Losing a parent is one of the most unfortunate experience any kid can ever go through. Nobody should have to live with that kind of persistent pain. But there is one thing which is somehow worse than a dead parent, it is a parent who disappeared out of the blue. It involves endless wait for some news, of whether they are alive, found dead, coming home or still missing? That kind of trauma makes its way into adulthood and settles in for life.
Linda Evans was one such unfortunate kid whose mother went missing when she was a kid. She had given up on the idea of finding out what happened to her mother until some recent events sparked up hope to look into the matter again. Little did she know, she will end up finding answers which will make her mother's disappearance one of the most stunning mysteries of all time.
It was a sunny morning in Surrey, British Columbia. Linda Evans had just woken up and was sipping on her tea while browsing through the local newspaper. Some people might find it sad but this was one of her favorite parts of the day. She loved to sit in her rocking chair, soak in the morning sun, and read about the world.
Linda was lost in her newspaper, her steaming cup of tea momentarily fogging up her glasses, when her eyes landed on a piece of article with the title, "Missing Of The Month". And seeing the photo of the person featured in the article was all it took to take Linda down the memory lane.
Linda's mother went missing when she was just a little kid. She doesn't remember much of it to be honest. All she remembered was waking up one morning with her mother not around and her dad pretending like nothing is different. So it was just the three of them from that point forward, Linda, her dad and her brother, Daniel.
Linda had so many questions while growing up about her mother's disappearance but her dad never quite acknowledged any of them. And when he remarried, he strictly told the siblings to never mention her name again. The kids knew better than to disobey their father.
Lucy Ann Johnson was born on October 14, 1935, in Skagway, Alaska. During her early life, she traveled quite frequently and lived in different places throughout the north, including Canada's Yukon Territory. It wasn't long after she started living in Yukon when she met a Canadian, Marvin Johnson, who would later become her husband in 1954.
Lucy married Marvin and became a resident of Surrey, British Columbia. Soon, they became the parents of two beautiful babies, a girl named Linda, and a boy named Daniel. By all means, they were a happy little family. Until one unfortunate day, when everything changed.
On the 4th of May in the year 1965, Marvin reported Lucy missing. He said all he knows is they went to bed one night and when he woke up the next morning, she was gone. She didn't leave behind any note or letter that could provide any clue about where she went or when she will be back. So, when she didn't return home that night, Marvin decided to reach out to the police.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) began their investigation immediately. Posters were printed and circulated, search parties sent. The investigating officer, wanted to interview the neighbors just to find out if anyone might have spotted her leaving the house or any other activity. It was during one of these interviews with the man next door that the officer came to know something which left him stunned.
According to the neighbor, Lucy has been missing for much longer than a few weeks. The last time he saw her was in September of 1961 at 145A Street. This revelation immediately made the police suspicious of Marvin. He reported her missing four years after she disappeared. They thought this might be a case of homicide.
The police brought Marvin in for interrogation. He didn't have any answers for why he reported her missing after four years. But that was not all, according to the neighbors, Marvin was seen digging a septic tank in the yard when Lucy went missing. Marvin denied all such allegations.
Police decided that there was only one way to bring this matter to rest, by finding Lucy's body. They shoveled the yard but found no evidence of any burial. Since they did not find the body, it could not be proved that she is dead. As a result, Marvin could not be charged.
Lucy Johnson's location remained unknown. Officials matched her DNA sample with those unidentified human bodies which were held by the B.C. Coroner's Service but no match was ever found. There were no other clues, no new report. It was as if she had vanished into thin air leaving behind no traces.
Since there was no proof against Marvin and there were no other suspects, the case remained unsolved. The officials never found a body which means they couldn't prove she is dead. People moved on. And so did Marvin. He eventually remarried and Lucy's name was never mentioned in their house after that.
It seemed as if tragedy didn't want to leave the Johnsons. After losing her mother, Lucy had to cope with losing her brother, Daniel too. At the age of 20, Daniel had a terrible drowning accident. She only had her father left after that until he too passed away in the 1990s. Linda didn't know how to cope, she was numb yet hurting.
What Linda went through, losing her entire family in pieces, it left her in a dark place. She was depressed for years. No amount of therapy could help her. She was very close to Daniel, so for her to move on from that had been especially difficult. Despite everything, she tried. She tried to get past all of it and make a life of her own.
Linda had given up on the idea of finding out about what happened with her mother years ago. She didn't have a lot to remember her by either. All she had were two small pictures of her and a bunch of faded memories. When she disappeared, Linda was just a kid so she couldn't do much anyway. But things were different now and seeing this article had grown hope in her.
The RCMP ran a feature in the local newspaper called "Missing Of The Month" in which they highlighted the cold cases of missing people dating back to the 1950s. Linda's mother was featured in the June edition, which was the article she was looking at. Reading the article brought back all the curiosity.
Linda decided she is going to find out what happened to her mother, but she didn't know where to start. She spent hours brainstorming through ideas about where she could start her search or which people she could contact. She was not in touch with her father's end of the family, plus she didn't think they would be able to help her with this.
