Now that they've found each other, the children of Dennis Jay Darr suspect there may be a couple more siblings to find.
"My mom always knew there were other, older children," Michelle said. "When she found out about Marcella, who is just a few months older than me, we left."
Michelle Yost's mother moved from Indiana in 1977, leaving her husband, Darr, who had interests elsewhere.Eventually, Michelle's mother remarried. Michelle and her brother, Michael, didn't really think about their Indiana family or their father.
"He's in and out of prison, currently residing in Pendleton Penitentiary," Michelle said. "I met him in 1993, in jail. He had no idea who I was. I had pictures of my mom and that convinced him."
Expecting her own first child, a letter from Peggy Zimmerman of Illinois in April 1998, surprised Michelle.
Peggy introduced herself as the oldest sibling, one of 10 sisters and one brother, all children of Darr.
"She thought it would be good to know our names," Michelle said.
Michelle let the matter drop until last year when she started to fit bits of information together, started making telephone calls, and eventually traveled to Indiana for a reunion.
"We want to find everyone," said Michelle, the middle child.
Marcella "Marcy" Guise, Michelle's elder by a few months, said she always knew about other brothers and sisters because her mom knew about them.
"I knew about Billie and Lisa when they were babies," Marcy said, "but I lost track of them. I was just a child then, too."
Near as the women can figure, Darr married and divorced Peggy Zimmerman and Bill Fredericks' mother. They are the two oldest children.
He may have married the mother of Toni Annjanette Ryall and Donna Jean Darr. Eventually, they both were adopted. Michelle can't find Toni and Donna Jean, so she cannot confirm a marriage.
Darr wasn't married to Marcella's mother, because, well, he was married to Michelle and Michael's mother at the time.
He lived with Billie Marter and Lisa Ray's mother for five years. The couple had a stillborn son, Jason Mast.
The three youngest sisters the sisters know about are Joni, Angel Ann and Heather.
Last summer Michelle met Billie, Joni and Lisa in Delphi, Ohio.
She stayed at a hotel in Warsaw and met the rest of her sisters and a brother. Their grandmother, Donna Bell Darr of Syracuse, also received a visit.
The Darr children all have one odd-shaped ear and cowlicks in the same place. Half of them have dark brown hair, the rest have light brown hair, the sisters reported. Four have hazel eyes, the others have brown eyes. Billie, Joni and Heather look alike.
