A woman who was declared dead after going missing has been found alive nearly two thousand miles away from her home decades later.
Now, it seems highly unlikely that a person who seemingly vanished over 31 years ago without a trace would end up being found about 1,700 miles (2,700km) from her home alive.
Well, that was exactly the case for devout Roman Catholic, 82-year-old Patricia Kopta, who hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the US.
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Patricia was first reported missing by her husband, Bob, on 27 November 1992, months after her disappearance on 20 June 1992.
The woman, who was given the nickname of 'The Sparrow’ due to her short stature, erratic walk and tendency to 'drop out of sight' for extended periods of time, was described as a 'free spirit'.
She became known in her local area for preaching and claiming she had 'visions' of the Virgin Mary and reportedly warned total strangers that the world was about to end in a nuclear Armageddon.
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She was also once arrested, with doctors describing how she was having 'delusions of grandeur' the Post-Gazette reports.
Doctors also reportedly suspected that she had schizophrenia.
After first reporting the case to the police, Bob explained that it wasn't unusual for Patricia to go off the radar for periods of time.
At the time, police said the disappearance wasn’t overtly suspicious and stated that her husband was not a suspect.
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Patricia was later classified as a 'critical missing person' in the following weeks and an urgent search was launched.
A poster released by the Pennsylvania Emergency Response Centre read: "Her family believes she took a flight to Puerto Rico after her disappearance and spent a week or two there before returning to Pittsburgh. She has not been seen or heard from since."
Worried sick and desperate to find his wife, Bob eventually obtained a legal declaration saying that his wife was considered dead after investigators spoke with a psychic, who suggested Patricia had died and that her body was near water.
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However, just last year, there was finally an update in the bizarre case.
The senior citizen was found alive aged 83, and in a nursing home in the territory of Puerto Rico, 1,700 miles from home, in 2023.
Investigators found that she was taken in as a 'person in need' after being found wandering aimlessly near the home back in June 1999 - around seven years after Bob reported her as missing.
It was later realised that the woman had been suffering with dementia - a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning.
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Patricia started to open up about her life and a social worker eventually figured out that she was from Pennsylvania and had gone to the island on a cruise ship from Europe, and so contacted the relevant authorities.
At the end of a nine-month identification process, that involved a DNA test and analysis of her dental records, it was confirmed that the woman was Patricia.
Bob, who was 86 when news broke and never remarried following his wife's disappearance, said he felt relieved at a press conference following the revelation.
"It’s a sad thing, but it’s a relief off my mind. When your wife goes missing, you’re a suspect."
"After 30 years, you try to forget about it," Bob answered when asked for a reason for his wife's vanishing.
"Now, I can forget about it. We know what happened, and she is taken care of now. She could have come home any time. But that’s what she wanted. She always said she wanted to go to a warm climate."
Patricia's sister, Gloria, went to Puerto Rico after the DNA test came back positive to see her sister for the first time since 1992.
"We’re very thankful to know that Patty is alive and well," Gloria said to WMTW. "She’s being well taken care of. We really thought she was dead all those years. It was a very big shock to know that she’s still alive."
Topics: News, US News, Real Life, Mental Health
Rhiannon Ingle