Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A lesson in helping others and an enthusiasm for technology motivated a little boy to help an elderly man find and reunite him with his sister.
Clifford Boyson, of Davenport, Iowa, hadn't seen his sister, Betty Billadeau, or his three other siblings in 65 years. The five siblings were separated as young children in the foster care system when they were placed in different Chicago homes.
Boyson and Billadeau had both tried over the years to locate one another, and until 7-year-old Eddie Hanzelin stepped in, without success. Neither thought they had any family left and Boyson was ready to give up looking before Eddie.
Eddie, the son of Boyson's landlord, said he learned about helping others in school and knew he needed to help Boyson.
"Clifford did not have any family, and family's important," the boy told the Associated Press.
With an affinity for his family's iPad, the boy used his mother's Facebook account to search for Billadeau using her maiden name.
The family resemblance was all it took for Boyson and Eddie to realize they had found his sister.
"I knew he was there, but not where he was at and it's a hole in your heart, I guess," Betty told WQAD.
Over Skype, the siblings arranged a reunion in Davenport. Billadeau drove up from her home in Florissant, Missouri with her daughter and granddaughter.
"Oh, my God," Boyson said, peach roses in hand, when he saw and hugged Billadeau. "...My heart was going 60 miles per hour. I never thought this would come true."
"You do have a sister," Billadeau said.
"You're about the same height Mom was," Boyson said.
Billadeau said Boyson reminded her of their brother Bob, who she knew and who is deceased.
Boyson plans on heading to Missouri to meet the rest of his sister's family. His niece, Sarah Billadeau, 42, has plans for the bachelor, too.
"He didn't have any women in his life," she said. "We're going to get that straightened out real fast."
Contributing: The Associated Press
