Only on Lifetime Real Women. Check Your Local Listings.
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Only on Lifetime Real Women. Check Your Local Listings. |
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SYNOPSIS: In the fall of 1969, Glendeen Butterfield got the first glimpse of her niece, Kelli Ann. Glendeen's brother, Bob Ayres was in the Army and was being shipped to Germany. He and Kelli Ann's mother had separated and neither could care for Kelli Ann. The army had planned to put the baby in an orphanage, but Aunt Glendeen wouldn't hear of it. She went up the chain of command, straight to the office of The President. Soon after, the Army granted Bob a short leave of absence to bring Kelli Ann from Kentucky where he was stationed, to Glendeen in Santa Maria, California. Once Bob Ayres gave Kelli Ann to Glendeen, he abandoned all interest in the child. Glendeen was on her own. Kelli Ann spent years happily growing up with Glendeen and her two daughters in Central California. Then, in 1974, Bob suddenly showed up out of the blue. He moved into Glendeen's apartment, but still displayed little interest in being a father. That apparently changed when a young woman moved into a neighboring apartment. Less than a week later, Bob moved in with this woman, then took Kelli Ann with him. With the help of the police, Glendeen got Kelli Ann back, but the battle over the child was just beginning. Within a few months, Glendeen says Kelli Ann changed, and had become an unhappy, bewildered little girl. The situation worsened when Bob sued Glendeen for custody. However, a judge ruled in Glendeen's favor and granted her custody, while giving Bob visitation rights. Still, Glendeen claims that Kelli Ann was living in a state of confusion created by her brother and Kitty. To minimize the conflict, Glendeen moved to a small town in Nevada. Bob's visits with Kelli Ann were now limited to twice a year. But for Glendeen, even that was too often. Much as she wanted to keep Kelli Ann, Glendeen felt it was impossible. She could think of only one alternative - Kelli Ann's birth mother, Marion. Marion was in the Air Force. She had remarried and had two sons. Glendeen felt Marion could provide the stable environment Kelli Ann needed. A judge agreed to the plan and soon after Glendeen kissed Kelli Ann goodbye, leaving her with her new family. It was as if she had lost her own child. The last time Glendeen spoke to Kelli Ann was at Christmas time in 1976. The next time Glendeen called, however, the line was disconnected. Since that moment, all of her efforts to track Kelli Ann have failed. By 1983, Glendeen and her brother, Bob, had patched up their differences. From then until Bob died in a farm accident in 1994, their sole focus was finding Kelli Ann. Since then, Glendeen says she thinks about Kelli Ann every day, wondering what happened to her and hoping to finally find her. UPDATE: Glendeen Butterfield's efforts to find her niece, Kelli Ann Ayres were rewarded just hours after Unsolved Mysteries profiled her search. A family friend was watching and immediately contacted the Unsolved Mysteries phone center. Her information led to locating Kelli Ann later that night. Kelli Ann Ayres Hlywiak is married and has two young children. A Specialist E-4 in the U.S. Army, Kelli Ann is currently stationed at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. At first Kelli Ann was stunned, then thrilled that her aunt Glendeen called her late that evening. Kelli Ann later said she had sadly never believed or expected to ever hear from anyone from that time in her life again.
During that initial call, Kelli Ann told her aunt that she looks forward to Glendeen being "Grandma" to her children. The two excitedly planned a reunion, fulfilling Glendeen's dream of finding her long, lost "daughter."
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