Patricia Kopta, a woman in Pennsylvania, USA, mysteriously disappeared in the summer of 1992.
Her family and police searched for years without success, and at one point thought she was dead.
Unexpectedly, after 30 years,
Patricia, 83, was found about 2,700 kilometers from her home.
It turned out that she lived in a nursing home in Puerto Rico ...
Patricia excelled as a student and graduated as a model and dance instructor, dancing every week.
She loves the sea, the beach and the warm sun, and often goes to Puerto Rico with friends for holidays before getting married.
In 1972, Patricia married her husband, Bob Kopta.
Patricia then worked in finance for a glass company in Pittsburgh for 10 years.
She was plagued by migraines, which doctors thought were stressful, so she quit her job at a glass company.
She then got a job as an elevator operator at the Pittsburgh Institute of Art.
Soon after, Patricia began hallucinations and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Doctors diagnosed her with "arrogant paranoia" with signs of schizophrenia.
After being discharged from the hospital, Patricia began preaching on the streets, approaching strange passers-by and declaring that the end of the world was coming.
On June 20, 1992, Patricia disappeared in Pittsburgh.
Bob returned home from work to his home in Ross Town and never waited for his wife to return.
"One night I came home and she was gone, and no one knew where she was."
Until nearly six months later, on November 27, 1992,
Bob reported to the police that his wife of 20 years had disappeared.
He said that the reason why he did not call the police in time,
It is because before that, it is not uncommon for a wife to leave briefly.
Investigators have been following leads in the case for years.
Husband Bob also spent years and a lot of money trying to find his wife, Patricia.
Because my wife has always liked the warm weather in Puerto Rico,
Bob had a hunch that she might be there, so he placed a search notice in a Puerto Rican newspaper, but received no clues.
About seven years after the disappearance of his wife Patricia,
Bob obtained a legal notice pronounced his wife dead in accordance with the law.
"I've been through a lot.
Every time they find a body somewhere, I wonder: 'Is it Patricia?' Is it Patricia? '”
Bob and his wife have no children.
His wife has been missing for so many years, and he has not remarried.
30 years after his wife's disappearance, news finally came,
It turned out that his wife Patricia was indeed in Puerto Rico.
At that time, Patricia should have been afraid of being sent to a shelter, so she chose to go abroad.
She spent some time wandering the streets of northern Puerto Rico and was admitted to a nursing home in June 1999 as a "person in need."
Patricia has long refused to talk about her private life or where she came from.
As the years passed, Patricia developed dementia and began to reveal only a few words about herself.
Until 2022, the staff gathered enough information and worked with Interpol to piece together her true identity.
After receiving the news, the Ross Town police and family compared the DNA samples of Patricia, her 78-year-old sister Gloria and nephew, and finally the truth came out.
It turns out that Patricia is still alive in this world!
In this regard, husband Bob felt relieved:
"It's a sad thing, but it's a relief to know that my wife is still alive."
"When your wife disappears, you are a suspect."
Bob said it's good to know his wife is being well taken care of.
But now he is trying to forget the past and does not plan to go south to visit his wife.
"She can go home anytime. She always said she wanted to go somewhere with a warm climate. ”
78-year-old sister Gloria said,
Everyone was very happy and very willing to bring her sister back to Pennsylvania to take care of her.
Sister Gloria has called the nursing home many times,
But because my sister has dementia, she can't have a conversation.
"Over the years, we really thought she was dead.
I was shocked and wanted to go over there and see her.
Whether she still knows me or not, I still want to see her, give her a hug, and tell her that I love her. ”
(Patricia's husband and sister)
Netizens said that it seems that Patricia chose to leave that year.
She refused to talk about her life until she developed dementia and did not reveal personal information, presumably escaping her past life and not wanting to be discovered.
But for the family,
It was unexpected news to know that she was alive and well...