Melissa Gilbert played Laura Ingalls for 9 seasons. Her Husband Faces 4 Felony Sex Charges With A Minor. DNA App Just Offered 3 Older Brothers.
Sam Wasson / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images Michael Ochs Archives / Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
By 
Nadia Santiago
Melissa Gilbert, Little House on the Prairie star, was born in 1964 in Los Angeles and raised by actor Paul Gilbert and Barbara Cowan. His biological mother, Kathy Wood, died before the two met.
Her husband, actor Timothy Busfield, was indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury on Feb. 6 on four counts of sex with a minor, related to allegations involving twin girls on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” which was filmed from 2022 to 2024. He denied these allegations. Gilbert has stood by her publicly, telling Good Morning America in April that she is “very hopeful that she will be exonerated” and calling the case “the most traumatic experience of our lives.” She moved out of their New York apartment in June while the case was pending. They are always married.
A few weeks ago, a genealogy app connected Gilbert to his fifth cousin, Harry Lee Scott. Her research traced her biological mother’s side of the family and led her to three older half-siblings she never knew existed.
“I’ve always said I don’t have a tree, I have a family tree,” he wrote. “Now it is like a climbing rose tree. Covering a huge wall with many different shapes and colorful flowers.”
There is Matt, who is 66 years old. There is Laird Steven E. Paine. And there is Mark A. Olson Sr., who passed away years ago, although his son Mark Olson has since joined the family circle.
Decades ago, Gilbert found his biological father’s family, including his 3 older siblings. That relationship, she wrote, “was full. This time, the tone was different. “My older brothers are very nice people,” she said. “Me and Matt are getting closer.”
Matt shares his reaction to finding her. “Before anyone asks, the most important part to me is not that you’re famous,” he wrote. “That we have finally found each other after being apart our whole lives.” He credited the same cousin for connecting all the dots, adding that “family has a funny way of finding each other, even after 62 years.”
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