Woman Abandoned as Newborn Meets Rescuer 62 Years Later

A woman who found an abandoned baby decades ago, reunited with the woman who is now 62 years old

Abandoned as a newborn, a 62-year-old woman has returned to the Northern California city of Concord in search of her birth mother.

Kira Derhgawen was left in the passenger seat of a parked car, swaddled in a baby blanket with her umbilical cord still attached, on April 30, 1951.

Now, more than six decades later, she's come back to the Bay Area to meet the woman who found her and to search for her biological family.

"It would bring more joy probably to her (birth mother's) life and my life if we could be reunited," said Derhgawen. "I just want people's hearts to be touched and hopefully, my birth mother will come forward."

Derhgawen recently uncovered a letter her teenage mom sent to the owner of the car she was found in. In it, the young mom pledges to someday find her.

"I cut her picture out of the paper and carry it in my wallet. I cry when I think of her. I love her so much," reads the letter.

While Derhgawen hopes to find her birth mom, she's grateful to have re-connected with her rescuer.

Jan Hungerford, 84, was just a new mother herself when she discovered Kira in her neighbor's parked car.

"It was a very tiny baby. Very calm, very sweet... just like she is now," said Hungerford, who now lives in Auburn, Calif.

The two now share an undeniable bond. "Words don't describe it because this is a once in a lifetime happening. This doesn't happen to too many people," Hungerford said.

If you have any information about Derhgawen's birth family you can contact the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department.

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