MyFamily.com, Inc., owner of several Web sites, including "Ancestry.com," announced that it has completed the acquisition of BigHugs.com, one of the most widely recognized people-finder services in the United States. According to an announcement from MyFamily.com, BigHugs, based in Ft. Myers, Florida, has been perfecting family locator investigative research for the past twelve years. Specializing in live family reunions on broadcast television, BigHugs has reunited thousands of loved ones on hundreds of television shows over the past decade. Most recently, on the December 6th broadcast of 48 Hours Investigates, this top-rated CBS television network program featured the story of an emotional family reunion uncovered by BigHugs. "Our business is centered on connecting and strengthening families," said Tom Stockham, president and chief executive officer of MyFamily.com, Inc. BigHugs is a great addition to our service offering. By integrating the BigHugs people-finder service with the outstanding family history and private family website products already offered through the MyFamily network of websites, our ability to help people connect with their living relatives, friends, and loved ones increases, and we extend our brand to millions of consumers in the offline world." The acquisition of BigHugs also brings additional leadership in the form of BigHugs founder, Troy Dunn, who pioneered the process of searching for living family members online and also developed a proprietary process for generating national media exposure. Dunn's new role at MyFamily will be vice president of media relations. He will also assist in the development of new services to help people search for living loved ones. You can read the full announcement at:(URL is 2-3 lines, make sure you get it all) http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories pl?ACCT=147509&TICK=MYFAM&STORY=/www/story/12-09-2002/0001854180&EDATE=Dec+9 +2002 The following article is from Eastmans Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2002 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.RootsForum.com. Sally Rolls Pavia Sun City, AZ [email protected] List Owner: [email protected] "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup." All incoming and outgoing email checked by Norton Anti-Virus 2002