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in: California, Oregon, 1947,
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James Gilreath

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Medlin siblings

Mary Jane, Leoma, and James in 1947

Real Name: James "Jimmy" Gilreath
Case: Lost Brother
Location: Weed, California
Date: June 15, 1947

Mary Jane and Leoma

Mary Jane and Leoma in 1992

Case[]

Details: James "Jimmy" Gilreath is the brother of Mary Jane Polk and Leoma Crane. They were separated as children, and while Mary Jane and Leoma have found each other, they are still searching for him. On the morning of June 15, 1947, a housewife in Weed, California, took a shortcut home from the store through an overgrown field next to a dance hall. She heard the sounds of a child crying and went toward it. Hidden by the tall grass was two-year-old Mary Jane, who had been severely beaten and apparently abandoned. She was taken to nearby Siskiyou General Hospital and placed in intensive care. She had contusions on her head and face and lacerations all over her body. Her eyes were virtually closed from swelling, and one of her arms was so sore she could not move it. Traumatized and suffering from shock, she was unable to tell authorities what had happened to her or even who she was. The hospital staff began to call her "Baby X".
Today, Mary Jane is a successful businesswoman and mother of four. She has courageously overcome many of the hardships she suffered during her childhood. However, she feels that the wounds can't be completely healed until she finds Jimmy, whom she only met once, forty-five years ago. She wants to tell her tragic story in the hope that someone can help.
As Mary Jane recovered in the hospital, she was kept there because they did not know what to do with her. She was not able to communicate with the doctors, nurses, or anybody else she came into contact with. She assumes that she was very afraid that if she spoke or did anything, she would get hurt again. The police had absolutely no idea who she was. They distributed her photograph to dozens of newspapers throughout northern California, Oregon, and Washington.
Two weeks later, a witness came forward after seeing "Baby X's" photograph in the newspaper and identified her as Mary Jane. The witness told authorities that Mary Jane's mother was twenty-two-year-old Lucille Medlin of Selma, Oregon. She and Mary Jane's father, Virgil, had divorced in 1946. Afterward, she briefly left Mary Jane in a welfare home and then with her former mother-in-law. By June 1947, she was staying at a logging camp in Selma. She had recently given birth to Jimmy and was living with her boyfriend of eleven months (and Jimmy's father), twenty-five-year-old Hugh Gilreath. When the police arrived at the camp, they spoke to Hugh and showed him a photograph of Mary Jane. He said that he did not recognize her.
When confronted with a photograph of badly beaten Mary Jane, Lucille could no longer hide the truth. She admitted that "Baby X" was Mary Jane and that she told Hugh to take her to Weed and leave her there. He said that they "already had more children than [they] needed". He initially denied beating Mary Jane but did admit that he had taken her to Weed by bus, where he abandoned her on June 14. He later confessed to beating her in the days before she was found.
After Jimmy was born, Lucille and Hugh apparently decided that they needed to get rid of one of their other children because there were "too many of them". They chose Mary Jane because she was an "incorrigible child" who they were unable to potty train or properly feed. They were arrested on charges of child abandonment and assault to commit murder.
Lucille was allowed one visit with Mary Jane in the hospital. She brought newborn Jimmy. It was the only time that Mary Jane would see him. Two weeks later, Lucille and Hugh pleaded guilty to all charges and were sentenced to twenty years in prison. Lucille passed away in 1991. Mary Jane, Leoma, and Jimmy became wards of the state and were eventually separated.
Mary Jane initially went to live with Virgil in Portland, Oregon, but spent most of her childhood in foster homes. She married at sixteen, and today, she and her husband own a successful restaurant in Placerville, California. They have four children and ten grandchildren. In 1988, she began searching for Leoma and Jimmy.
In 1991, Mary Jane finally found Leoma, who was living in Sacramento, California. But after more than forty years apart, Mary Jane was unsure if she would be accepted. She worried that Leoma was going to reject her; she was ready for that and willing to accept it. Fortunately, it did not happen; they were reunited and have remained close ever since. Mary Jane was happy to find out that Leoma had a good life and was a genuinely nice person.
Leoma notes that she has two brothers from her adoptive parents but had never had a sister before she met Mary Jane. She said it was wonderful to meet her. She is glad that she is able to call, talk to, and have a relationship with her. They have joined forces in the search for Jimmy. He was born James Gilreath on June 14, 1947, in either Selma or Grants Pass, Oregon. They believe that he was adopted out of the Yreka County Hospital in California by a family from Oregon and that his first name may have been changed to Donald.
Mary Jane feels that Jimmy is the "missing link" to make their family complete. She would like to know where he is, what happened to him, and what kind of life he has. She would also like him to know that she and Leoma are his sisters and that they are here for him. They hope that finding him will help heal the emotional wounds inflicted on them during the early years of their lives.
Extra Notes:

  • This case first aired on the September 30, 1992 episode. It was updated briefly on the October 14, 1992 episode, with a full update airing on the November 18, 1992 episode.
  • It was submitted to the show by Mary Jane.
  • It is not to be confused with that of The Family of Terris Christie Derby; Terris was initially known as "Baby Girl X".
  • Interestingly, before Mary Jane was identified, some investigators speculated that she was missing Oklahoma child Joan Gay Croft.
  • Some sources state that Mary Jane was found on June 14.
Medlin siblings reunited

Mary Jane, Donald, and Leoma reunited

Results: Solved. On the night of the broadcast, Jimmy was not watching the show, but his adoptive sister was. She immediately called her mother, who then contacted him. His name is now Donald D. Barrow, and he was just as anxious to meet Mary Jane and Leoma as they were to meet him.
Two weeks after the broadcast, Donald and his family drove from their home in Fresno, California, to Mary Jane's home in Placerville. They were joyously reunited after forty-five years. Mary Jane and Leoma were happy to learn that he had had a good life. He said that there were a lot of emotions going on in his mind. They were happy to be together and were looking forward to their sibling relationships.
Sadly, on November 25, 2008, Leoma passed away of colon cancer at the age of sixty-four. On March 19, 2016, Donald passed away at the age of sixty-eight.
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