Niles man finds birth mother then helps her find long lost sister

NILES, Mich.--- A man from Niles found his birth mother last year, and then helped her find her long lost sister. John Boston II was adopted shortly after his birth and spent the next three decades trying to find his birth mother, Janet Simmons.

"Search Angel reached out and said ‘I think with the information we have I could help you find your biological mother,’," said Boston. "Within a few hours she found her! I reached out and my biological mother is Janet."

Boston and Simmons finally met in 2020 and began building a relationship. It was through this connection that Boston learned that Simmons was also adopted and hadn't seen her birth sisters in 50 years.

"Just about two months ago [John] reached back out and said ‘Mom, I think I found your sisters,’," said Simmons. "I was praising God. I said ‘Really?’."

Using the same Ancestry.com test, Boston was able to connect Simmons with Jessica Deruiter and Julie Lakenen, who happened to be the daughters of Simmons's sister, Tammy in 2019.

"The same day we opened the account, Janet had messaged and said ‘This is who I am, I’m looking for my sisters Tammy and Kim,' said Deruiter. 

Simmons learned that her other sister, Kimberly was living in Michigan. Boston arranged for the two to meet face to face for the first time on Friday in Niles.

"As of yesterday was the first time we actually got to hold each one another after 50 years," said Simmons. "I live in Tennessee so I plan on coming to Michigan a little more often now to spend with my family."