A Timaru woman is on an emotional journey to find a sister she has never met.
Sarah Hill is going public in the search for her sibling, in the hope it will bring new leads in a mystery she has spent 22 years trying to solve.
Finding her sister is important to the family, as they are all desperate to meet their long-lost relation, she says.
‘‘I just want to find my sister.''
Mrs Hill, who grew up in Southland and was raised by her mother, spoke to her father for the first time as a 20-year-old. The conversation also revealed she had three half-sisters.
‘‘I was given an address for my Dad earlier on in 1994,'' she said. ‘‘I was then accepted into the New Zealand Army so was busy preparing for that and forgot about the letter I had posted.''
In her first week of training she was given a message that her father had phoned.
‘‘Dad was now in Western Australia. With the time difference he wasn't home from work so I spoke with my step-mum Julie and found out I had three little sisters - the youngest only 1.''
Over the next few weeks, Mrs Hill was told she also had a fourth half-sister.
‘‘She was born in 1974 - Dad was 18 when I was born,'' Mrs Hill said.
‘‘The details Dad has told me are very little - her birth mother was Gaynor. She was boarding in Timaru at the time.
‘‘My Dad, Maurice Roche, is from Southland and was living in Timaru with his cousins. My sister's mum and my mum were pregnant at the same time.''
Not long after Mrs Hill's half-sister was adopted, Mr Roche moved to Australia.
Since discovering she had a sibling Mrs Hill has spent hours looking for her.
‘‘I have had the adoption records in Timaru searched but they didn't see Dad's name. It's hard to look too without a last name.
‘‘I am hesitant to contact any Gaynors as I don't want to offend, upset or hurt anyone.''
Mrs Hill's father said Gaynor was around his age at the time of the birth, so she would be about 60 now.
Mrs Hill thinks her half-sister may have lived in Timaru for some time.
‘‘When I moved here in 2004 I had a lot of people wave to me then stop, say ‘hello', then look confused. I even had an appointment at the hospital and the doctor thought I was someone else and was asking me questions that didn't relate to me.''
Finding her sister would make her family very happy, she said. ‘‘My sister has four half-sisters and a half-brother, aunties and an uncle, cousins. She is an aunty and a great-aunty.''
- By Rachael Comer of The Courier
RACHAEL.COMER@timarucourier.co.nz
