There’s always a mystery hiding in every missing person’s story.
If you are a fan of mystery or suspense thriller movies, then you must also love following stories of missing people. But this time we are talking about real-life events- no cameras, and no scripts.
And we all know where a missing person’s story ends, it usually ends in the most unexpected way, something that’s out of even our wildest imaginations. Though some were able to find what they’re looking for, still, it is something that doesn’t fall under the category of a “happy ending.”
Just like this story, or rather a case, of a missing woman. She’s been missing for over four decades and if you are looking for an exact number, it is 42 long years, to be precise!
From her doctor’s appointment to nowhere to be found.
It was over a decade ago when this lady named Flora Stevens was dropped off by her husband for a doctor’s appointment in Monticello, New York in the Catskills. But after that, she was never seen again, not even by her husband. For some weird and unknown reason, she vanished like a popped bubble.
Detective Richard Morgan of Sullivan County, NY Sheriff’s Office said that he was able to follow through with the case and search for Flora’s whereabouts with the help of advanced technology.
They thought they had found her remains.
It turned out it was a false lead about Flora.
They then tracked her using her social security number, which led them to an assisted living facility in Lowell, Massachusetts. A person matched Flora’s first name, same date of birth, and same social security number.
The detectives then flew to where the new information was leading them. There, they met an elderly woman who went by the name Flora Harris who also happened to be Flora Stevens, the missing woman for over 4 decades.
“That’s me.”
According to detective Morgan, that’s what the old lady said when they showed her an old photo of herself, which was taken when she was just 36 years old. Flora Stevens was found when she was already 78 years old and sadly, she has dementia.
Knowing where she’s been after her disappearance 42 years back was no longer possible because of her current condition.
Basically, the past 42 years of her life will forever stay a mystery to the detectives and even to Flora.
“We really don’t know the circumstances of why or how she disappeared. She had psychiatric problems leading up to that point.”
She was in and out of psychiatric facilities in New Hampshire and New York City.
Flora had been living in the assisted facility in Lowell since the year 2001. She was not visited by any relative, not even her husband.
Case closed?
Wasn’t finding Flora Stevens the main objective of the investigation? Did she run away? What’s her real purpose for not coming back after that doctor’s appointment? The answers to these questions are still a mystery given Flora has dementia.
Or did she choose not to come back because of a particular reason?
This was the theory of a former worker named Festus Mbuva.
Her husband was listed under the name Robert Stevens, and if the reports were accurate, the man used to work at The Concord, the same resort where Flora used to work at. However, investigators never confirmed that the two were actually married.
The date when Stevens dropped off Flora for a doctor’s appointment was August 3, 1975.
He came back 2 hours later but Flora was already gone, and according to the authorities, Flora just got paid and she also had a bunch of tips from customers. A bus station was also situated near the hospital, so going home should’ve never been an issue for her that day.
It was Flora’s husband, Robert who reported that she was missing.
According to Mbuva, Flora rarely talked about her family but she mentioned that her husband was abusive.
She shared a lot of things about herself like she enjoyed attending Woodstock, she loved 70s music, she knits and draws, but apart from these, she kept other doors to her personal life closed.
Will we ever know the real story behind her disappearance? Does her husband have something to do with it? Perhaps, only Flora knows the answer to all these questions.
Watch Flora’s case in the video below.
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