Helen Elgin is the mother of Steve Austin, and the legal guardian of Jaime Sommers. Helen's first husband, Carl Austin, died while flying on a secret mission during World War II. Widowed, she gave birth to their son Steve on February 5, 1942. Years later, while Steve was still a young boy, she began dating and married Jim Elgin. The Elgin's became the legal guardians of Jaime Sommers upon the death of her parents, James and Ann Sommers, in an auto accident when Jaime was just sixteen years old. Helen had a sister, Bernadine, who lived in Bakersfield, California. (The Return of the Bionic Woman)