Woman reported missing 31 years ago and declared dead has been found alive in Puerto Rico

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Patricia Kopta, nicknamed 'The Sparrow,' was a model and dance instructor before she vanished in 1992. Here's her story.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Pennsylvania woman who went missing more than 30 years ago in a case that stumped authorities who later declared her legally dead has been found living in a nursing home in Puerto Rico.

By last year, a social worker at the home had enough information to alert authorities back home about the now-83-year-old woman. A DNA test has confirmed her identity, Kohlhepp said. But before she began preaching, Kopta was a straight-A student who became a model and dance instructor. After graduating high school, she worked in finance at a Pittsburgh plate glass company and would attend ballroom dancing events weekly, according to her family."She just loved the ocean, the beach, the warm sunshine," Smith told the AP.

Kopta, now 86, recalled how they met near a river in Pittsburgh where he had a boat. He gave her and her friends a ride and fell in love. In 1972, they married. "I went through a lot," said Bob Kopta, a retired truck driver."Every time they'd find a body somewhere , 'Is it Patricia? Is it Patricia?'" "It's a sad thing, but it's a relief off my mind," her husband said."When your wife goes missing, you're a suspect."

 

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Woman reported missing 31 years ago found in Puerto RicoA Pennsylvania woman who went missing more than 30 years ago in a case that stumped authorities who later declared her legally dead has been found living in a nursing home in Puerto Rico. Patricia Kopta left behind a husband and siblings and meandered through northern Puerto Rico for a while before she was taken as a person “in need” to the adult care home in 1999, according to details announced at a news conference this week in Ross Township, where she once lived. Kopta, once known as a street preacher in her home town, initially kept her past secret while in Puerto Rico.
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