Doncaster woman searching for dad finds sister she never knew existed on Facebook

Rebecca Parton, 21, spent her life growing up believing she was an only child and devoted her days to finding her father.

But she has now discovered that another woman that she met through social media is her sister - and they are now both trying to track down the man who is father to them both.

Rebecca and Lisa Horner, 29, grew up in separate families - with both women believing that they were an only child.

But the pair found each other by chance on Facebook - and discovered they were sisters.

The pair spent years scouring social media in a desperate bid to track down David Martindale - but instead they found each other.

Lisa had not seen her dad, who would now be 49, since she was ten years old, and began searching for him after her 18th birthday.

She left a message on a missing persons website in which she described David and urged people who may know him to get in touch.

The message contained his name, his date of birth and the names of his siblings - but it wasn't until last year that Lisa finally got a reply.

It came from a woman named Sue Parton who said the description of David sounded like the man her granddaughter was looking for.

Sue's granddaughter was Rebecca, who had never known her dad and also began looking for him after her mum Andrea passed away of cancer aged 37.

Lisa was unable to reply to the message on the website, so decided to look for Rebecca on Facebook instead.

After finding and adding her as friend, the pair got chatting and realised they shared the same father and were in fact half-sisters.

And two weeks ago, on September 17, they met each other for the first time after Lisa travelled up to see Rebecca in Doncaster.

Rebeccas said: 'We had a lovely day. We went for a walk around Doncaster and had something to eat and just chatted."

She says she and Lisa now talk 'all the time' and hopes to visit her in Nottingham for the first birthday of her nephew this month.

Mother-of-four Lisa said: 'It's a miracle. I'm made up - I can't believe I found my sister on Facebook.

'I had almost given up hope on the missing persons website but when Sue got in touch I could not believe it.

'I was gutted when I couldn't reply but I began searching for Rebecca as everybody is on Facebook these days. And lo and behold there she was on Facebook, I couldn't believe it.

'I added Rebecca as a friend and I found out she was looking for my dad too and we realised that she could be my sister.'

Rebecca said: ''I always thought I was an only child so to find I have a sister is absolutely amazing. I'm still having to pinch myself, it doesn't seem real.'

After her grandmother Ann passed away in April this year, Lisa decided it was time to find out if she and Rebecca were blood-related.

She added: 'I said to Rebecca: "Listen, we need to do a DNA test." And she agreed with me.'

DNA samples were sent off and an email confirmed that they were in fact half sisters.

The pair met at Doncaster railway station and Rebecca said: 'I was very nervous, so much so that I felt sick. I was sat at the station for a while but what I didn't realise was I was sat next to Lisa's mum.

'It was really exciting though, and so great to find I have more family. We had a lovely day. We went for a walk around Doncaster and had something to eat and just chatted.'

The sisters are still searching for their father and have been in contact with his family, but nobody appears to know his whereabouts.

David had been in a relationship with Lisa's mother Sharon Lincoln, 47, for about three years and Lisa said she only remembers him being around every now and then.

Lisa explained: 'My gran used to say that he'd pop out for a pint of milk and not come back for two weeks.

'He's missing out on his grandchildren growing up and this whole new family. But I am just so happy I got to find the sister I never knew existed.'