The date was August 3, 1975. A man took his wife to the doctor for a check-up in upstate New York. He promised to be back as soon as the appointment was over. He expected to see his wife waiting for him after he returned home. But something happened that was contrary to his expectations. The husband waited for his wife to return and got the worst shock in his life when she never arrived.

The front desk receptionist informed him that his wife was not present at the workplace. What happened behind his back? Where did she go? Forty-two exhaustingly long years passed until the police located her in an unexpected spot.

She Got Cold

Florence Stevens, age 36, was a lady full of life. She loved excitement and adventure. On August 3, 1975, she decided to visit the doctor to get her cold checked.

Robert Stevens had no idea that he would return alone that evening. What followed was unexpected.

The Concord

Flora liked her job and felt content there. She worked at the opulent and trendy Catskills resort known as The Concord.

The Concord, with 1,200 rooms, was a favorite with the visitors and residents looking to unwind. It was the place to be during the fun roller coaster - the summer of 1975.

Education is Important

When looking into her locations, the police learned that Flora formerly attended Lincoln High School in New York. Her application to Concord provided the authorities with this piece of information.

But how was a name from high school going to help the cops in finding Flora? The police had very little information, but they knew she was the better half of Robert Stevens.

Active Case

Since Flora vanished, no one has been able to figure out how and why she disappeared. Did anyone take her captive? Did she leave the clinic without turning around?

Robert Stevens and all the detectives were in the dark about Flora's possible fate. The neighborhood came together to lend a helping hand in the search for the missing woman. Since Flora was a wonderful woman, everyone who became engaged with the case grew interested in finding out where she was. Where did she go?

No Phone, No Internet

There was no internet in 1975 to help search for the missing lady. Finding someone was a completely different game with its own set of rules. Nobody was aware of Flora's relatives. Therefore, it was unknown if she had traveled to see them.

Her husband had no idea about the whereabouts of his wife. There were no traces of her anywhere. It was hard to determine where she could have gone because there was no smartphone to follow. Everything appeared to be in disarray.

The Case Stays Unsolved

Robert, Flora's husband, and the police worked to determine what happened to Flora. But the days quickly became weeks, and the weeks turned into months. Every fresh lead appeared to lead nowhere, and the detective working on the case had to stop trying to find Flora.

It was time to declare the case unsolved because no further leads were pursued. Robert needed closure because no one knew about Flora's whereabouts. As a result, he gave up seeking Flora and continued living his life.

The Case Reopens

The investigation into the case would not resume until 2017. Yan Salomon then made a fascinating discovery that would unravel the case.

Yan Salomon was one of the senior detectives from New York. He discovered intriguing information while browsing through old papers. The previous detective missed it during the first hunt for Flora.

Shocking Facts

Salomon flipped through the case and gasped at what he saw. During the initial investigation, what appeared so evident to him was entirely disregarded. However, it was not easy to seek answers to all the questions so soon.

Like everyone else, Salomon's thoughts included one that was particularly prevalent. Where had Flora gone? Where had she been at that period? Of course, these concerns also plagued those following the case and losing the hope they would find Flora one day.

Mystery

Yan Salomon picked up  Flora's case. He noticed that there there was something about it that seemed familiar. He kept going over the material until he came across something that, in his opinion, resolved the case.

Yan Salomon was apprehensive about telling his friends and family about his finding in the case. He discovered human remains. Salomon assumed it was Flora's. But before closing the case, he needed to determine that.

Putting the Elements Together

Salomon had to call a few people to study more about the bones. He dialed the Sullivan County Sheriff's office as his first call. Yan Salomon's initial goal was to approach the local detective and bring up the matter.

Yan described how he discovered a lady's bones in the Catskills region to the detective he spoke with at the Sullivan office. The detective chose to assist Yan in locating the body because he was eager to help solve a case that had been open for ten years.

All About Numbers

Inconveniently, 70,000 women disappear in the United States every year. This figure is comparatively large because some women who wind up on the list are cold cases.

It was challenging for Yan to handle Flora's situation on his alone. But he was determined to find out what happened to Flora, even if it meant figuring out what killed her. All he needed was a little luck and a keen eye.

Information Saturation

Fortunately, there are many technological advances available now that weren't available in the 1970s. Each missing individual gets a file, which is archived later. He had to examine those files to determine whether that body belonged to Flora.

