VIDEO – Woman Missing for 31 Years Located in Puerto Rico, Family Rejoices: ‘A Relief to Know She’s Alive’

Patricia Kopta (1)
Ross Township Police
Amy Furr

A woman from Pennsylvania who has been missing since 1992 was found in Puerto Rico, and her family is overjoyed.

An adult care home’s social worker identified 82-year-old Patricia Kopta, who suffers from dementia, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday.

During a press conference with the Ross Township Police Department, sister Gloria Smith told those gathered, “We’re very thankful to know that Patty is alive and well.”

Smith added that Kopta has a good heart and a gentle spirit:

Now that the case has been solved, the woman’s husband, Bob Kopta, said, “It’s such a relief to know she’s alive.”

He said early into their marriage, she held several different jobs in Pittsburgh, but the couple never had children. She was also devoted to her Roman Catholic faith.

However, the man explained she eventually began voicing irrational rants, warning people about a nuclear Armageddon.

Her husband said she lost her job, then began spending time downtown where she was “telling everybody to go home because the world was going to end in three days.”

An image from years ago shows Patricia Kopta wearing makeup and a white top, while another apparently shows her inside the care home:

When her husband returned home one day in 1992, he realized she had vanished. Therefore, he filed a missing person report with law enforcement, and the case stayed open for several years afterwards.

“She could have come home any time, but she always said she wanted to go to a warm climate,” Bob Kopta explained during the news conference:

When an unidentified woman needing help was admitted to a care home in Puerto Rico in the summer of 1999, she did not want to tell staff members about her life, but claimed she got there via a cruise ship from Europe.

Last year, an Interpol agent and the social worker contacted Ross police, saying it was possible the woman could be Kopta, who had been missing for so long. As the woman aged, she provided more information about her life which eventually led them to make the connection.

DNA samples eventually confirmed the woman is Patricia Kopta.

“It was hard on all of us because we, my mother, my sister, and myself, we worried about her constantly,” Smith recalled.

Bob Kopta never remarried, even though he had his beloved wife declared deceased. The family wants to reunite with their loved one and bring her home, but her condition could pose problems, and she has said she would rather not be moved.

Now, Smith is considering visiting Puerto Rico to see her sister.

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