Bittersweet Reunion
A December warehouse fire that killed six firefighters in Worcester, Mass., has forever changed the lives of a family hundreds of miles away in Ellsworth, Maine.
Tim King, Ellsworth's city manager, had been following coverage of the fire in The Boston Globe when he read about a young, pregnant homeless woman who had been accused of accidentally starting the fire.
It was a picture of the woman, one of two people arrested in connection with the fatal blaze, that caught his eye.
"I said, 'That looks just like our daughter, Jennifer,'" King told CBS Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson Wednesday morning. "I said that if it hadn't been for Debb's intervention in adopting Jennifer, that could very easily have been our daughter."
His wife, Debb, had the information that would link their daughter with the girl in the picture. Debb, who had adopted Jennifer when she was 3, knew Jennifer had come from the Worcester area, had biological siblings and that her mother's name was Evelyn Barnes.
The girl in the photo was named Julie Barnes and the story referred to her mother, Evelyn.
"As a child, Julie came to my home with her sister, Jennifer," Debb said. I got to work with the family and to talk with them. And so when I saw the picture, there was no doubt in my mind who it was."
After they had confirmed that Julie, 19, and Jennifer were indeed sisters, they began to work on reuniting the two young women and on helping Julie get out of jail and start a new life.
Julie and Thomas Levesque, 22 years her senior, were arrested three days after the fire on the reports of witnesses who saw them leaving the burning building. Police say the homeless couple had been spending the night in Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. and knocked over a candle during an argument, starting the deadly blaze.
Bail was initially set at $1 million each and has been reduced to $75,000 for Julie and $250,000 for Levesque.
The Kings visited Julie in jail so that the sisters could be reunited.
"We were concerned that Julie might not want us there," Debb said, "but she looked at Jennifer and gave her a great big hug. Then, she gave us each a hug."
Debb said that Julie knows that she is in a lot of trouble but that she doesn't really understand the magnitude of what she's accused of doing.
The family really didn't talk much about Julie's trouble during the visit.
"We didn't think it was appropos to talk about it," Debb said. We wanted to keep the meeting upbeat."
Instead, they talked about the birth of Julie's baby, due in a little more than a month, Julie's daily routine in jail, and the family's efforts to get Julie released.
The Kings wanted to give Julie a little of the love and opportunity they have given Jennifer.
"I immediately had a bond with her when I saw her picture," King said. "It was a transfer of the love I have for my daughter to Jlie. My wife and I discussed it and we knew the ramifications might be not good if we went public. But we just agreed it was the right thing to do."
They have set up the Julie Fund in Maine to raise money for bail. So far, they have collected $1, 200 with pledges for $12,000 more. They a are hoping to take Julie back to Maine with them, get her services she needs and give her another chance at getting her life back together.
The Kings realize that their efforts might not meet with approval in Worcester, which has been saddened by the tragedy. The six fallen firefighters left behind a total of 17 children and the community has galvanized to help those children and their widowed mothers.
But the Kings say they have been surprised by the reaction.
"People have been overwhelmingly sympathetic," King said."They have been overwhelmingly nice. We have gotten numerous letters and phone calls."
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