Social media has many downsides including giving one serious FOMO and anxiety about life. It’s hard not to feel left out when your friends post a fun picture of them hanging out without inviting you. Despite its drawbacks, social media can also be a useful tool. One Facebook group made up of self-declared search angels utilizes its power to help families reunite after life events, such as adoption, separate them.
The Search Squad Facebook group has helped create many happy reunions. Volunteers give their time because of the work’s rewarding nature. Everyone love a good puzzle and a happy ending.
These problem-solving volunteers do not charge for their services. Their reward is the thousands of people they have helped learn more about themselves. An even better bonus is when new relationships and forever families are formed.
Bonnie Holley, the group’s founder, would never have predicted how successful this group would be when she began it 10 years ago. “I had no idea when we made the group that it was going to be such a need out there," she stated. The group solves around 100 cases a month.
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Kathey Williams, another group member, explained why people volunteer for the group. "We do what we do because it’s a passion and because we love people. But we also have that side of us that we just love a good puzzle,” she reveals.
“You know, we don’t go to the store and buy crossword puzzles. We’re doing people puzzles," she mused. The group is using its powers for good and according to Kathey it is the "the most rewarding experience."
One of the many people the group has helped is Nadine Cardinale. All she wanted for Mother’s Day was to know who her dad was. She had suffered a heart attack in her 40s and wanted to know more about her family health history. She also longed for more but did not want to get her hopes up.
Nadine was raised by her birth mom and always wanted to know who her dad was. It only took the Search Squad days to crack the case. Her father is named Walt Pontious and he agreed to meet her.
"Soon as he said he wanted to meet, I think I flew down my basement stairs and told my husband: 'Oh my God he wants to meet!’" Nadine recalls. "I was super excited.”
Walt describes meeting Nadine as "when you go home from the hospital with with a little kid in your arms and your life has changed." The pair hit it off instantly and confirmed their relationship with a paternity test. Nadine got more than just health information. "I got a lifetime of love from my dad," she stated.
Debb Partridge, the search angel on this case, says every time she looks a picture of the father/daughter pair "heart just smiles." She is so happy for them. "It’s just so rewarding," she gushes.
