Real Names: Robert Harold "Bobby" Macy, others unknown
Case: Lost Siblings
Location: Reedley, California
Date: 1957
Case[]
Details: Martha Smith is searching for her twin brother, Robert "Bobby" Brown, and their four older siblings. Their parents, Ira and Dora, gave them up for adoption as infants because they were unable to care for them. The Browns had been severely affected by the Dust Bowl, one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history.
During the 1930s, years of relentless drought transformed the lush farmlands of Oklahoma, Texas, and the Midwest into a barren wasteland. Thousands of families were forced to abandon their ancestral homes, desperately searching for work. Uprooted and impoverished, many made their way west to California's fertile San Joaquin Valley.
Fifteen years later, many still remained in the area as migrant farm workers, following the fruit and vegetable harvest from town to town. Ira and Dora were typical Dust Bowl refugees. They had lost their farm in Oklahoma and never returned. By 1951, they had four children, and Dora was pregnant again. On July 27, 1951, she gave birth to Martha and Bobby.
With six mouths to feed, the Browns felt they had no choice but to put Martha and Bobby up for adoption. Martha believes they did so out of their best interests. She thinks they could not afford to care for them. She had a heart condition that would have been expensive to treat. She thinks Ira reluctantly put her and Bobby up for adoption so that she could get good medical treatment and education.
Martha and Bobby were placed in California's foster care system. They were shuttled from one family to another, never knowing what it was like to live in a secure home. Finally, in 1956, when they were five years old, they came to live with Arnold and Alice Breitler in Reedley, California. Alice still remembers the day when they came to live with them. She said they were so pretty and cute. She fell in love with them right away.
Arnold and Alice got toys for Martha and Bobby. When Alice took them to their bedroom, Martha went right to the doll on her bed and hugged it. Alice thought that was very sweet. At the time, she did not realize Martha and Bobby had never had toys before.
The social worker told Alice that Martha and Bobby had been mistreated. It took her two and a half hours to get the dirt off their bodies. She remembers that they were also very hungry. They ate almost nonstop for a week. She said it was like she just couldn't fill them up. They also tried to eat with their hands, and she had to keep telling them to use their utensils.
As time passed, Martha began telling Alice about their previous foster home. She said that she and Bobby had to stand outside while their foster family ate dinner. And then, they would bring them in and give them beans. She said she and Bobby were hungry and malnourished when they arrived at the Breitlers' home. She remembers sneaking into the kitchen with Bobby in the middle of the night and taking what food they could find. They did so almost every night because they were afraid of going hungry again.
Martha and Bobby were very close to each other at that time. She said it was like they were the only kids in the whole world that loved each other, and nobody else loved them. Years of severe neglect had taken a tremendous emotional toll on them, especially Bobby. Almost immediately, there was evidence of serious behavioral problems.
One day, Martha and Bobby were playing in a small swimming pool in the backyard while Alice was inside washing dishes. When she looked outside, she saw Bobby holding Martha's head down in the water and would not let her up. Alice immediately went outside and told him to stop, which he did. She thinks he loved Martha very much but also resented her.
Alice said Bobby would sometimes be sweet, but then "build himself up" and have little fits. Then, they would go away, and he would be sweet again. She believed there was something "in him" that was causing him to act that way.
Bobby's violent temper was a constant worry for Arnold, Alice, and the child welfare office. In 1957, the welfare board, fearing for Martha's safety, decided it would be best to separate her and Bobby. He was then sent to yet another foster home.
Martha remembers the day Bobby left very well. They were sitting on the front steps of the Breitlers' home. She did not know he was leaving that day. She is unsure if he knew he was doing so either. After saying goodbye to Arnold and Alice, he went to do so to Martha. He gave her the clown outfit he had worn on Halloween and told her to keep it. She said that was the one thing he could give her that was very special to him.
Martha said that when Bobby left, she missed him very much because it seemed like he was the only person in the world who loved her and vice versa. Alice still feels bad about him being sent away. She wishes that it had not happened.
When he was eleven, Bobby and his new foster family moved out of the area. Arnold, Alice, and Martha never heard from him again. In 1962, Martha was legally adopted by Arnold and Alice. After Arnold passed away in 1968, Martha and Alice moved to Ashland, Oregon. But they never forgot Bobby.
When she was eighteen, Martha made a special trip to the welfare office in Fresno, California. She learned that Bobby had been adopted and was renamed "Robert Harold Macy". Eventually, she obtained his address. She wrote a letter to him, asking if he could come to her high school graduation. She remembers waiting excitedly each day for the postman to bring her a letter from him. A few weeks later, however, her letter was returned unopened.
At that time, Martha thought that she had lost Bobby for good. She thought she would never be able to find him again. Twenty years would pass before she was able to uncover any additional information about him. In 1989, she obtained copies of his birth certificate and driver's license. She also found that he had an address in Los Angeles.
Martha was excited when she found Bobby's address. What she did not realize was that it belonged to a homeless shelter called The Midnight Mission. But according to its records, he had not been seen there for more than two years.
Martha believes that when she and Bobby were young, they had a special bond. She thinks that, in his own way, he still remembers and loves her as he did when they were children. She said it is important for her to find him, and it would "mean the world" to her if she could do so.
Bobby and Martha also have an older brother and three older sisters. She would like to find them as well.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the May 6, 1992 episode.
Results: Solved. Within minutes of the broadcast, Martha was contacted by her oldest brother, Jack Brown. She learned she had another brother and sister who were deceased. However, she was unable to find out any information about Bobby.
Sadly, Martha passed away on October 9, 1995, at the age of forty-four. According to one of her sons, she never found Bobby. A viewer later discovered that he passed away in 1996 (just a year after her), in Tucson, Arizona.
Alice passed away on September 7, 1994, at the age of eighty-nine.
Links:
- Robert Macy on Unresolved Mysteries Reddit
- Martha Smith on Ancient Faces
- Martha Smith's Obituary
- Alice Breitler's Obituary
- Robert Macy and Martha Smith on Find a Grave