you know, are like, “They’re coming for you, Sharon.” Or whatever they said to her. They’re coming for you. Uhoh. Okay.

How you doing, Miss Sharon?
Good. How are you?
Pretty good. Uhoh. They’re coming for you, Sharon.
They don’t want me. You want Reggie? What’s up?
Well, we’re here for you, ma’am. Definitely here for you.
Whoa. Why?
We’re uh waiting on the detective to get here, but we have uh with all the information that we do have, you have a warrant for your arrest.
They’re teasing. They have to be Ma’am, we’re not back up. You can go home. I’m so sorry. Oh, you’re okay. I’m so sorry. Okay, go ahead and go home. Thank you.

It was so far a field has then for for like neighbors to ever think that your mom was in the middle of something like this.

My mom has always been a stand-up citizen. She’s never even had a ticket. I mean, she has always been like, I don’t swear in front of my mom. She’s always been super super respectful. Um I mean, and and even some of the accounts discussing like, you know, that she was a drug addict, that it’s not the person I know. I mean, I never touched any of that stuff growing up.

And that was because like I I looked at her and she was my role model and she just didn’t do that. I mean my mom doesn’t drink. She hasn’t touched I don’t think she’s had a sip of alcohol since before I’ve had my oldest child and she was just like just don’t eat it. I mean she’s she’s been by all accounts a good person and I think that’s what everyone knows her as and and I I know her as. I mean she is she’s a good person.

So again the third part of the story it just so much of what I say probably doesn’t make sense to people but the rest of it does when you know it. And when it’s time for her to be able to to speak on that, maybe she will. Um, and maybe she won’t and that’s okay, too. I I have that part and my family has that part and that’s the piece that is needed.

And your family’s aware of what was going on basically. They they know. I mean, on her side and and your dad’s side, are they are they grappling with the same questions and answers you you are right now?

um my dad’s side because they’ve been through all of the investigations over the years and they’ve been very heavily connected with the detectives, the FBI. Um and this hasn’t stopped. So on their side, you know, they’re grieving, they’re looking, but they’re still being grilled, they’re still being interrogated, they’re still being talked to. Um we must know something more.

What are you doing? Especially like her family. Um you know, she she left and had parents and a sister and that was confusing for a lot of people. So, it’s tragic and and and I would argue traumatic for that family, too. I mean, they they lost their daughter. They lost their sister.

Yeah. And my sister I mean, not my sister, my mom’s sister um is is the only remaining that her parents have passed away sadly. So, that piece won’t be able to be put back together. But, I think that there’s opportunity there for the two of them. And um you know, my my aunt is a lovely woman and I know that it’s left a big hole for her and I I think my mom and her both need each other. I think there’s there’s time for that to work on it.

But again, that’s their story. That’s not going to be mine to to deep dive into. Um, but that whole side of the family because they’ve been through the looking and the digging and the driving to other states thinking they had a lead and every single time someone popped up and said, “I think I’m Michelle Newton.” Um, they’re all pretty versed in the details of this other side. Uh, at least the ones that needed to know. Uh, some of the cousins and things probably wouldn’t wouldn’t know all that.

But you when you allude to the fact that your dad went through a lot to try and find you, can you can you tell our viewers sort of a little bit about what that entailed, like how hard he actually went? I mean, we’re we’re talking about generations of detectives that worked on this. Am I right?

Yep. Yep. So, the detective that had it for the last, I want to say 10 years, nine to 10 years, ever since the case was I guess kind of pushed to be reopened and landed in her lap. And she was friends with um the detective who I don’t want to speak incorrectly. Um it was a prior detective. I don’t know if it was the original or not, so I don’t want to speak, you know, um out of tune on that, but I mean, I’ve met with her. I’ve spoken with her.

She’s lovely. Uh she was the first person to just solidify you. you. She’s like, “You know, Michelle, you have no idea what your family has gone through trying to find you.”

Um, I mean, there was points where the family would get together. One of my uncles was a woodworker, a carpenter, and he would um he built this massive dollhouse that they raffled off trying to raise funds to like continue to dig and look because when the like legal resources kind of stopped, they still continued on.

