Ross Woman Missing For 31 Years Located

ROSS TOWNSHIP, PA — A Ross woman reported missing more than 30 years ago and declared legally dead has been located in Puerto Rico, township police said Thursday.

Patricia Kopta, a well-known street preacher in Pittsburgh before her disappearance in 1992, is living in an adult care facility on the island. Kopta was found to be in need of care in 1999, police said.

Nicknamed "The Sparrow" because of her small stature, Kopta gained semi-celebrity status in the city in the late 1980s and early 90s by preaching on Downtown streets and claiming that the end of the world was near.

At a news conference Thursday, township Police Chief Brian Kohlhepp said an Interpol agent and a social worker from Puerto Rico contacted him recently and said they believed they had found Kopta alive in an adult care home.

At the home, Kopta, now 83, didn't initially discuss her personal life and said she came to Puerto Rico on a cruise ship. But as the years went by, she began to open up about her background and offering enough information that Ross police were contacted.

DNA samples obtained from Patricia Kopta's family members and compared with hers positively identified her, police said.