Woman shares text exchange with her dad she thought was dead 31 years ago after finding him on social media

A mum who thought her dad had been dead for about 31 years claims to have discovered he is alive after tracking him down on social media.

Sharnee Butler, from Christchurch, New Zealand, posted her first-ever text message exchange with her father to TikTok.

Though everyone believed he was dead, the 31-year-old always thought deep down he was still alive.

All Sharnee knew was that his name was Noel, he was from the UK and he was “sports mad”.

She told FEMAIL: “I grew up thinking he was dead, when I was old enough, I knew something wasn’t right, and nobody had answers.

“I had so many questions but there was never any answers.”

She put out the word that she was looking for her dad with all the details she knew on online forums and TV shows several times but had no luck.

After years of searching, she still never gave up on her mission to try and track down her dad.

Oe day, she searched for his name alongside the word “sports” and she found someone who matched the details she has of her father.

When she sent a “Noel” message on social media one day after searching his name alongside sports, a long text exchange resulted in some surprising answers.

She said: “His social media was sports, sports, sports, and I also saw he lived here in Christchurch back in 1990-1991 and moved back to the UK. So that’s when I decided to just send that man a message.”

She began chatting with Noel but did not drop the bombshell on him straight away. During their chat, he revealed he had lived in Christchurch for a time in the early nineties and was much older than her.

“This is going to sound super odd. And very personal but I need to ask. When you were living here in Christchurch/New Zealand, did you sleep with any women?” Sharnee boldly asked.

“My mother who I deeply and dearly love has given me your name so I’ve done years and years of research and you fit all these descriptions…I’m so very sorry that this all seems very strange.”

Noel, from Wales, said he thought the questions were a bit personal but admitted the information was “very intriguing”.

Sharnee gave more details and said her mum “stuck with the same description” of her dad all her life, telling her he went back to the UK for a football game and she never heard anything back.

“It’s a wee bit uncanny but I’m not writing things out,” Noel replied and asked how on earth Sharnee found him.

Noel then gave a clue that made Sharnee certain he is her long-lost dad. He named her mother even though Sharnee never mentioned a name.

Asking if her mum’s name was Dale, Noel added: “So do you really think I could be your dad?”

“This is all so so crazy, so so crazy. I’m, shaking, I’m crying. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Yes Dale is my mum! Holy moly,” she wrote back.

Noel said he remembered Dale “for sure” as they would often “bump into each other” on nights out but weren’t a couple.

He also remembered her older brother Mykal and pointed out Sharnee could be half-Welsh.

“Holy crap this is insane. Did you have any idea about me at all?” Sharnee asked before Noel sent her an old photo of him while he was in Wellington in 1991.

“No I didn’t Sharnee. I’m so so sorry,” Noel responded.

The video has been viewed millions of times on TikTok with lots of shocked comments.

Sharnee now plans to visit Noel in Wales and intends to do a DNA test to confirm their suspicions.