I mean, it was not a question of spending the money. It was just, hey, when the money’s out, how are we going to find more to keep going? Um, and that was my grandparents, you know, on on my mom’s side. That was my dad. That was cousins and mostly the aunts and uncles that kind of banded together.

And again, I’ve seen the evidence of it. We’ve all talked about it. I’ve looked at the the massive briefcase that my my dad has. That’s just a lot of things that he’s done over the years. And Margaretell Yeah. Everything. Yeah. So, there’s no question in my mind. Nobody stopped looking.

Um, you know, can you tell me what that moment was like when he was able to look you in the eyes and be like, “Oh my god.”

Um, he was waiting outside when I got to their house in Kentucky. And like I said, I had been driving 11 hours. It was almost midnight. Uh, it was like the best hug in the whole world. And he’s crying and I’m crying and I don’t know. felt like felt like home, you know what I mean?

Um, and it’s weird because I I went with this mindset of like I don’t know these people. Um, I’m going to watch everything like a hawk. I can be very analytical. Yeah, I can be very emotional. I can be very analytical.

Um, of course, first and foremost, I’m like, protect my mom, protect my kids, you know, I don’t want them brought into this. I don’t know who these people are. There was such an ease. And then I sat down with some of my aunts that night and we were up until almost 4 in the morning um just talking and going over pictures and crying and uh you know my dad’s my dad’s wife right now who’s been in his life for 15 years. I don’t want to get that one wrong either.

But she’s amazing. She’s amazing and I I I call her mama. Like I I she’s just a phenomenal woman. Um I don’t know. They’re they’re they’re genuine. They’re sincere. there’s a a level of just instant connection and you don’t always have that with people.

Um, but there’s an ease there with my dad. I feel like because our personalities are so similar, it’s almost just like reading each other. There’s conversations that happen just looking like I don’t even need to talk. He’s like, “Okay, I see you. You just get each other.”

You know, it’s it’s incredible, too, because I mean, he’s he’s not that old. I mean, you have you have years to make up. And that makes me really happy in the story is that it’s not like he’s at the end of his, you know, he’s he’s a young 60 something year old, right?

67. Um he did receive a new heart last year.

Oh, okay.

Yeah. So, that has definitely Yeah. And again to uh to his wife um to her credit, she she’s a nurse and an amazing human being and she’s an angel out there for other people, but she is truly his protector and she’s the person that, you know, stays on about his medicine and his health and all the things he needs to do and um has been there through this year of of recovery really. I mean, getting a new heart is not a a small thing.

No. And I’m sure when he she found out that this was this was rolling down the hill. You were like she was like, “Okay, we’re not gonna get over excited here.” Like, I know it’s exciting. I know we’ve been waiting for 40 years for this, but you are not going to start jumping up and down and screaming because because you have a new heart to hold on to.

My dad’s very very mellow. His his demeanor is just very mellow, very calm. uh maybe not at work, but uh you know, around me anyway, it’s very mellow, very calm. He’s um he’s just a big old marshmallow.

So, what I love about this story, too, just for my own experience, is that what the way I reacted to things when I was 20 years old compared to how I reacted things when I’m 40 and now 50 years old are really different. Is like my patience is like things will unfold. Yeah. There’ll be another piece in the puzzle. We’re going to get there. And I believe that. I believe that.

Is that how it feels now that maybe this happened when it needed to happen as opposed to it would have been great if it earlier, but you know what I mean?

Like, no. I And I I keep hearing that, you know, people keep telling me that the the folks I’m working with and even my friends, they’re like, you know, if this had been five years ago, you would have been falling apart. And I think that you get situations when you’re ready for them.

And a lot of the the even the point of getting to a point where I said, “All right, I let it go. You know, I’m okay. I don’t need to know.” I think all of that is part of, you know, this landed in my lap when I’m ready to to take take it on and digest it and and be in the most positive mindset because I don’t I don’t think I would have been that way, you know, five years, 10 years, 15 years ago. I wouldn’t have been that way. I wouldn’t have been able to have the grace. I probably would have been a lot more emotional.

