Author: Beth Steury
The Scrapbook
My latest sleuthing adventure has sent me on quite an interesting and thought-provoking journey. It all began with an early morning email message on a Wednesday in July. “I have something I want to run by you,” …
How will you Celebrate National Cousins Day?
There may forever remain multiple who, when, and where questions about the origins of the lesser-known July holiday celebrated on the 24th—National Cousins Day. While some admit the history of this commemoration is “shrouded in mystery,” others …
Two Family Mysteries and their Journeys Toward the Truth
The search for a grandfather Mike Holloway, of Willshire, Ohio, is a man on a mission—a genealogical mission, that is. In recent years, his interest in a long-time family mystery found him taking up the search …
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Lessons Learned . . . And the moral of the story
(DNA Sleuth column - March 2025) For the past month, I’ve been neck-deep in a writing project that has claimed much of the time I usually spend burrowed deep in search angel mode. I’m still popping into …
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“What? Mom’s adopted?!”
In my pursuit to share the wonderful world of DNA with folks far and near, I’m always looking for opportunities to present DNA-themed programs. The Heritage Room at the Berne Public Library has hosted several such presentations, …
The Mystery of the Abandoned Hotel Baby
Thursday, March 16, 1918 . . . Richmond, Indiana. A weeks-old baby boy found alone and crying in a room at the Kelly Hotel. Hotel employees cannot locate parents who may have used a fictious name at …
The wait is finally over . . .
Preston and Maggie's story comes to a gripping conclusion with the completion of the "Choices Matter" series Junior year finds seventeen-year-old Preston—the hot, popular, very experienced ladies’ man—charting a new course as far from the bad choices …
The Case of the “Maybe Brother”
Audrey (Bleeck) Steury grew up in the Salem Children's Home in Flanagan, Illinois. Audrey’s mother Ida, as she faced end stage tuberculosis, placed eighteen-month-old Audrey in the orphanage with instructions that she be raised in the home …
Meeting the Bio Family: Chapter 11 – Maternal Family Connections Five Years in the Making
It takes time . . . to process the secrets, the decisions, the truths hidden for decades. Just give them time. Despite having complete confidence in the truth of these words, giving this advice to adoptees hoping …