Two sisters torn apart by a horrific family murder have been reunited after more than five decades, thanks to a determined search on social media.
A Childhood Shattered by Violence
The lives of Theresa Fazzani, now 59, and her younger sister Janet Brocklhurst, 57, were irrevocably changed in December 1973. As young girls, aged eight and five, they discovered their mother, Helen Barnes, lying dead on her bed in their home in Newport, Wales.
Their father, Malcolm Barnes, told the girls and their two other toddler sisters that their mother was merely sleeping. He then bundled the children into a car and embarked on a five-day drive to John O’Groats in Scotland, a journey that only deepened the trauma.
Five days later, Barnes confessed to murdering Helen with a two-pound hammer. He was sentenced to life in prison but served only nine years. The sisters' world, already broken, was about to be pulled further apart.
Decades of Separation and Loss
In the aftermath, Theresa learned that Malcolm Barnes was actually her stepfather. She was sent to live with her biological father in London, while Janet and the two younger sisters remained together and were later adopted in Wales.
The separation was brutal and final. Theresa was forbidden from contacting her sisters or even speaking about them by a father she describes as "horrible." Janet, now living in Barry Island, recalls being told she would never see Theresa again. "It felt like part of me had been torn away," Janet said.
Both women endured difficult upbringings, haunted by the loss of their mother and each other. For years, fear and anxiety prevented them from searching. Janet carried a heavy burden of guilt, believing Theresa might hate her because it was Janet's father who killed Theresa's mother.
The Facebook Search That Changed Everything
In July 2025, as she approached her 60th birthday, Theresa Fazzani decided she had no more time for regrets. She turned to a Facebook group dedicated to reuniting lost family members.
In a remarkable turn of events, the group's researchers located her sisters in just 48 hours. The emotional reunion that followed has begun to heal wounds that had been open for half a century.
"The first time we met up was so overwhelming, it was like I’d got a missing part of me back," said Theresa, a mental health counsellor from the Isle of Wight. The sisters now visit each other's homes and speak on the phone almost daily.
Together, they are piecing together the fragments of their past, a task made difficult because official files on their case are sealed until 2073. They have only recently visited their mother's grave for the first time, having been barred from attending her funeral as children.
Despite the years of grief and separation, their bond has proven unbreakable. "It feels like a part of you that’s always been missing has been reattached. It’s indescribable," Theresa said. Janet added simply, "My sister found me and she’s totally supportive. It’s been incredible."