Um, so yeah, I mean, like I said, things happen when they’re supposed to at the time that they should. And um, I’m just in a in a place of gratitude.

What’s the hard part right now? What’s the hard work you have to do right now?

Uh, I am not a public person, so like some of the media and the interviews and just kind of having to navigate that is a challenge. Um, probably just wanting the normal. Like my my thing again, that only child mentality. When I get stressed out, I like to go check out go to the woods for a week and not talk to anyone. There’s there’s that.

Um, but yeah, that and and and probably the piece of my mom. There’s a lot of me that’s just very worried about her. Um, then there’s the other part that there’s emotions too that I’m still working out, you know, the ups and downs of it and um, just taking it one day at a time, you know.

Is your mom um, she’s got a hearing coming up in in January. Is that is that right?

Um, it’s like a a meeting. It’s not officially a hearing. So, this is our like our conference. So, and I will be Yeah. Yeah. You really have to like

Do you think that your dad will be there, Joe?

Yes.

And you said he’s supporting this this process.

Yeah. Yeah. He’s not going anywhere now.

Be careful. You may see him. You may you may see if there’s a if there’s a house going for sale anywhere near there, be careful. No, just kidding.

No, I would welcome it.

We’ve You want to move to Kentucky now? Are you like, “Oh, come on, everybody. Let’s go to Kentucky.”

Um, you know, my kids are pretty rooted and because I had moved around so much, I always said when I have children, it’s going to be one house. I’m going to stay there and that’s it. And I wanted them to have the same school system, the same friends, the the structure, you know, um, that was just really important to me.

So, I don’t know that I could pick them up and move. However, I said, you know, maybe we can find a place in between or um, you know, I I don’t know. We we’ll figure it out. It’s not It’s not a horrible drive.

Um, and well, you seem to be handling it beautifully. I know that there are good and bad times and they’re going to be good and bad times because there’s a still from what we’ve talked about and hopefully what we’ll be able to share later. Yeah.

There’s a lot more for you to find out in this story. And that’s why there’s so much um cooperation is the only thing I can say between with your dad that there’s no there it’s not about the anger. It’s about getting to the truth, isn’t it?

Yeah, it it really is. And I think he knows how much the truth means to me. He’s been very supportive. And he’s you know, it’s kind of funny because we’re on opposite sides of the coin. And I tell him and all the family, I have the easy side of this. Like ignorance is bliss, right? I have gone my whole life. I’ve just been like normal, whatever. I have stuff to process now.

But when I hear the stories of what my family went through and the feelings and the grief and the not knowing as a parent myself, I think about it like if my one of my kids went missing, I don’t know that I could survive that. I just don’t I and you do what you have to.

But when I look at it through their eyes, I’m just like I I have the easy part. They had the hard part. I also think though he’s had the ability to go through a lot of these emotions already and kind of process them and now he’s just in that stage of gratitude. It’s like I got my daughter back and he says it all the time. Every day we talk, I got my daughter back. I’m happy I got my daughter back.

So, and um just what you needed. Do you do you have brothers and sisters or were you the only one?

I am his only biological child. Now, I have step siblings um through my mom’s marriages um and I have step siblings through his side and I’ve been able to meet a few of them. I can’t wait to meet the rest of them. Um, but yeah, they all seem like great people and he’s told me wonderful stories about who they are and what they are about.

And um, yeah, I mean, I I’m happy that he was able to be in someone else’s life in a capacity that, you know, the other man that I call my dad was able to be there for me. And, you know, I think that that’s a blessing for all of us. Such a blessing.

Well, thank you. I I look forward to hearing the rest of your story. I know that it’s complicated and this this needs to be a first person perspective on what happened to Michelle Newton.

I think it’s a a weelling. It’s not just my story. It’s my mom’s story. It’s my dad’s story. There’s a lot of components in it. And it’s important for me in terms of integrity that everyone gets their opportunity to speak.

