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ODESSA Mayers has lived a life marked by heartbreak, loss, abuse and resilience. In an emotionally raw interview with Newsday, the 74-year-old mother of three opened up about her painful past and her decades-long search for a daughter she lost 55 years ago.

Mayers was raised in Barataria by a woman she lovingly called “Aunt Nella,” a relative for whom she remains deeply grateful. By age 16, she was living with Aunt Nella and her mother in Laventille when she became pregnant for the first time. She gave birth to a son in 1968 at the Port of Spain General Hospital.

Though her pregnancy was relatively easy, thanks in part to Aunt Nella’s guidance, the aftermath of her son’s birth remains a haunting mystery.