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Long Lost Family filmed at Little Lights
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · June 22, 2017


Something happened in September, but no one will talk about it.


We now know what it was, but still, no one will talk about it.

A video crew set up outside of Little Lights Weddings & Events and shot footage of an older man parking his car, stepping out, pausing to look up the steps, then walking in.

More happened inside, but owner Erin Morrison-Vincent said she signed a non-disclosure agreement, and could not talk about it until the company behind the project gave her the legal green light.

The West Branch Times took pictures that Sept. 6, and waited.

And waited.

Until one day in April, Little Lights posted an unusual link on its Facebook page to a cable news show called “Long Lost Family” on the TLC channel. The Little Lights page only included a vague comment about how the show is “really special.”

So we clicked, and watched the 42-minute story of Mark Moss of Texas looking for his biological parents. He knew his mother wanted him to appreciate music. Turns out she was an award-winning cellist, who gave him up for adoption at birth. She gave birth to him in Iowa City.

Close to West Branch, but not quite.

We kept watching.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing … wait.

The older man we photographed standing in front of Little Lights appears. He’s in Davenport, playing in a band — the older man is a musician, too. His name is David.

Several minutes later, near the end of the show, right after a commercial break, we see both Mark and David driving in separate cars toward a meeting and … there it is. The words “West Branch, IA” show up on the bottom of the picture.

First, we see some shots along country roads, then we see downtown West Branch, with the Hoover House in the center of the screen — the home of Little Lights.

It’s the climax of the show.

The show, entitled, “Did You Have Dreams? Did You Follow Them?” reaches its conclusion in the interior of Little Lights reception hall. We see father and son sitting in the middle of the room on comfortable chairs behind a small table. Mark pulls out a guitar, and plays a song he wrote to mysterious parents.

He’s a musician, too.

We called TLC in April and were told by a publicity assistant that she would look into releasing Morrison-Vincent from the non-disclosure agreement and whether the Long Lost Family producers would submit to an interview.

More waiting. Still nothing. This reporter a couple of weeks ago again spoke to Morrison-Vincent, but she stated she is still bound by the agreement.

When we last week again called TLC, the station which carries the show, we left a message for a spokesperson, Nicki. We also left a message for Shed Media, which produces the show.

Those messages were not returned as of press time.