And right now, I feel like my mom is in a position where she really can’t speak. I mean, it wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest when you know that you have to go handle things legally. Um, so again, part of why I’ve chosen to speak to the media is to be an advocate for both of them, to both tell the the public to stop accusing my father, but also there’s more to this in in in support of my mom. Sure. Um, that I feel like when she has the opportunity to speak up, I I hope she takes it. I really do.

Uh because I I would like her to be able to tell her side. And um yeah, that’s that’s about as far down in the rabbit hole as I can go with it right now.

I understand. Is her husband doing okay? I mean, he looked absolutely shell shocked when all this went down. Have you been able to stay in touch with him? Is he doing okay?

He is an amazing man and his kids, my step siblings are phenomenal. That family is also very tight and supportive. Um I I I think he’s about as okay as he can be and he he loves her dearly. um he is her rock right now and I would never be able to thank him enough for that. He he’s he’s just a good man.

And um again, the internet just goes rampant with saying some really horrific things and I keep telling them stay off of it. But yeah, don’t Yeah.

It’s not like it’s it’s like, you know, it’s like a everybody wants to watch as they drive by it and take a look. And you know, um I wish I could turn it off for him for both of them, for all of us really. But it’s out there and it’s going to keep going. So, I figured, you know, the only thing I can do is kind of take control of the narrative and at least be like, “Hey, this is my side.” And, you know, hopefully that settles it down a little bit.

Michelle, we are literally 48 hours outside of Christmas right now. I mean, I don’t know if you celebrate Christmas, but you know, the holiday season. I mean, well, actually, let me look behind you. Oh, I think you do. It looks like you do, actually.

That was my kids. That was my kids. They’re trying to give me some normal. But um you know, I usually love Christmas and I’m normally like by Black Friday, I’m done with everything. I haven’t even done shopping. I’ve told all my family like, “Listen, rain check for like February, please.” It doesn’t feel like Christmas, so it’s a little a little odd.

However, I think at the core of it, um it’s probably the best gift I ever could have gotten. I don’t really need anything else. You know what I mean? I I got I got a whole side of my family and closure on a lot of things.

Um I am heading out to Kentucky right after Christmas and we’re doing a whole big get together. Like the whole family is is kind of just coming together for a little little shindig and I’m going to get to see people. So it’s going to be nice.

Yeah. Yeah, that is nice. Well, just one day at a time. Like you said, we say it all the time, but now you know what it really feels like to just put one one foot in front of the other. I I’m gonna just leave us here right now knowing that hopefully we’ll get to talk again because I really do enjoy it. Yeah.

And I enjoy hearing your story and your perspective. I think it’s so refreshing to hear someone actually in our world of the stories that I do. Michelle, this this is a special one. This is a real miracle.

So, it is. And I’ve said before, I know that missing person cases don’t usually end up with an ending like this. And I feel like if there’s anything that people out there, if if there’s another situation, I know locally we have several families that I’ve seen they’ve been missing a loved one for a year, two years, and I see the desperation and the please and then the public kind of dies off to just not give up hope because you don’t know.

I mean, 42 years later, they found me. So, you just don’t know. I mean, um, you don’t you don’t and and and that’s the that is the best message you can send to these, um, moms and dads and sisters and brothers that are still looking for their loved one right now at Christmas is that they’re that you’re giving them hope just by being you.

I would say that’s my whole family. Like I said, they give up. So, um, I know, but you’re you’re sort of symbolic of that child that we we’re still looking for.

So, yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. Have a merry Christmas. Happy holidays.

You, too.

I want to know if your perspective has changed now that you’ve heard from Michelle about how grateful she is for the timing, the truth, and all the stories that she’s learned from her relatives.

Michelle has been speaking to investigators and her mom about why she felt the need to create a secret new identity and a new life for them both. Michelle told me she’d share that with me when the time comes. says it’s one of those twists you never saw coming, but she can’t reveal it right now because of investigative reasons.

Until then, like and subscribe to Crimly Obsessed so you don’t miss that episode when it drops.