A mum has revealed how she was snared in her desperate search to reconnect with her daughter by a catfish.
The only thing Sian Williams had left of her estranged daughter, Tilly*, was a photograph.
She 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.
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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.
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, told Need To Know.
“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.
“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 on the adoption contact register in 2024.
It took seven years since the initial aforementioned post on Facebook until she was offered a glimpse of hope.
The woman, who was called Cindy*, said she had four children.
Sian, excited, tried to make amends in a bid to have her daughter back – and to see her grandkids.
She said: “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 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 on to video calls, including with her so-called grandchildren.
And Cindy started confiding in her real mum, revealing that her boyfriend was abusive and had taken her kids to see Jessica’s killer in prison.
Sian, desperate not to let history repeat itself, sent her £150 so she could leave him.
In October 2025, she drove four hours to meet Cindy – Tilly – for the first time in person since she was taken away.
Growing closer, Sian packed up and moved down the road to be close to her family.
She also took herself off the register.
Everything appeared to be falling into place, until a message popped up from another woman.
Sian said: “It read 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 said: “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 still continues for Tilly, though she won’t be made a fool of again.
She added: “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.
“And when I try to picture Tilly’s face, all I can see is Cindy’s cruel face grinning back at me.”
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