Neighbors Learn They're Long-Lost Siblings

(CBS)  It's not unusual for neighbors to become friends.

It is unusual when those friends turn out to be -- siblings.

Jamie Wheat, 32, was given up for adoption by 16-year-old JoEllen Cottrell when he was born at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana in 1977. She eventually moved to Missouri and had three daughters.

"My girls always knew they had a brother," JoEllen says.

But what no one could have ever imagined how close he was to one of the sisters, by pure chance.

One of them, Candace Eloph, had been living in Shreveport, La. -- right across the street from Wheat.

They say they were just sitting and talking one day when the realization began to set in that they might be brother and sister.

Candace said she had a brother who was adopted, whose mother had red hair and was 16 when she gave birth to Candace's brother on an Air Force Base. As those and other amazing coincidences piled up, the two began to feel in their hearts they were indeed siblings - but had DNA testing to be sure.

The tests were conclusive. And positive.

And JoEllen was reunited with the son she'd given up 32 years ago.

"I feel like a weight has been lifted off me," Jamie says.

JoEllen says she's thinking of moving back to Louisiana to be with her kids.

Jamie, Candace and JoEllen all told the story on The Early Show Friday:

[Dgunner]

I once myself had a lost sibling. However the mailman gave him directions to our new house.Her we go another trip to the mall .

[aka_KJB]

The real idiots here are the ones that snapped up slapula's troll bait without engaging their own brains first. This is an interesting story of sheer coincidence and, FWIW, I'd rather she gave a kid up for adoption than try to raise it in a possibly bad situation at the time. Of course, Slappy's folks might be thinking of a retroactive abortion right about now....

[ROBACA]

Hey count_slapula how did you come into being? Apparently you had a mother and a father also so your comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. All babies are created one way, it takes a male and a female. Two males can't reproduce and neither can two females. If you had watched the clip you would see that she was forced to give her child up at such a young age.

[TheTruthDetective]

Hey count_slapula, it is obvious that you are a gay demon so just go ahead and tell your gay kids the same thing your parents told you.........."get out of my house because you will burn in hell" that is what you tell your imaginary children you immoral, not able to reproduce demon.

[bckytx]

To: count_slapula

Are you serious or are you just trying to instigate an argument? So it is ok for you to trash-talk about straight ppl, but it is not ok for straight ppl to trash-talk gays? That is the same thing as reverse-racism.

[count_slapula]

This is why heterosexuality is wrong. Neighbors who don't know they're siblings because heteros are so irresponsible with their reproductive organs.

What am I supposed to tell my gay children? Heterosexuality is sick.