AFTER 36 years of waiting and wondering – and with a helping hand from the Post – Adele Greenacre has finally been reunited with her long-lost father.
Derek Greenacre disappeared from his home in Sherwood on June 28, 1978. He left to go to work but never came back.
Ms Greenacre, now living in Radcliffe-on-Trent, was just 11 weeks old, so spent her life growing up not knowing her father.
The family had given him up for dead but she decided on one more push to find her dad and launched a new social media campaign, hoping someone would see her post and know where he was.
Ms Greenacre told her story to the Post, then shared her agony around the world.
But reliving the pain was worth it and led to the phone call she had always dreamed of.
She said: "A man had seen my Facebook post, which had been shared over 21,000 times, and Skyped me all the way from Geneva, in Switzerland, to say he knew my dad.
"They had known each other because of The Passage homeless charity that picked up my dad a few years ago and he, too, had been homeless.
"An hour later, he called back and gave me a number. I rang it and then there he was, on the end of the phone, my dad."
Once the father and daughter had got over the shock, they arranged to meet on Bank Holiday Monday – Mr Greeenacre's 69th birthday.
Ms Greenacre said: " I realised it was his birthday and I baked him a cherry pie, which I knew was his favourite thing, to take with me.
"When I first got there, I was very thrown and very scared. I knew I couldn't go and expect anything. But it worked out amazingly.
"We spent seven hours together and got on like a house on fire. It's been amazing, the best 24 hours of my life."
Mr Greenacre warned his daughter he could not answer all of the questions she had because he had huge gaps in his memory.
But she said: "I wasn't looking for answers. Just knowing him was enough for me."
Now, the pair are looking to the future and making more plans together as father and daughter.
Ms Greenacre said: "It was absolutely thanks to the Post. It helped make this happen. I want to thank each and every person who read and shared my post online, as without all of you, I would never have found him.
"It is a fairytale ending and I am just so happy."
Are you looking for a missing loved one? Get in touch at newsdesk@nottinghampost.com.
