WHEN Sian Williams received a message from a woman named Cindy she believed that it was the end to her years of searching.
Until that point all she had left of her estranged daughter Tilly* had been a photograph, but now Cindy* claimed to be her flesh and blood.
8
8
Tilly had been taken into foster care when she was just six months old; but it wasn’t because of the now 57-year-old’s actions.
Her ex-partner, Timothy Jenkins, who was 19 at the time, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter in relation to Sian’s five-year-old daughter, Jessica, in October 1996.
While Tilly was housed elsewhere, the stay-at-home mum was able to see her little girl on supervised visits until the age of two, when she was adopted.
Despite receiving photos and updates; this all came to an end when she turned 18 – and Sian lost contact completely.
Read More of Real Lives
CATFISH HELL
Woman stopped in street by men who thought they were in relationship with her
CAUGHT OUT
Watch catfish’s plot unravel as he returns to dating app after 7 stints in jail
8
8
Until one day, when a message on Facebook popped up claiming to be Tilly; or so the mum-of-four believed.
“I had posted on Facebook adoption groups, desperate to find my daughter,” Sian, from Pembrokeshire, says.
“I included her birth name and date of birth in the hopes it would reach the right person
“With no luck, I accepted I’d never see her again – but then my phone pinged.
Most read in Fabulous
CHEST NOT OK
My boobs looked like deflated balloons after I lost 9st – I gasped at hol pic
MYSTIC MEG
Your big personality is on show which may win you admirers
SWING & A KISS
I went inside the wild Naughty Norfolk’s swingers event near royal estate
TV TURNAROUND
I was a heroin addict on Jeremy Kyle… now I’m happy, married & unrecognisable
“The person messaging me relayed Tilly’s correct date of birth and I truly thought I had found my little girl.”
Sian, who went on to have two other daughters during her search, had also registered her name onto the adoption contact register in 2024.
It took seven years since the initial post on Facebook until she was offered a glimpse of hope.
The woman, who was called Cindy*, seemed to be the woman Sian had been searching for.
8
8
Sian, excited, tried to make amends in a bid to have her daughter back – and to see her grandkids as Cindy claimed to have four children of her own.
She says: “I sent her every picture I had kept of Tilly so she could confirm that it was her.
“She sent me selfies, comparing them to her baby pictures, and I thought I could spot the resemblance.
“When she offered to do a DNA test, I was certain there were no games being played; but then she changed her mind.
“Not wanting to push her away, I dropped it.”
Soon, the pair moved onto video calls where Cindy introduced her children too.
According to Sian, Cindy then claimed to have an abusive boyfriend.
Sian, desperate to not let history repeat itself, sent her £150 so she could leave him.
8
8
And in October 2025, she drove four hours to meet Cindy for the first time in person since her daughter was adopted at the age of two.
Growing closer, Sian packed up and moved down the road to be close with her family.
She also took herself off the adoption contact register believing she had finally found the real Tilly.
Everything appeared to be falling into place; until a message popped up from another woman.
Sian says: “It said that Cindy wasn’t my real daughter – and that she had done this before.
“My stomach dropped.
“I didn’t believe this could be true.
“When I confronted Cindy, she told me to block the woman.
“But then two others came forward.
“I sent one final message asking Cindy to own up and tell the truth.
“Her reply came quickly: ‘I’m really sorry, I wanted to have a mum, someone who put me first. I never had that.’
“I felt physically sick.”
Suddenly, Sian started to put the pieces together.
She says: “Cindy only knew Tilly’s date of birth as I had posted about it.
“She knew I would never follow through with pushing for a DNA test in case it risked my relationship with her.
“And her abusive boyfriend? I doubt he was real, so £150 went down the drain.”
After a year of waiting, Sian is now applying to go back onto the adoption contact register.
Her search for Tilly continues, though she insists she won’t be made a fool of again.
She adds: “I shudder when I think of how I told Cindy everything about my life.
“I’m terrified that if the real Tilly comes forward that I won’t believe her.
“It’s completely destroyed my trust in people.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
“And when I try to picture Tilly’s face, all I can see is Cindy’s cruel face grinning back at me.”
*Tilly and Cindy’s names have been changed