The number of active cases was 21,894. Therefore, Yan had his job cut out. He had to search those records to determine whether the body he had discovered matched any of the ladies in those files.

Salomon Made a Team

Yan Salomon realized it would take more time than he had to sift through 21,894 files. He decided to assemble a team to assist him in sorting through them.

It took some time to go through all those open case files. But the group was tenacious and committed to finding a link to the corpse Salomon discovered. He would need a lot of luck and patience, just like the rest of his squad.

Investigation Begins

Salomon did more than scanning the open files. He was eager to get to the bottom of this enigma. So he handed over the papers to his staff and left for Sullivan County to conduct some of his research.

Salomon reasoned that he might be able to gain more insight into the matter by going out and investigating probable crime scenes for himself.

Intelligent Thinking

Yan Salomon identified the woman as being from Sullivan County quite immediately. He furthered the quest by employing his detective wits and abilities.

He only needed to look a little farther to get the answers. Salomon eventually discovered an open case that corresponded to his results.

Not the Right Trail

After gathering all the proof, Yan requested one more favor from his team. He instructed his group to look for any living acquaintance or relative who could be related to the woman they discovered.

Unfortunately, despite searching for a while, he and his crew could not locate any living relative of the woman they had discovered. So, Flora's case remained unresolved.

Putting the Missing Pieces Together

Yan took out all the files of missing cases sitting around for a while. Although it was good to provide closure to one family after being able to connect a body with an unsolved case, what about Flora?

Flora's lawsuit started in 1975. It got lost in the muck heap of people who have vanished throughout the years. Not to add that there wasn't much information in the file. Yan Salomon didn't want to give up. After he dug a little more, Salomon and his team knew they were close.

Transferring the Case

Even after spending so much time solving the case, Yan Salomon had no option but to transfer the Flora case to Detective Rich Morgan of the Sullivan County Police Department. Salomon tried his best, but he couldn't solve the issue.

Det. Rich Morgan received the complex case. His main task was to find the connection between Flora's case and the corpse Salomon discovered. Der. Morgan started digging because he thought there had to be a connection somewhere. He gathered some fresh evidence.

The Lost Connection

The woman's identity badge provided a break for Detective Morgan. Now they could give a name to the body Salomon discovered.

The identification badge revealed that the woman worked in the Catskill Mountains exactly as Flora did. Det. Morgan, however, found out that the woman also vanished at the same time as Flora did.

Truth is Stranger than Fiction

Back in 1975, technology was not as advanced as it is today. There was no repository of missing persons' information, not even a mechanism to access it. Consequently, the matter was left unresolved and hidden in a dark chamber.

Thanks to Yan Salomon and Rich Morgan's research and tenacity, Flora's case was still alive. One way or another, they were determined to solve the mystery. The story kept getting stranger and more complicated with the frigid body of one woman and a missing individual.

Finding Something

Detective Morgan quickly realized he was on to something significant. The more information they uncovered about the Catskill Mountains, the more they suspected that evil things were happening there.

There was a strong probability that they would also discover Flora's body, given that one lady was already deceased and the other had been missing since 1975. Det. Morgan had to continue looking for information if he was to solve the case and find Flora.

Then and Now

What actions would you take if you learned that a loved one was missing? Would you go to any lengths to look for them? That's what Robert did. After the fateful day he left her at the clinic, he never stopped hunting for her.

He was just as desperate to find her as the detectives, no matter how long it took or how far he had to travel. For Robert, things wouldn't be so simple.

Robert's Desperation

Robert began to lose faith as days turned into weeks and weeks into months with no sign or new information regarding Flora's whereabouts. It comes out that he passed away ten years after alerting the authorities about Flora's disappearance.

Robert pondered the fate of his absent wife for the majority of his life. He never received the attention he so richly deserved. But perhaps that worked out for Robert in the end. After all, he no longer had to fret or wonder whether she might reenter his life.

No One to Help

The loss of Robert made things more difficult for Detective Morgan. Flora's situation was growing colder than it had ever been because she had no further living relatives at this point.

Salomon and Detective Morgan both had some theories they wanted to pursue. But with Robert's death and no one else to talk to, they were again at a loss for ideas.

The Right to Clue

Detective Morgan had all the equipment he could need to solve the crime. He had access to county records and transcripts, as well as the database of lost documents. But his ability to examine the regional and federal social security databases was the only item he possessed that would assist him in winning the case.

