CLEVELAND — What started out as a small Facebook group roughly a decade ago has exploded into an internet sensation that is now helping adoptees and their loved ones locate their birth parents and reconnect with their biological families across the world.
It's called "Search Squad".
Search Squad has changed the lives of tens of thousands of people.
A several decades-long family mystery about one Cleveland man's grandmother's birth mother was solved in just two hours.
It's all thanks to the group and the "Search Angels" behind it.
The result is bringing overwhelming emotion to everyone.
"Whenever anything happens in my life, I wish I could talk to my Grandma," Charlie Olivo of Cleveland said.
Olivo says he longs for the days when he could sit with his grandma Grace at her kitchen table one more time.
She was his confidant, his best friend, and never judged him or who he loved.
"She was always supportive of me, and she even knew before I did," Olivo said.
As a now 33-year-old, Olivo still cherishes each and every one of her mementos.
This includes the colorful blanket she crocheted for him.
"I remember getting it when I was like nine, and I was like why did you put all of these colors together?" Olivo said.
Her huge collection of marbles and her brushes from when they painted ceramics together are prized possessions.
"The mug kinda shows the personality," Olivo said.
After suffering a few strokes and battling the end stages of COPD, she passed away in 2006.
For years, Olivo was left wanting to know more about her family history—especially since she was adopted a few days after she was born in Beaumont, Texas back in 1926.
Her adoptive father's work in the oil fields would result in several stops across the south until she finally moved to Cleveland and settled in.
"I could tell just by the memories I have of her... Speaking about it. That she had a voice. She always wanted to know where she came from and who her parents were," Olivo said.
Olivo ultimately got a DNA test and researched, but he ran into multiple dead ends for years.
One day while scrolling on Facebook back in 2021, someone mentioned the group "Search Squad".
The page was created to help adopted children and families reunite with their birth families.
Olivo was ultimately connected with a Search Angel by the name of Debb Partridge.
She took down his grandma's information and immediately got to work.
"We had to actually look back at like second and third cousins. So, it's just a lot of numbers and building family trees. And then once we get the names, you start looking. You do the traditional sleuthing," Partridge said.
Within two hours of messaging Partridge, a 90-plus-year mystery was solved instantly.
Partridge's sleuthing and gift of tracing family trees helped him find a match.
"I was just balling in my bedroom and my husband was like... What is going on? And I was like I gotta go," Olivo said.
Partridge found Olivo's grandmother's birth record and biological mother's name.
Even though her adoptive parents named her Grace, they kept her first name "Geraldine".
This was an important clue in finding her birth mother and confirming that the record was correct.
"This shows that Geraldine Landry---she was the only Geraldine born in Jefferson County on 10-6-26," Olivo said.
Olivo and his family found relatives in the south.
They shared pictures online.
He discovered his grandmother had a sister that looked just like her though they never met.
She had a younger brother too.
Olivo's grandmother was certain that she was French because of her great style and 800 DNA matches in southern Louisiana and Texas confirmed that.
The experience inspired Olivo to further carry on her legacy and celebrate the little things in life.
"I just miss her a lot. And I hope she would know how influential and impactful she was," Olivo said.
Search Squad on Facebook is 100% free.
It is a private group so you need to submit a request.
Olivo says the key to finding matches is to do some other sort of Ancestry DNA background kit or something similar.
It makes it easier to find matches for the Search Angels.
You must provide the full name and date of birth for yourself or your loved one.
Bonnie Holly started the group about a decade ago and acts as one of the page administrators.
It currently has more than 120,000 members.
One hundred fifty search angels find the matches.
They say It's all about giving back and reuniting loved ones.
With adoption records opening up in more and more states, it's making the process easier than ever before.
The link to Search Squad can be found here.
