Laura Gooder was separate from her husband, Eric Nielson. He took their daughter for an overnight visit and never returned. That was 1976 and it was Mother’s Day.

Laura Gooder kept on hoping for her daughters return, but the authorities turned up nothing. She kept waiting for the phone call that never came. 30 years passed and she still held on to a glimmer of hope.

Nielson told his daughter that her mother had been killed in a car accident. He changed their last name to make it harder for authorities to find them. Thinking her mother was dead, she lived her life. She’s now 31 and has a family of her own. Her father is in prison for unrelated charges.

On Saturday, Laura Gooder found a police officer at her door. She was in disbelief when he relayed his news. They had found her daughter–alive and well.

Eric Nielson has been charge with kidnapping. Mother and daughter have yet to have their reunion. Genevieve is in shock. She has spent the last 30 years thinking her mother was dead. She now has to deal with the fact that her father lied and that she has a whole other family out in Michigan.

Laura Gooder may never forget Mother’s Day 1976. She can at least replace it with the joy of Mother’s Day 2006.