Two small children with their mother enter a Baltimore bar only to be sold to complete strangers. The story, outlandish as it sounds, was a terrifying reality for two Baltimore children. The Western Journal tells the story of Marion Louise Smith—one of these sisters—as she copes with her horrific origin story and embarks on the search to reunite with her long lost sister.
ABC 2 WMAR originally reported that Kenneth Suggs was at the Baltimore bar that fateful night in 1967 when he was approached by a desperate woman. As if it were a normal request, the woman offered Suggs her baby, then only 2 weeks old, in exchange for his paycheck.
Once the shock settled, Suggs quickly accepted. Fortunately, it was due to Suggs wanting to save the child from someone else with ill intentions that he accepted. He ran the baby home to his wife and explained the outlandish story. They raised Marion as their own in what she describes as a loving home.
Marion’s adoptive father has since passed away but requested that Marion, “find her people.” She is doing just that in her search for her sister, having registered with multiple DNA registries. Through this, she was able to track down her birth father, and also the woman whom she believes to be her birth mother, though she notes the woman—not surprising given the circumstances—denies the identification.
Before passing, Suggs had noted to Marion that he recalled her sister to have been about 1 years old at the time. Much like Marion’s fate, she was also sold, this time for a car to a man Suggs remembers as being called ‘Brackett.’
Unfortunately, Marion has been unable to find her sister yet but hopes she might still be living in the area. She vows to continue her search, hoping to find the one person who might relate to the emotions of being sold as a baby. She clings to a Superman emblem that dangles from her necklace in memory of her father whom she hails a hero for stepping in that night and encouraging her to continue her search for her sister.
Your first step in your search and reunion journey is to register in Adoption.com’s Reunion Registry.
