TV show finds Tulare woman's sisters

Published online on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009

At age 66, Sandra Peterson of Tulare learned that she had two sisters she never knew existed. She praised both God and "The Locator" TV show, which reunites lost relatives.

Hours after hearing the news, Peterson dialed a phone number.

"This is your sister, Sandra Jean," she said nervously.

"Sandra Jean!" yelled Connie Rogers, 64, of Lincoln City, Ore., who had been tipped by the reality TV show to expect a call. "Oh my God, you're the long-lost sister! I have been looking for you for so long!"

That day, Rogers started driving to California for a face-to-face visit. A second sister, Tammy Dean, 65, of Thompson Falls, Mont., visits this week.

Peterson, who grew up in Kingsburg, always knew she was adopted from a Los Angeles orphanage by the late Oscar and Mary Hammarsten, who she speaks of adoringly.

But she always wanted to find her natural parents.

"If you're adopted, it's a piece of the puzzle," she said.

A friend told her about "The Locator." The show charged a $660 fee, but it paid off. On Sept. 1, she got a call from the show with information. Her natural parents were no longer living. The good news: She has two sisters.

"Really!" said Peterson, astounded.

Rogers arrived from Oregon on Sept. 2, when Peterson was in the hospital for prearranged surgery. No matter -- Rogers walked into the hospital room and they bonded immediately. She literally climbed into the bed with Peterson.

"It was like I knew her," Peterson said. "She wasn't a stranger or anything."

It turns out they both share a love of animals -- Peterson owns the Bar-S-Belgians horse-drawn carriage business -- and both paint their toenails hot pink. Everyone tells them they look like sisters. They made up for the lost years with an old-fashioned pillow fight.

Peterson has spoken with her sister in Montana and -- small world -- was amazed to recognize the name of Dean's husband. Years ago, they crossed paths at mule shows.

Peterson is still piecing together her family history, but it appears that her mother, then 22, wasn't ready for motherhood in the difficult war years. Her father, who was in the Army, had written to the Veterans Administration in an attempt to claim the toddler daughter he never saw, but she didn't see that letter for more than half a century.

Tammy, born a year later, was raised by an aunt. Connie was raised by the girls' mother and a stepfather.

Peterson's story has yet to be told on "The Locator," and she's unsure if it will be. The show runs on WE tv, a cable TV channel that airs women's interest shows.

Nevertheless, "It's been a whirlwind, and it's working into a tornado," she said.