CdA woman solves ancestry puzzle

Heather Livergood was born in a Montana hotel room in 1946 and sold on the black market for $100. Last year she tracked down her birth mother’s family using Ancestry.com and DNA testing, and has recently discovered who her birth father was. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Heather Livergood considered herself lucky when she discovered who her birth mother was last year. She never thought the other half of the mystery – her father’s identity – would be solved so quickly. The Coeur d’Alene woman was sold as a newborn for $100 – one of possibly dozens of babies whose fates were orchestrated by Gertrude Pitkanen, a notorious Montana abortionist and midwife who arranged black market adoptions. No records were kept of who Livergood’s birth parents were, leading her to a 45-year search for where she came from. Last year she tracked down two half-brothers in Utah with the help of a genealogy sleuth and DNA tests, and she learned all about her mother, Violet Weyland Sandberg, who died in 2003 at age 83. That opened up a branch of new relatives and friendships for Livergood, who used to work at Coeur d’Alene High School and Woodland Middle School/ Scott Maben , SR. More here .

Question: What is the biggest mystery in your family tree?