Woman reported missing 31 years ago found alive 2,700 km from home (Video, photos)

A woman from the US state of Pennsylvania, who disappeared 31 years ago, has been found in a nursing home in Puerto Rico, reports ABC News.

The authorities even declared her dead.

The distance from Patricia Kopta’s home and the place where she was found is 2,700 km.

The 82-year-old woman’s husband said he was relieved to learn his wife was alive.

Patricia Copta lived in Pittsburgh and frequently traveled to various locations due to the nature of her work. She was a devout Roman Catholic and regularly attended Sunday services.

The woman disappeared before 1992. For years, there was no sign of Patricia Copta unless she sent a letter to her husband, Bob, stating that she was being stalked.

While in Puerto Rico she began to suffer from dementia and was then placed in a nursing home.

A DNA test was also performed on her, which showed that the unknown woman is Patricia Copta, bTV reported.

She has worked in the US as a model and dance instructor. Before she got married, Patricia Copta often visited Puerto Rico with friends.

“She just loved the ocean, the beach, the sun,” said her sister, Gloria Smith, 78.

She said that before she disappeared, her sister shared that she had seen an angel. Doctors then determined that Patricia Copta had symptoms of schizophrenia.

Now, even with dementia, Partisha remembers the first meeting with her husband.

The woman’s disappearance shocked both the authorities and her family. The police went so far as to consult a psychic until Bob Copta remembered his wife mentioning that she would like to go to Puerto Rico because of the nice weather.

He even placed ads in Puerto Rican newspapers, but never received a response.

When admitted to the nursing home, Patricia says she arrived in Puerto Rico on a cruise ship from Europe.

News of her finding was reported by a social worker who contacted police in Pennsylvania.