Woman Missing 31 Years and Declared Dead Is Found Alive at Care Home in Puerto Rico: ‘Very Big Shock’

More than three decades after she was reported missing, a Pennsylvania street preacher known as “The Sparrow” has been found living in an adult care home in Puerto Rico

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ross Township police announced this week that 83-year-old Patricia Kopta had been found after a decades-long search.

Patricia’s husband had reported her missing in 1992, and her loved ones have not seen her since, per CBS News.

Police had no leads until Ross Township Deputy Police Chief Brian Kohlhepp received information from an Interpol agent and a social worker in Puerto Rico. Those contacts told officials they believed they’d found Patricia alive and living at the facility 1,700 miles away.

During a press conference Thursday, Ross Township police said Patricia was found in need of care in 1999 and was subsequently taken to the adult care home.

Her sister, Gloria Smith, expressed her gratitude for finally solving a mystery that endured for 31 years.

“We’re very thankful to know that Patty is alive and well,” Smith said, per the Post-Gazette.

“You wouldn’t believe what we’ve been through,” added Patricia’s husband, Bob Kopta. “It’s such a relief to know she’s alive.”

Patricia has since been diagnosed with dementia, according to the outlet.

Bob explained that Patricia lived a typical life during the early years of their marriage in Ross Township. She enjoyed ballroom dance and commuted to various jobs in Pittsburgh, including working as an elevator operator. The couple had no children, and Patricia was a devoted Roman Catholic who worshiped at church on Sundays, he added.

Over time, Bob said he noticed that his wife’s passion for religion became irrational and she would rant. She claimed that the mother of God warned of a nuclear Armageddon, Bob said, according to the Post-Gazette. And Smith also recalled her sister talking about seeing an angel, the Associated Press reported.

When Patricia lost her job, she started spending time in parking lots and along busy roads in her town, warning passersby on the streets about the end of the world, according to the AP.

She became a familiar presence for residents, who nicknamed their local street preacher “The Sparrow.” Some even wondered what happened to her years after she vanished, a Post-Gazette writer noted in 1998.

“She would always hang out down in Pittsburgh where things were going on. When there was a baseball game going on, when a concert was going on, she would be talking to people,” Bob said.

Seven years after her disappearance, Bob had his wife declared legally dead. He never remarried.

“It’s sad. I went through a lot, believe me. Every time they’d find a body somewhere, (I wondered) ‘Is it Patricia? Is it Patricia?'” Bob said, per Trib Live. “I come home one night, and she’s gone, and nobody knew where she was at. I don’t understand. I didn’t throw her out. She just walked away. Didn’t say goodbye or nothing.”

The staff at the adult care home where Patricia was found said she initially refused to share her personal life. Years later, as the dementia progressed, she started to divulge details.

Per CBS News, police said Patricia eventually revealed that she came to Puerto Rico on a European cruise ship.

Patricia has reportedly told her care workers that she wants to stay in Puerto Rico, and there are no plans to bring her back to Pennsylvania.

“She could have come home at any time,” Bob said. According to the AP, he isn’t interested in visiting Patricia, though he’s happy to know people are taking care of her.

Smith, however, would like to travel to the island and pay her sister a visit. “Whether she knows me or not, I still want to see her and give her a hug and tell her I love her,” Smith told the AP.

“We really thought she was dead all those years. We didn’t expect it. It was a very big shock to know that she was still alive,” Smith also said, per ABC affiliate WPVI. “We’re so happy and I hope I can get down to see her.”