Beauty queen who was kidnapped and sold to gypsies for a pair of earrings

Olga Romanovich, 20, pictured right, originally from Belarus, was snatched from her destitute mother Tamara in Moldova by a group of gypsies.
The group then sold the young girl to another gypsy, who lived near the Ukrainian border, in exchange for a pair of gold earrings. The young girl, who was aged four at the time, pictured left, was renamed as Maria Preyda and said she was brought up as a normal child. But Miss Romanovich said that, despite being 'loved in that gypsy family', she always felt she was different and was 'tormented' about who her real parents were. Then, before her adopted grandmother - who raised the young girl - died, she encouraged Miss Romanovich to try and find her birth family. With the help of a psychologist, the young woman contacted Interpol, who managed to track down her birth family. She was reunited with her mother and is due to meet her three younger brothers, who were born after Miss Romanovich was kidnapped.

Dailym