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Huelva woman, 22, finds long-lost brother in California via Twitter in two days after a decade-long search
22/01/2017
A YOUNG woman from Spain's far south-west took just two days to find her long-lost brother after announcing her search on Twitter, having spent the previous 10 years trying to trace him without success.
Once again, the power of social networks to change lives has been proven as Silvia Falcón, 22, and her 25-year-old half-brother, born José Carlos Falcón García, are now in daily contact and planning to meet as soon as they can afford the air fare.
Silvia, from the Mazagón area of Moguer (Huelva province), says her father had a relationship with a woman named Rosario García before he later married her mother, and that a baby boy was born as a result.
Although Silvia's father always refused to talk about his past relationship and the son he had through his ex-girlfriend, Silvia's mother had told her about her brother from an early age and encouraged her in her search.
The young woman knew she had a brother from the age of five, but it was not until she was 12 and considered old enough to use the internet that she started looking for him.
This has hitherto proven unsuccessful, since José Carlos did not keep his original surnames.
Recently, Silvia found a letter from a friend she used to write to when they were seven years old, and decided to find him on Twitter – which she did successfully after her message was retweeted over 2,400 times.
Encouraged by this success, Silvia turned to Twitter to find her brother.
She typed a note and attached two pictures of José as a baby to it, then uploaded it as a photograph on the social network.
It reads: “As far as I know, [Rosario and her son] left for San Bernardino, California, USA.
“My father's ex-wife is from the village of Espera, in the province of Cádiz...and my brother was born on March 9, 1991 […] I only have a bib and a couple of photos from when my brother was a baby.
“Ever since I knew of his existence, from the age of five, I have been wishing with all my heart to be able to find him and have this big brother with whom I could have grown up.”
Beneath the photo, Silvia tweeted: “My mother has encouraged me to distribute information about my brother, because I believe there might be a chance of finding him. I only hope she's right. Retweet, please.”
Numerous replies came, and led to finding an aunt of her brother, on his mum's side, who came from Silvia's own town.
Among the aunt's Facebook friends was Joseph, a young man aged nearly 26 who fit the description of Silvia's brother.
Searches on other social networks, such as Instagram, confirmed her suspicions, so she sent him a private message on Facebook.
An extract of the message was shown in an online Spanish newspaper, in which the siblings wrote to each other in English.
It appears Silvia asked Joseph if he had been born in Spain.
“Yeah I was, who is this?” he replied.
To which Silvia responded: “OMG.
“OK, I will be direct.
“I'm your sister, Joseph.
“We have the same father. I know it sounds like a joke, but I've been looking for you for ten years.
“Your aunt Beni is from Espera, near Seville in Spain.”
Joseph answered immediately: “Really!!? I found out about two years ago – I was told I have a brother as well...how old are you?” And, “Yeah, she's the one who told me!”
Since then – barely a week ago – Silvia and Joseph have been chatting online every day, although at the moment, “we've only talked about the day-to-day and he asks me how my day has been,” she explains.
“We haven't gone too deeply into our relationship, but we're both eager to see each other, and he's said that now he has the perfect excuse to come to Spain.”
This said, Joseph has already told Silvia that he has 'started to think about things', and wonders 'what his life would have been like' if he and Silvia had not been separated.
They have agreed to “talk about it in more depth one day when we have more time,” Silvia says.
“Although it's going to be complicated for us to see each other, because of the distance, I'm sure we'll be able to do so because, if I've learnt one thing from this experience, it's that when you put a lot of effort into something, you always achieve it in the end,” says a triumphant Silvia.
Photographs: Joseph (José Carlos Falcón García) as a baby in 1991, and Silvia Falcón now, aged 22, from Silvia's Twitter site, @simelalways
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A YOUNG woman from Spain's far south-west took just two days to find her long-lost brother after announcing her search on Twitter, having spent the previous 10 years trying to trace him without success.
Once again, the power of social networks to change lives has been proven as Silvia Falcón, 22, and her 25-year-old half-brother, born José Carlos Falcón García, are now in daily contact and planning to meet as soon as they can afford the air fare.
Silvia, from the Mazagón area of Moguer (Huelva province), says her father had a relationship with a woman named Rosario García before he later married her mother, and that a baby boy was born as a result.
Although Silvia's father always refused to talk about his past relationship and the son he had through his ex-girlfriend, Silvia's mother had told her about her brother from an early age and encouraged her in her search.
The young woman knew she had a brother from the age of five, but it was not until she was 12 and considered old enough to use the internet that she started looking for him.
This has hitherto proven unsuccessful, since José Carlos did not keep his original surnames.
Recently, Silvia found a letter from a friend she used to write to when they were seven years old, and decided to find him on Twitter – which she did successfully after her message was retweeted over 2,400 times.
Encouraged by this success, Silvia turned to Twitter to find her brother.
She typed a note and attached two pictures of José as a baby to it, then uploaded it as a photograph on the social network.
It reads: “As far as I know, [Rosario and her son] left for San Bernardino, California, USA.
“My father's ex-wife is from the village of Espera, in the province of Cádiz...and my brother was born on March 9, 1991 […] I only have a bib and a couple of photos from when my brother was a baby.
“Ever since I knew of his existence, from the age of five, I have been wishing with all my heart to be able to find him and have this big brother with whom I could have grown up.”
Beneath the photo, Silvia tweeted: “My mother has encouraged me to distribute information about my brother, because I believe there might be a chance of finding him. I only hope she's right. Retweet, please.”
Numerous replies came, and led to finding an aunt of her brother, on his mum's side, who came from Silvia's own town.
Among the aunt's Facebook friends was Joseph, a young man aged nearly 26 who fit the description of Silvia's brother.
Searches on other social networks, such as Instagram, confirmed her suspicions, so she sent him a private message on Facebook.
An extract of the message was shown in an online Spanish newspaper, in which the siblings wrote to each other in English.
It appears Silvia asked Joseph if he had been born in Spain.
“Yeah I was, who is this?” he replied.
To which Silvia responded: “OMG.
“OK, I will be direct.
“I'm your sister, Joseph.
“We have the same father. I know it sounds like a joke, but I've been looking for you for ten years.
“Your aunt Beni is from Espera, near Seville in Spain.”
Joseph answered immediately: “Really!!? I found out about two years ago – I was told I have a brother as well...how old are you?” And, “Yeah, she's the one who told me!”
Since then – barely a week ago – Silvia and Joseph have been chatting online every day, although at the moment, “we've only talked about the day-to-day and he asks me how my day has been,” she explains.
“We haven't gone too deeply into our relationship, but we're both eager to see each other, and he's said that now he has the perfect excuse to come to Spain.”
This said, Joseph has already told Silvia that he has 'started to think about things', and wonders 'what his life would have been like' if he and Silvia had not been separated.
They have agreed to “talk about it in more depth one day when we have more time,” Silvia says.
“Although it's going to be complicated for us to see each other, because of the distance, I'm sure we'll be able to do so because, if I've learnt one thing from this experience, it's that when you put a lot of effort into something, you always achieve it in the end,” says a triumphant Silvia.
Photographs: Joseph (José Carlos Falcón García) as a baby in 1991, and Silvia Falcón now, aged 22, from Silvia's Twitter site, @simelalways
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