Moreno Valley woman abandoned as a baby 30 years ago meets brother, sister for the first time

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Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Baby abandoned in Irwindale 30 years ago reunites with family
It's a remarkable update to a story Eyewitness News covered over 30 years ago: A woman abandoned as a baby in Irwindale in 1990 has finally met some of her loved ones for the first time.

It's a remarkable update to a story Eyewitness News covered over 30 years ago: A woman abandoned as a baby in Irwindale in 1990 has finally met some of her loved ones for the first time.

It was an emotional first-time meeting for Jessica Hicks, who spent time with the relatives she had been searching for.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you guys, and to have family," she said.

Hicks was an infant when she was abandoned, found three decades ago wrapped in a blanket behind a building in Irwindale.

"They don't know her real name. She is 9 pounds, 4 ounces," Eyewitness News anchor Marc Brown said during a newscast while covering the story in 1990.

Hicks, who was 15 months old when she was adopted, was never reunited with her parents. The mother of six from Moreno Valley says DNA testing helped her identity family members.

"Even though I have not spoken to my mom yet, but I feel definitely complete. I don't look in the mirror like, who am I?" Hicks said.

Her siblings says they are happy she found them.

"I thought I was the only girl," said Hicks half-sister, Nicole. "She's family and that's all that matters to me, and if our dad were here he'd be welcoming her with open arms, and I just wanna do that too."

"It's awesome. I just feel like I can't speak for anybody in the past, but it's great that I can make up now and then going forward," said Hicks' half-brother, David.

Hicks has no baby pictures of herself. Images from the ABC7 story after she was found as a baby have become special, she says.

"It means a lot to see that video, 'cause without that video, I wouldn't have anything," she said.

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