Roch Jones, Kara and her husband Tom Ginn during their reunion last week.
Photo provided by Kara Ginn
By Lisa Morton
Van Horn snowbird Kara Ginn always knew she wanted to find the brother her mother courageously gave-up for adoption at the tender age of 15 after an abusive first marriage. It was about 16 years ago that Kara intensified her search for her brother. Unbeknownst to her, a special barrier had been put in place by the secretary of the attorney who performed the adoption of her half-brother. This secretary was the mother of the woman who adopted him. The only information Kara had to go on was the misleading information that her mother was given by the secretary that her son and his adopted family moved to Nebraska shortly after his birth. In 2009 Kara paid $1600 to Omnitrace, a group that uses a national network of investigators to locate people for individuals, attorneys, and businesses. Her younger sister and older brother chose not to involve themselves in Kara’s efforts and she alone began dropping crumbs she hoped her long lost brother would find on a trail to her. Crumbs placed in the wrong direction and not discovered until the barrier placed in front of her and her adopted brother was broken.
It was also 16 years ago that Roch Jones last spoke to his brother, who was also adopted into his family. Roch’s instincts were more than correct about his adoptive parents not wanting him to locate his birth mother and father. Apparently his adoptive parents and his grandmother chose to take the misleading information they gave his biological mother to their graves. Roch acquired information from his original birth certificate and knew his biological parent’s names when he was in his early twenties, but it was not until well after his adoptive parents had passed, that something made him hit the net for answers ultimately resulting in a Friend Request on Facebook with Kara.
Kara acknowledged Roch after some hesitation and they met face to face for the first time last week at the El Paso International Airport. Roch did not hesitate to make the trip from his home in Volcano, Hawaii to meet Kara, another half-sister Peggy, and half-brother Kent. Ironically, the siblings at times were within 400 miles of each other in Wyoming. Roch was not interested in doing the “West Texas thing” for the days he spent in Van Horn with Kara, but was excited about connecting with a sister and a relationship he longed for. “I am thrilled to have found them, (siblings), and a connection has been made”, said Roch. Kara is no longer the middle child she loathed being, and is looking forward to building her relationship with Roch and his family. “Roch and I both got what we wanted, finally,” Kara said.
