Woman Learns She's Daughter of Man with 'Swiss Family Robinson' Connection — and Finds Sister! (Exclusive)

Charmaine Powder tells PEOPLE how she discovered the truth about her father and built a relationship with a sister she never knew she had

For much of her life, a Georgia woman had no clue who her real father actually was. Now, she’s exclusively telling PEOPLE about how her efforts to uncover the mystery also ended up leading her to a sister she never knew existed.

Charmaine Powder was born in September 1960 on the Caribbean island of Trinidad but was raised by her mother, Enid Grant-Heady (Taylor), and grandmother in Tobago.

The 62-year-old author tells PEOPLE she spent much of her childhood looking at photographs taken while film crews were shooting portions of the 1960 Disney classic Swiss Family Robinson in Tobago.

Little did Powder know that one of the men frequently featured in the photos was actually her father, Cyril "Cid" Thawley, who worked on the production of the film as its main rigger.

"My entire life was almost a secret growing up because a lot of people knew about what happened, except me," she says.

Powder sought "concrete answers" about her father as a young girl but oftentimes hit dead ends. Her mother moved to the United States when Powder was 6 years old and didn't return until she was a teenager.

Initially, Powder believed her stepfather was her biological father. But it wasn't until she went on a trip to visit him in Puerto Rico that she noticed her stepfather treated her differently than her older siblings.

Powder expressed her emotions about the situation in a handwritten letter, which she asked her grandmother to mail to her stepdad.

Years later, Powder found out that her grandmother had actually mailed the letter to Enid, who was still living in the U.S. at the time.

"She was telling my mom, 'See? You need to tell this child what's going on,'" Powder says.

After returning to Tobago, Enid told then-14-year-old Powder that the man she believed to be her father was not.

But Powder didn't learn her real father's identity right away. In fact, the author says she never brought up the subject again until her daughter Siobhan, now 35, was born in 1988, and doctors asked about her biological father's medical history.

Related: Woman Stolen from Biological Family at Birth Meets Sibling for First Time: 'This Is Definitely My Sister!'

Then she learned that the man in the photos, whom she'd asked about for years, was indeed her father.

Enid said she and Cid met while Disney was filming Swiss Family Robinson in 1959 and they "hooked up" while he was there. Powder was born nine months after a large going away party was held for the film's crew.

"I was in total shock," says Powder. "Like, flabbergasted."

But beyond Cid's nickname and birthdate, Enid didn't know much about the man. She knew he had separated from his wife, with whom he had a daughter, but she worried he may have died when Powder was about 2 years old, as that's when she lost contact with him.

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But Powder was determined to find her father. She did all she could to track down information about her father — even contacting one of the actors from the film.

Despite constantly hitting dead ends, Powder says she never stopped looking for him. Then finally, Powder made contact with a Disney expert who was preparing to publish a book about the behind-the-scenes work at the company.

The expert was able to tell Powder her father's official name and share detailed information about the family photos featuring her father.

"I would literally be bawling as he was telling me this stuff, because everything was coming to life," Powder says. "My father seemed real now."

Related: Woman Finds Biological Father in Nursing Home 56 Years After Adoption — And Now She Cares for Him

Shortly before her book was published in 2020, Powder's son stumbled upon a three-hour interview her father had done in March 1996 — when Powder was 36 years old.

At first, Powder was in disbelief. After realizing they couldn't play the interview, Powder asked to have it digitized, a process that took more than a year to complete.

Powder was at a hospital in Atlanta for her friend's surgery when she received an email containing the interview. Her husband, Keith Ross Powder, offered to listen to it first and quickly came upon a key clip that confirmed Cid had been in Tobago to film Swiss Family Robinson.

"I leaned out the window and lost it," Powder says. "Like, I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm mad, I'm glad, I'm furious — like, all the emotions are just raging through me."

Powder then passed out from the stress. When she came to, she had no memory of being at the hospital or hearing the recording. "It was so scary," she recalls. "It was the worst experience of my life."

Related: Woman Who Always Wanted 'Older Sibling' Learns She Has Sister — and Their Boyfriends Are Similar Too!

But Powder still wanted to know more about her father, even though she has yet to listen to the interview "to this day."

At one point, Powder found herself seeking possible answers on Ancestry.com. After submitting her test, she found a tree with relatives.

Powder contacted the man who managed the tree and asked him if he could connect her with someone named Dorothy, which she believed was the name of Cid's lone daughter.

Three months later, the tree manager told Powder that he had made contact with the woman she was looking for and that she was interested in speaking over the phone.

Related: Siblings Were Strangers Walking Past Each Other for Years. Then a Hospital Brought Them Together: 'Grateful'

A short time later, Powder talked with Dorothy for the first time ever. They wasted no time getting to know each other and shared countless photos and details about who they knew as their father.

Powder also learned that she had another sister, who had since died, who joined Barnum and Bailey's Circus during her young adulthood.

The newfound sisters met face-to-face for the first time later that year, with Powder traveling across the pond for the special meeting in London.

Powder got a chance to visit Dorothy's home, where their father lived for 40 years before he passed away. She also got to see his gravesite, something she always dreamed of doing, but thought was never possible.

Later on, the sisters visited their father's favorite pub and ordered the exact same food and drinks he frequently ordered in life.

Powder and Dorothy are now regularly in contact with each other and continue to learn more about themselves and their family history. The two are “very intentional” about connecting each and every Sunday “by text or video call” so they can share “family pictures of special events or moments.”

The sister text and call each other for major holidays and celebrations, as well. When Powder went to Tobago for her mother’s 99th birthday, she called Dee “so she could see all the festivities and places," including the little wooden house where she grew up and their Dad spent much of his time while filming Swiss Family Robinson.

And at Christmas time, Dee brought flowers to their father’s grave from the both of them as part of a tradition she maintained since their father’s death. Powder says she “was so touched” to be included.

She was also thrilled to learn that her sister had included her in celebrating their father’s birthday last December by “toasting together via video” while Dee was in London and Powder was in Trinidad. It was something her sister previously did “every year alone,” but is now something they share.

"I'm a Swiss Family Robinson baby! And I love it!" Powder exclaims.

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