This is Florence
Florence Flora Stevens was born in 1939 in Sullivan County, New York. Relatives said that she lived a quaint and quiet life. She always there for them when they needed her, until one day… She wasn’t anywhere to be found.
Getting Married
Florence married Robert Stevens in 1965. Their relationship remained pretty private. Florence never talked about her relationship with Robert with her friends. They were a pretty private couple. Her friends recalled not thinking that was odd until Florence went missing…
Routine Checkup
On August 3rd, 1975, Robert ended up taking Florence to the hospital because she complained of feeling sick. He dropped her off for a checkup, and she told him to come back after one hour.
Making an Appointment
Florence told her husband that she felt like she had a cold and made an appointment. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, not even when he dropped her off at the front of the hospital.
Pick-Up
When Robert went to pick Florence up an hour after he dropped her off, she wasn’t there. After waiting for 10 minutes, he went into the hospital to ask the receptionist if his wife was done yet.
She Never Came In
The receptionist told him that no one by the name of Florence Stevens came in that day. Confused and worried, Robert went back home. Maybe she needed to run errands?
Calling For Help
After a while, Robert decided to call a couple of detectives in order to find her. He didn’t know if she ran away or someone took her…
Nothing To Go Off Of
After a thorough investigation, the detectives came up with absolutely no evidence. No one had seen her. None of her friends had heard from her nor had her family. Everyone was worried sick…
It Went Cold
After years, the case went cold. Everyone tried what they could to track her down, but with the technology at the current time, there wasn’t much else to do.
Was She Dead?
Florence was never declared dead, but her friends and family believed that she was. Legally, the police couldn’t say that she was dead because they couldn’t find hard evidence. So, that’s how her case was left for over 40 years.
42 Years Later
Yan Salomon is a senior investigator in the New York State Police Department. Knowing of Florence’s case from decades ago, a discovery that his team made forced them to open this case back up.
A Female Skeleton
Salomon’s team uncovered a female skeleton in the Catskills. It was obviously decades old so they obviously couldn’t tell who it was. That led them to the missing person cases of Sullivan County…
Going Through Reports
Not wanting to jump to conclusions, his team went through the entire database of missing women. There was a lot to sift through, but something was telling Salomon to keep pursuing Florence’s case.
Bringing It Back To Light
After the police mentioned Florence’s case, people were interested. After all, it was a very bizarre story. People wanted the police to pursue Florence’s case even if the skeleton is not hers…
A Clue
Sullivan County Sheriff Rich Morgan reopened Florence’s case file. He wanted to try and bring some solace to her case.
Her SSN
Using his resources, Morgan was able to look up her social security number. Nowadays, this would be a great resource to see if it was being used or not… And, to his surprise, it was in use.
Massachusetts
Her social security number was being used in Massachusetts. So, either she was alive, or someone had stolen her identity. There was only one way to find out!
Lowell, Boston
Using her SSN, they were able to pinpoint exactly where the person using the number was living. Weirdly enough, the location was at a Care One Assisted Living Facility.
Who Is It?
While talking to the receptionist, Morgan identified himself as a sheriff and loosely told her about the case that he was working on and about the possible SSN fraud. Then, he asked the important question: Whose name is connected to the SSN that they have on file?
It’s Flora’s
The woman said the name was Flora Harris. Flora was Florence’s middle name, but the last name was different… This coincidence was extremely bizarre. They had to go up to Boston and investigate!
Since 2001
Weirdly enough, Flora Harris had been living in Lowell since 2001. So, if this was Florence, there was still a huge gap in unaccounted years. They went to go investigate… And they were pretty pleased with what they found.
Was The Mystery Solved?
On October 24th, 2017, the NY team decided to head up there to talk to Flora. After hours of driving, they reached the facility…
Meeting Flora
An employee of the facility greeted the police team at the door and led them to the common room. There, they saw a small, elderly lady sitting in a wheelchair by the window. Was this Florence? She doesn’t look like someone who is an identity thief, that’s for sure.
Suffering From Dementia
The employee informed the police that Flora had been suffering from dementia for years. She doesn’t speak much more than a couple of words a day and barely remembers anything. This was going to be difficult.
Showing Her The Photo
The police showed Flora the file photo of Florence. “She looked at the ID and her face lit up and she said ‘me!’,” Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said when they showed the picture to the lady. “She recognized it right away.”
It Really Is Florence!
The police had found Florence! What was the county’s weirdest missing person case was finally solved decades later. So, why did she leave?
She Can’t Remember
Unfortunately, Florence had no recollection of her past. Her dementia was in advanced stages, so she truly had no answers for the police. She did remember one thing, though…
Robert
The police also showed Florence a photo of Robert. When she saw his face, she immediately said, “Robert,” and nodded at them. That absolutely confirmed that this is Florence.
A Mystery Solved With More Mystery
“To be honest, I don’t think she ever really wanted to be found,” said Festus Mbuva, an employee at Florence’s living facility. “You can tell something happened in her past that she didn’t want any part of.”
Florence Doesn’t Remember Robert Fondly
Florence’s reaction wasn’t exactly positive when she saw Robert. The police and the facility workers agreed that her husband was most likely abusive. Her friend’s reports from the ’70s also alluded to that since Florence rarely spoke of him.
Still Had Her Wit
Festus worked closely with Florence. He remembered that she always liked her privacy. “Her favorite phrase was ‘none of your business,'” he said in the interview. That sounds about right!
A Positive End To The Case
“Whenever you take a missing person’s case, you always hope the outcome is positive,” Undersheriff Chaboty said. Despite Florence’s unfortunate medical status, and the fact that she had no living relatives, it was nice to know that she was alive and in good hands.