SISTERS who were adopted as toddlers were emotionally reunited after 42 years thanks to a Facebook group set up in Barnsley.
Jaki Pepper and Sheree Hall were both born in Lundwood but put up for adoption as babies by their mother Jacqueline who was ill.
But they met up after Jaki last year contacted the Facebook group 'Looking for people living in, or from Barnsley' and was astonished when founder Jake Neilson had tracked Sheree down within an hour.
Jaki, 42, of Greenwood Avenue, Worsbrough, said she had always wanted to find Sheree - who was born Darlene Kelly - but had not wanted to upset her adoptive parents.
She said: "It was amazing and so emotional. We hugged and cried and then we talked about anything and everything."I was so nervous about meeting up with her, I can't really explain it - I had thought about her for 42 years."
The sisters had known each other existed but were fostered by families who went on to adopt them.
They later discovered they had grown up only five miles apart - Jaki in Worsbrough and Sheree in Mapplewell.
Jaki joined the Facebook group in October not even knowing Sheree's birth name, let alone that she had changed her name, and was amazed when founder Jake Neilson came back with Sheree's address in Harrogate.
Jake, 36, of Larch Place, Kendray, said he set the group up because he liked helping people.
People can get in touch with him, and he uses the electoral register to track down their relatives or friends. So far he was reunited three people, including Jaki and Sheree, 44.
He added: "I absolutely love it, I find it very interesting and just like helping people. There are 97 members in the group and it is growing but I'm really pleased with the success I've had."
