Lana, her twin sister Lara, and their younger brother, Tomi were separated from their mother 6 years ago and they have no idea where she has gone. Prior to their separation, their parents amicably divorced, and while it was Lana and her siblings desire to remain in the care of their mother, Snjezana, they had no idea the long road they had ahead of them. After the divorce, Snjez moved the kids from Pennsylvania down to Savannah, GA while their father moved to Iowa. Their new life started out well, but the responsibility of affording a home and raising five children ultimately became too great of a burden for Snjez to handle. The children lived through poverty, their mother’s drug use, and eventually they were taken away and placed with their father. Their mother remained in contact for a short time, but eventually the phone calls stopped and they haven’t heard from her since. They have nothing but worry for their mother because they don’t know if she is homeless or even alive.  No matter the hardships they faced because of their mother, their reality is that the good memories they have outweigh the bad.  They remember how their mother was the most loving, gentle, and kind person that they have ever known; and it’s their wish for Troy to help them find her because they want her to know that she deserves a second chance.

The Searchers- Lana, Lara, and Tomi - seeking their mother- The Mikula siblings have spent their teen years wondering if they could have done something different to help their mother. After Social Services stepped in and awarded custody to their father, the children spent days that would eventually turn into years without even a phone call from Snjez. Lana remembers the last time she saw her mom and it was heartbreaking because she felt in her heart the finality of it all. Because all of their childhood pictures and memories were left behind, the hardest part about not seeing their mother has been their fear of forgetting her. Throughout the years, everyone has encouraged them to forget her, telling them that Snjez doesn’t care, but Lana, Lara, and Tomi refuse to believe that.  They don’t know what circumstances were laid out in front of her that made it so that she couldn’t be with them, but no matter the cost, they refuse to give up on finding their mother.

The Searchee- Snjezana – Lana, Lara, and Tomi’s mother -Snjezana is originally from Croatia. She then moved to the United States where she fell in love, married, and had Lana, Lara, Tomi and her 2 other children in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately her American Dream was crushed when her marriage ended in divorce. While trying to overcome the devastation of losing her husband, Snjez was also trying to navigate through her new life as a single mom.  Everything seemed manageable until she lost her job.  She and the kids moved from their nice house to smaller place which came with a bad crowd and environment.  Snjez eventually fell into drug addiction which ended up costing her everything, including her children.  For the past 2 years, Snjez has been working on staying clean and getting back to the woman she used to be.  In all these years she has always thought about her children, but was too afraid to reach out to them because she felt that if she couldn’t come back into their lives “perfect” then they might not want her back.  Snjez couldn’t be more relieved that her children have come looking for her and even though she is nervous, she is ready to hold them again and take this second chance.