An elderly care facility in Puerto Rico has discovered the whereabouts of a Pennsylvanian lady who went missing more than 30 years ago in a case that perplexed investigators, and subsequently declared her legally dead.
According to information shared at a news conference this week in Ross Township, where Patricia Kopta formerly resided, she wandered through northern Puerto Rico after leaving her husband and siblings behind, once well-known for preaching on the streets of her hometown, before being transported as a person "in need" to the adult care facility in 1999.
As her dementia worsened, she started to reveal things from her past, according to Ross Township Deputy Police Chief Brian Kohlhepp. By last year, a social worker at the home had enough information to alert authorities back home about the now-83-year-old woman and a DNA test confirmed her identity, Kohlhepp said.
Her husband, Bob Kopta, and her surviving sister, 78-year-old Gloria Smith filled in details of Kopta's life at the news conference and in telephone interviews Friday with The Associated Press (AP).
In a residential neighborhood of 31,000 people in the north of Pittsburgh, Patricia Kopta, also known by her nickname "The Sparrow," was frequently seen in parking lots and busy roadways where she would warn pedestrians and drivers about the impending end of the world.
Earlier in her life, while Kopta was a high school student, went on to become a model and a dance instructor before she started preaching. According to her relatives, she attended weekly ballroom dancing events while working in finance at a Pittsburgh plate glass manufacturer after graduating from high school.
Before she was married, she would frequently take trips to Puerto Rico with her friends. Smith told the AP, "She really liked the ocean, the beach, and the bright weather.
She claimed that her sister left the glass company after 10 years due to migraines that were attributed to stress by doctors. She subsequently obtained employment at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh as an elevator operator.
That's when family members noticed a change in her. "She said something about seeing an angel there," Smith recalled.
Shortly afterward, Kopta began preaching and was briefly institutionalized after doctors diagnosed her with "delusions of grandeur" and said she had signs of schizophrenia. Upon her release, she kept preaching until she vanished in 1992.
"I come home one night, and she's just gone," Bob Kopta told the AP. They had been married for 20 years. 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. They married in 1972.
The disappearance stumped authorities and family alike. Police went as far as to consult a psychic, while Kopta recalled his wife once mentioned she would like to go to Puerto Rico because of its balmy weather. So he published ads in Puerto Rican newspapers, but never got a response.
Years went by with no sign of her. He obtained a death declaration about seven years after her disappearance. "I went through a lot," said Bob Kopta, a retired truck driver. "Every time they'd find a body somewhere (I wondered), 'Is it Patricia? Is it Patricia?'"
Meanwhile, Patricia Kopta apparently was wandering the island's northern towns of Naranjito, Corozal and Toa Alta, located just southwest of the capital of San Juan. When she first was taken in at the adult home, she had hinted that she had arrived in Puerto Rico via a cruise ship from Europe, Kohlhepp said.
After a social worker contacted police in Pennsylvania, it took almost a year for DNA samples to confirm that the woman was indeed Patricia Kopta. "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."
While being relieved that she is being taken care of, Bob Kopta, who did not remarry, stated that he has no plans to visit her and that he is currently attempting to forget the past.
Smith, on the other hand, desires to visit her older sister on the island. She claims that due to the older sibling's dementia, she has been unable to converse with her over the phone. Patricia Kopta's twin sister passed away without being aware that the other twin was still living.
Smith stated, "I still want to see her, give her a hug, and tell her I love her, whether she knows me or not. I believed she may have passed away."
