New York Woman Who Went Missing Over 42 Years Ago Has Been Found in Massachusetts At Age 78
By jadeSaxworth
Flora Stevens, a woman 78 years of age has been found 42 years later in a Massachusetts assisted living facility after she went missing.
In August of 1975, Flora was only 36 years old. She worked as a chambermaid for only $2.25/hour at one of the most elite hotels in upstate New York, the Concord Resort Hotel. However, during one summer evening, her husband took her to a doctor’s appointment. Once he returned to pick her up, she vanished.
Even though many people were elated that she was found alive, there’s still a mystery. Where did she go? What did she do all those years? Was she running from something? Someone?
"To be honest, I don't think she ever really wanted to be found," said Festus Mbuva, a former employee at CareOne assisted living, who helped care for Flora for a decade. "You can tell something happened in her past that she didn't want any part of."
When authorities found Flora in Lowell, Massachusetts, she was diagnosed with dementia and using the last name Harris. Unfortunately, officials have not been able to gather much information regarding her life and the details of what happened between the time she disappeared in 1975 and today.
Law enforcement would periodically review this cold case, but kept running into dead ends. In September, authorities got a tip thanks to a query from a New York State Police investigator who was working on several cold cases.
The investigator found skeletal remains of a woman in Monticello, and believed the general characteristics matched Flora’s. After further investigation, that ended up being a false lead but led the team of investigators to do some cross-checking. The database showed that a “Floral Harris” was using Flora Steven’s social security number and living in Lowell. As it turned out, it was the same person.
Mbuva, who left CareOne in December, said Flora had rarely talked about her husband, Robert Stevens, and her family. However, Mbuva said that at times Flora said that she came from a bad marriage and that he had been abusive towards her. The police have not commented on that claim.
Mbuva was able to provide some tidbits about Flora. She had grown up in Yonkers, worked for the Concord Hotel, used to be a hairstylist, and went to the 1969 Woodstock concert. Mbuva said that Flora’s usual saying was, “none of your business.”
Before detectives sat down with Flora, they were unable to find any living relatives. They were able to offer several photos of her, in which she immediately recognized. She also recognized her husband as well. She also recognized the Concord from a postcard picture.
