Woman who vanished decades ago and was declared dead found alive in Puerto Rico

It's a missing person's case that sat unsolved inside Ross Township Police for over 30 years. I come home one night and she's gone and nobody knows where she was at. Bob Copped Edge struggles to talk about the journey to search for his missing wife Patricia Copped Edge. He says she had some mental health issues and talked about wanting to go to Puerto Rico where it was warm. It's been going on for 31, almost 31 years. And it's been bad. It cost me a lot of money.

I even put advertising in the paper down in Puerto Rico looking for her. Well none of that worked. She was right where he thought she might be. We were contacted by some individuals in agent from Interpol as well as a social worker from Puerto Rico that believed that they had her an adult care home there in Puerto Rico. What they reported to us was 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. And as she was there she refused to ever discuss her private life where she came from. Years later, with dementia, she started to divulge some details that connected the dots back to Ross Township.

Through DNA samples they confirmed a match. This woman is Patricia. Shock. I didn't believe it. I was totally shocked. A case closed and a family reconnected. We really thought she was dead all those years.

We didn't expect it. It was a very big shock to see, to know that she's still alive. And we're so happy and I hope I can get done to see her.

Missing woman, Patricia Kopta