Detective Morgan searched the Social Security Database on a whim in the hopes of finding any information on Flora's case. And sure enough, he found Flora's social security number was in use. Someone else was using a Flora-assigned social security number.

On the Path

As soon as he learned that someone was using Flora's Social Security number, Morgan's main priority was to locate it. He was curious as to whether or not it involved an identity thief.

He made special efforts to contact the nearest assisted living institution, about 250 miles away. Morgan would finally find some information in a small town north of Boston.

The Ideal Person

To solve the mystery, the detective phoned the residence. After speaking with various staff members, he learned that Flora was the resident's name at the facility.

With the name being accurate, Morgan became optimistic. The crew then revealed that Flora's surname was Harris, not Stevens. Morgan detected the presence of Harris there in 2001.

Was it a Form of Fraud?

Investigator Morgan Flora's case was becoming increasingly bizarre. Even though he was aware that Flora's odds of survival were remote, he made the drive to the assisted living home to find someone posing as her.

To be sure it was Flora he was dealing with, he drove down personally. He wanted to resolve the matter because it had been open for a long time. And it seemed too coincidental that he was visiting someone with the same first name and birthdate but a different last name.

What Was Happening?

Det. Morgan accompanied a colleague to the assisted care facility north of Boston. He wasn't taking any chances to solve this case.

When they arrived at the location, Morgan and his colleagues were astonished to find a fresh clue to a puzzling case. They delivered a picture that could only belong to the genuine Flora Stevens.

Was it Flora?

The responses from the woman to the detectives' queries astounded them. But it was what she stated at the Catskill Mountain Resort after displaying the photo that accompanied her job ID.

She immediately recognized herself in the image. But it was more remarkable that she could identify Robert, her ex-husband. At that point, the investigators were sure they had located Flora Stevens.

She Forgot Many Things

Flora could not tell the police what had transpired on the day of her disappearance. She forgot many things due to dementia.

The investigators were over the moon to have cracked a case. However, the absence of information meant that it remained unsolved. Flora was still there, but she couldn't tell them anything more since she didn't remember anything.

Neglect or Abuse?

Detective Morgan revealed that when he talked with Flora, he was unsure exactly how things occurred. Despite the passage of so many years, they were still baffled. They had no clue why she fled or whether there had been an abduction. They won't get a response because Flora remembers nothing.

The detective thinks Flora's mental health problems may have contributed to her decision to flee. Mbuva, Flora's carer, couldn't fill in all the blanks. All they could put together was Flora's unhappy marriage and abusive relationship.

What Happened to Flora?

Many of the investigators on the case think Flora seized the chance to flee the situation as quickly as she could. Many others have emphasized how simple it would have been for her to buy a bus ticket and leave town.

Fortunately, she ran away from a toxic relationship and wasn't discovered until much later in her long life. The detectives realized that Flora's memories had the answers to their questions. At the same time, they also understood that they would never be able to close the case.

A Hidden Purpose

Mbuva took care of Flora for a very long time. When the cops questioned him, he provided some insight into the scenario when he stated that Flora didn't want anyone to find her.

He continued by saying that Flora had experienced a lot in her younger years. Flora had been through a lot, and when she had the opportunity to leave, she did so.

An Overview of Flora

Flora is from Yonkers, and her catchphrase is - none of your business. According to her caregiver and others who have spent time with her, it was Flora's go-to statement, and she stuck with it.

As for the detectives, they expressed their satisfaction at having resolved the Flora Stevens case. However, they are most content that Flora was safe and had enjoyed a long and fulfilling life.

An Achievement

Even though they had spent the entire time looking for Flora Stevens rather than Flora Harris, Sullivan County was nevertheless able to bring the case against Flora to a close. However, given the number of hours and years it took to solve, they earned it.

Sheriff Mike Schiff claims that it is unusual for them to solve crimes that are 42 years old. Locating Flora and finding out that she was still alive was great indeed.

Goodbye

It took them 42 years to locate Flora, but the investigators were successful in cracking more than one case. Salomon had discovered the remains of a woman. The detectives also found out the details of those remains.

The fact that Flora was secure is what matters most. Flora didn't say anything to the investigators, but smiled, waved, and wished them luck. It was undoubtedly a satisfying conclusion.