MySpace Enables Mom, Daughter Reunion

(CBS)  Fifteen years ago, Stephanie Lovatos' two-year-old daughter, Celina Aquirie, disappeared with Celina's father.

Lovatos says she never stopped searching for Celina, but it wasn't until late last month that she found her, through a popular teen Web site, MySpace.com.

The site is frequently in the news as a place where child predators try to find victims, but the case of Lovatos and Celina is very different.

The two had an emotional reunion Friday night at San Francisco International Airport.

"It's been an amazing time for me," Celina told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Wednesday. "I never thought this day would happen, and it's just wonderful to be sitting next to her right now."

Earlier, Lovatos told CBS News, "The clock couldn't move fast enough," in the airport, as she awaited Celina's arrival. "I was going toward the gate, looking, watching the clock. They were the longest minutes of my life. Then, I started feeling the reaction. … 'Oh, my God.' I was never so terrified. I was hyperventilating. I was a wreck."

Lovatos gave birth to Celina in Maui, Hawaii in May of 1989. She had shared custody with her boyfriend, but left him for a new life in California in 1991, taking Celina with her.

When Lovatos couldn't find a home she considered suitable for her and the toddler, she asked the boyfriend in Maui to care for Celina temporarily.

The boyfriend and his new wife left Maui, without telling Lovatos. It turned out that they moved to Florida, and told Celina the boyfriend's wife was her mother.

It was only when Celina stumbled on her birth certificate when she was 13 that she learned the truth.

All that time, says Lovatos, she was desperately trying to find her daughter.

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