CHILTON, Wis. (WFRV) – After years of never knowing anyone in her biological family, an Arizona woman has connected with a long-lost relative.

Stefanee Thompson may live in Arizona now, but she grew up in Ohio, being raised by her adoptive parents. While she says she had a great life, she always wanted to know more.
After her husband suffered a stroke in November, it gave her the wake up call she needed to discover her biological family.

She used services like 23&Me, Ancestry.com, and even got in touch with a search angel, who helps people find long-lost relatives. The results were not what she was hoping for. Both of her biological parents have passed.

“I always had kind of a feeling that they would be up there in age,” Thompson says.

There was, however, a silver lining. She found out her dad Earl had a wife, Lois Pruitt Fluhr, living in Chilton, and this week, they finally met.

“I just couldn’t hug her enough. When she told me I had my dad’s eyes, that was amazing,” Thompson says.

Pruitt Fluhr said about meeting Thompson, “She just seems like [Earl]’s here with me now. I think it’s gonna be sort of like mother-daughter, but more friends, because I find that she’s very easy to talk to, probably because she looks so much like him.”

While in Wisconsin, Pruitt Fluhr tried to connect her with other family members, but not everyone was accepting.

While trying to visit an aunt, Thompson received no response to knock on the door.

Thompson says, “It’s very hurtful to have somebody who’s your blood not accept you. While Lois is not my blood, she has accepted me. If you ask me, she was the most important part of my dad’s life because they had been married for a long time.”

Despite some adversity, Thompson says this helped her find a piece of herself that was missing for so long.

“I’m very thankful and happy right now because I have closure. That’s a big thing for adoptive children is they have a gap. I never thought I did have a void in my life until I’ve filled that void,” Thompson says.

Thompson hopes to continue connecting with family in the future.