Last week was the Gloucester United Emergency Shelter Team’s first week of sheltering those in need during the 2018-2019 winter season and according to the group’s executive director John Seltzer, a lot more than just sheltering occurred. The week proved to be one of miracles and family reunions, he said. 

When the shelter opened at 7 a.m. on Dec. 3, staff and volunteers had no idea they would become part of a family reunion and help solve a missing person case that had been two years in the making.

On that morning, Seltzer said a woman who wound up being a missing person checked into the day shelter. “She had already been in our care for a month until that point, but because of the limited hours and the fact that we had several of our clients staying at the hotel, it never crossed my mind to check Facebook,” he said.

However, one evening, Seltzer was scrolling through Facebook and came across a post from the Gloucester Men’s Ministry page that the...