ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — In Pennsylvania, a man has been going through a tragic struggle for the longest time. That man has been searching for his wife for the past 30 years. Now, it looks as if he is going to get some answers. Those answers, however, may bring about more questions.
That is because the man discovered that his wife has been alive and well this entire time.
For members of the Ross Township police force, this case has been troubling for more than 3 decades. It all started with Bob Kopta, the woman’s husband, returning home to an empty house. “I come home one night and she’s just gone, and nobody knows where she’s at,” Bob said.
Bob recalled that his wife was dealing with mental health issues at the time of her disappearance. She would also talk frequently about wanting to live in Puerto Rico where she could enjoy the warm weather. He also remembers the years of costly efforts he put forth to find out where his wife could have gone.
“It’s been going on almost 31 years, and it’s been bad,” Bob said. “It cost me a lot of money. I even put advertisements down in the paper in Puerto Rico looking for her.”
Then the police would receive a call one day that confirmed what her husband may have suspected all along. “We were contacted by an agent from Interpol as well as a social worker from Puerto Rico who believed they had her in an adult care home in Puerto Rico,” Brian Kohlhepp, the Ross Township Police Deputy Cheif, said in a statement.
“They reported to us that she came into their care in 1999 where she was found in need in the streets of Puerto Rico, where she had been wandering around. While there she refused to discuss her private life or where she came from,” the Deputy Chief said.
As the woman began to develop dementia in her older age, she began to share details about her life. Those details mentioned Ross Township and prompted a DNA test to be conducted. Those tests would definitively identify the woman as Patricia Kopta, Bob’s wife who had been missing for more than 30 years.
With the case closed, Patricia is able to be reconnected with her family.
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