BAKERSFIELD, CA - A local story has many twists and turns, but it ends in an unbelievable family reunion. A Sacramento man spent almost 50 years looking for his biological sister who had been adopted. Imagine his surprise when he found her in Bakersfield and she was his daughter's hairdresser.
And, not only had the adopted sister done her biological niece's hair. She had done her biological mother's hair too. No one ever knew until this weekend.
At Marinello School of Beauty, a style course was a life changer for Jean Phillips-Tackett, an instructor there.
"Little did I know, you know," Phillips-Tackett laughed.
On January 14, 1966, just days old, Jean was adopted. Her family moved her to Simi Valley and then, Frazier Park.
In 1974, her biological, older brother, Jose Ramirez, made it his mission to start looking for his sister. This past week, while he was searching an adoption site from his home in Sacramento, he found a lead in Bakersfield. He called his daughter, Angelina Ramirez, who lives here.
"He said I think I may have found her," said Angelina Ramirez.
They knew she was a hair dresser. And, they knew Ramirez's stylist, who was Jean, was also looking for her biological parents. This weekend, they checked it out.
"So, all of the information started matching up. And, then when my daughter's friend looked up the number and it matched, the number my dad had given me and we were just speechless," said Angelina Ramirez.
The family is now sharing pictures and unbelievable stories. Last November, Ramirez's grandmother was visiting from Texas. That's Jean's biological mother. She had her hair done, under Jean's supervision. All three of them were together and no one knew it.
"Evidently, I must have had my hands on her and done the consultation not even knowing that that was her. My heart is just exploding right now," laughed Phillips-Tackett.
"I call it an Easter miracle because it happened the day before Easter," said Angelina Ramirez.
"I can't wait to actually meet her (mother) and have hands on and give her a big hug. I'm waiting for that," said Phillips-Tackett.
Jean has talked to both her mom and brother on the phone. Her brother plans to visit in a couple of weeks. And, they are working on plans to bring her mom to Bakersfield, again, as well.