More Than 31 Years After Disappearing, A Pittsburgh Woman Was Found In A Puerto Rican Nursing Home

More Than 31 Years After Disappearing, A Pittsburgh Woman Was Found In A Puerto Rican Nursing Home

Nicknamed " The Sparrow, " Patricia Kopta vanished from Rose Township, Pennsylvania, in 1992. Her family presumed she had died, but in 2023, Kopta turned up in a nursing facility in Puerto Rico. How did she get there 

In 1992, Patricia Kopta of Ross Township near Pittsburgh, PA, disappeared. At the time 52 years old, she was known as a “street preacher” nicknamed “The Sparrow," because of her small build, and had a history of mental illness, according to officials and her family. Her family believed she had died, but in 2023, she was found alive, at age 83, at a nursing home in Puerto Rico. 

At a news conference, Ross Township Police Chief Brian Kohlhepp said Kopta had been found wandering around northern Puerto Rico before she was taken to an adult day care home in 1999, hinting that she had arrived via cruise ship. Eventually, Kopta, who has dementia, shared information with employees of the nursing home that led to details about her past. In 2022, the employees contacted police in Ross Township, and sent officials a DNA sample from Kopta. It was a match to two of her relatives.

Patricia and her husband, Bob Kopta, 86, had been married for 20 years when she went missing. He and her family said she was worried at the time that she might be put in a home because of her mental struggles. They don't know how she ended up in Puerto Rico, but said she liked to vacation there.

She had been a model, dance instructor, and worked in finance and as an elevator operator before she began showing signs of what was possibly schizophrenia, and walked through the streets talking about the end of the world. Then, “I come home one night, and she’s just gone,” Bob Kopta told The Associated Press.

Bob, who never remarried, said he doesn't plan to visit his wife, but is happy that she is in a safe, caring place.

“She could have come home at any time,” he said. “She always said she wanted to go to a warm climate.”

Patricia's twin sister died before knowing that her sister had been found.

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