Ok-Cha "Sunny" Wortman (left) and Stella Hut (right)
Real Name: Ok-Cha "Sunny" Wortman
Case: Lost Mother
Location: Seoul, Korea
Date: Late 1975
Case[]
Details: Stella Hutt is the daughter of Robert Wortman, an American airman who was stationed in Korea in the 70s. In 1972, when he was twenty two, he met and married a twenty year old Korean woman named Ok-Cha, who he nicknamed Sunny. Stella was born on January 6, 1973; she was named after Robert's mother. Shortly after Stella's birth, they moved to an American Air Force Base in Japan, where Sunny worked at an ice cream parlor. The visits Stella had with her father to see Sunny were her only memories of her mother.
Sunny later got a second job, working nights as a waitress. She seemed to live a double life and was rarely home. According to Robert, she began hanging with the wrong crowd. Her new friends were not family-oriented and she spent less and less time with her husband and daughter. Tensions between Robert and Sunny began to drive them apart. They decided that Stella should spend time with Robert's relatives in New Jersey.
Robert returned to Japan, hoping to fix his marriage and bring Sunny with him back to the United States. They appeared to work out their differences and Robert was granted a transfer to New Jersey to be with Stella. Before the move, Sunny went to visit her family in Seoul. Neither Robert nor Stella ever saw her again after that. Robert later learned that she did not want to go to America, and most likely decided to stay with her family.
Robert re-married and had another daughter. Stella was close to her stepmother but still wished to be with her birth mother. Two years later, Stella's grandmother received a phone call from a woman who was calling out "Stella! Stella!" but the caller could not understand English so she hung up. Stella's grandmother now believes it was Sunny. In 1985, Stella received a package from Sunny containing four white dresses and a stuffed dog; it was postmarked California. Stella believes that her mother is in the United States now and would like to know what happened to her. She also wants her to meet her son, Darius.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the June 6, 1999 episode.
Results: Unsolved
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