Sarah’s search

*All names have been changed

Search goal: Determine the relationship between Sarah and her match Christine / Find Sarah’s paternal grandfather

Sarah’s mother Natasha who I had helped over two years ago reached out to me recently as she had a match named Christine message her on Ancestry who was wondering what their close relation could be. However, Christine wasn’t appearing as a match to Natasha. So she asked me for help to see what could be found.

I took a look at things and saw that Christine was actually a close match to Sarah on her paternal side. Christine had asked Natasha if there was any relation to a couple with the last names Hopkins and Benson, and Natasha did not know, as Sarah’s father had been adopted. They knew his maternal side, but not his paternal side- only that his biological father’s name was Walt H. So I sorted Sarah’s paternal matches to see if there was indeed a relation.

Sarah’s paternal matches split into three groups. One of these groups, which was the one Christine was from, had many matches from the Hopkins and Benson families. I could tell that this couple that Christine was referring to was her grandparents, and that Sarah was going to be descended from them also.

After a little more searching, we found that Christine’s grandparents had had a son named Walter, who was in fact Christine’s father. She told Natasha that her dad was aware that he had had a child with Sarah’s dad’s biological mother, and she even asked Natasha the correct name before it was given, further proving that Christine and Sarah were half aunt/half niece. They are glad to confirm the connection and add to their family trees.