Woman Discovers Her Long-Lost Brother is in Jail for Murder
Most of the reunion stories we share end in joyous connections and moments of happiness, but not all reunions culminate in happy endings. For Natasha, finding her brother was all she could think about for 20 years. She never imagined that when she discovered his picture online, she would be looking at his mugshot.
Natasha last saw her brother in 1981. She and her brother were forced in foster care when their mother died of a drug overdose and their father went to jail. Unfortunately, the siblings were separated and never saw each other again.
Natasha was too young to know she had a brother at the time of her adoption. She grew up thinking she was an only child. But at 10 years old, Natasha stumbled upon some official documents that unveiled a shocking secret.
“It had documents stamped social services,” Natasha said. “One had details about my parents. Another referred to my brother. It was the first time I knew that I had one.”
Natasha’s adoptive parents gave her a letter from her birth father. The letter read, “You and your brother were dearly loved and wanted. We wanted a better start for you.”
Natasha immediately felt connected to the family she never remembered. She carried around photos of her brother and father with her at all times hoping to reconnect with them.
“I knew by my dad’s name he was Turkish and had once lived in Bedfordshire. I hoped he would lead me to my brother,” she said.
Natasha was on a mission to find her birth family. She frequented Turkish run businesses and researched numerous phone books looking for any clues.
In 2003, she found her father and the two shared a heartfelt reunion. Natasha’s father asked her where her brother was and Natasha realized her father had no idea the siblings were separated.
“He sobbed when I told him who I was,” Natasha said. “Then he asked if I was with my brother. I told him we were separated and he screamed: ‘I told them not to’.”
Father and daughter were now vigilant about tracking down Morgan Schulz, the missing member of the family. They discovered from the original social worker handling the adoption that Morgan, then Laurence, moved to the US. Natasha began her incessant searching again, spending hours upon hours on social media sites and calling many strangers.
Natasha’s father eventually found his son’s image online on a website he had not expected. The website listed mugshots of people convicted of crimes. Natasha would soon come to grips with the fact that her long lost brother was in prison for life. There it was right before her eyes, Morgan Schulz, Prisoner 179611, convicted of murder and sentenced to 99 years in jail for strangling a drug dealer.
“I struggled to take it in when I saw his prison mugshot and just froze,” says Natasha. “His piercing green eyes were the same as mine and he was the image of my dad.
The mother of two was heartbroken at the news. “My heart broke when I realized he was inside,” says Natasha.
Natasha went forward with her plans to contact her brother even though he was in prison for murder. She sent him a long letter.
Morgan replied immediately and said that he was afraid she would never contact him.
“It’s not how I wanted our relationship to be,” says Natasha. “But I was never going to walk away after a lifetime of searching.”
Natasha has bonded with her brother and plans on visiting him in person at the Minnesota Correctional Facility.
“My friends say I’m crazy and should walk away, but I can’t,” says Natasha. “He might be a murderer but he’s still my brother. He’s the missing part in my life. I write to him every other day and we speak on the phone. We’re best friends.”