ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - After 50 years of searching, and with a lot of help from her granddaughter, Betty Morrell has finally met her 96-year-old birth mother.

She also has forged a close friendship with a sister she never knew she had.Morrell, of Spring Hill, Florida, flew to Binghamton, New York, last month to meet Lena Pierce, who as a 13-year-old mother was forced to relinquish her baby girl for adoption in 1933.Pierce, now living in Hallstead, Pennsylvania, says it was a joy to meet the child she had called Eva May after all these years.Morrell also met her 65-year-old sister, Minnie Hawk, who lives near Binghamton.Morrell credits her granddaughter Kimberly Miccio's dogged persistence via the Internet for connecting her with her birth family.