For some reason, Linda found herself at the civil registry's office. She was in search of her parents' marriage certificate, hoping it would help her with the next step and she was right, she found the trail she could follow. On the certificate, she found the name and address of her mother's parents. Having located them, Linda came up with an idea.
Linda found out that before marrying her father, her mother used to live in Yukon with her parents. This gave her the idea of running a detailed ad in the Yukon News. Her ad said, "I am looking for my relatives. My grandparents’ names are Margaret and Andrew Carvell. My mother’s name is Lucy Ann Carvell. She was born on October 14, 1935, in Skagway."
Linda knew it was a long shot but she had to try. That is all she could do, to try. Something is better than nothing. She was hoping someone could tell her the whereabouts of her grandparents or maybe where her mother used to live. She knew she has to be patient. So she began waiting for responses.
Not much later after the ad was published, the RCMP got a call from Whitehorse, Yukon. It was a woman who said that she saw the ad and claimed she knows the missing person. According to her, the missing woman from the ad was her mother! Linda was about to receive some insane news.
That morning, Linda received a call that changed her life forever. The woman on the phone introduced herself as Rhonda Glenn and claimed to be her half-sister. There was a prolonged silence on the call. Linda was speechless. When she posted that ad she didn't expect to come across a half-sister.
Linda didn't foresee it but there was more to be revealed, Rhonda told her that her mother was alive! This whole time, all her life, Linda believed her mother was dead. Her eyes welled up. Out of every information she assumed to obtain while putting out the ad, this was not even close to what she expected.
Linda came to know that Lucy had moved back to Yukon to start a new life. She remarried and had four children. Linda was happy to find out she was alive but a lot of questions were racing through her mind, why did she leave in the first place? Did she not want to be a part of their family? Rhonda gave her Lucy's number to get all the answers she wants.
Linda braced herself and dialed the number, her heart was pounding in her chest. She just didn't know what to expect. But when she heard her voice on the other end, it was difficult to hold back her tears. Linda told Lucy who she was and referred to her as 'mom' and it was the strangest feeling but also a warm one.
Lucy invited Linda to Yukon, she wanted to meet her in person. Linda was finally going to meet her mother after all these years and she was ready. She couldn't be more excited. Especially because she had this whole other family she never knew about. She booked the next available flight to Yukon and set off.
As Linda stepped out of the terminal, she spotted her mother just as their eyes met. It was a surreal feeling. Lucy could see her eyes in Linda's eyes, she recognized her daughter immediately. It was an emotional reunion, to say the least. They hugged each other and didn't let go for what seemed like forever. Finally, Lucy took her daughter home.
Granted that Lucy was Linda's mother, but she was nothing but a stranger at the moment. Linda was barely seven years old when her mother disappeared and after that, she didn't have many memories to remember her. Even though the woman recognized her immediately, Linda didn't know her mother. Despite that, she wanted to open up to her mother and have a conversation.
Of course, Linda was crazy happy to see her mother. She had waited for this moment for so long she never thought it would come. But she kept wondering, what would it be like to have a mother again? Is she ready to know the answers she has wanted all her life?
Linda was ready to know the truth, so that's what Lucy did. She told her everything. Marvin was an abusive husband. He would run around with other women and Lucy had to put up with that for years but she did it for the kids, until one day when Marvin kicked her out of the house. She had no other option but to leave and never return.
Linda felt extreme grief for her mother and unbelievable anger for her dad. She blamed him for growing up without a mother. But, at the same time, it wasn't clear why Lucy left her and Daniel behind. She wanted to know why she didn't take them with her... Did she not want her?
Lucy explained to Linda that it is impossible for her to not want or miss her children. And she did come back for the children but Marvin closed the door on her face. He said she can not take the kids with her. So ultimately, she had to leave them behind but it was not her choice. Marvin made that choice for her.
Linda decided to not dwell on the sadness anymore. She felt extremely lucky to have found her mother. She lived all her life believing she will never come back but life gave her another chance and she planned on taking full advantage of that. She stayed with her mother and her new family for a whole week catching up for the lost times.
After spending the best week of her life with her mother, Linda was ready to return home. She wanted to stay longer but she didn't want to overstay her welcome. They remained in touch through phone calls, speaking as frequently as they could. But it just didn't feel enough to either of them.
The more she got to know her new family better, the more she wanted to stay behind with them. Ultimately, Linda decided to move in with them and live with her 77 years old mother. She didn't know how long she had with her, and she didn't want to waste any part of the gift she had received from life.
Rhonda couldn't be more excited about this. Being the elder one in her family, she always wanted an elder sister of her own and now she had one. She felt for Linda, who missed out on all those years with her mother. But she was more than happy to have her around and be a part of this family.
The disappearance of Lucy Ann Johnson became a worldwide sensation. It is one of the biggest missing person cases in history. It took them 52 years to find the person and when they did, the person was alive and living their best life! Usually, in such cases of missing people, they end up finding a body instead of a living person. People assume the worst after all.
Linda's idea succeeded to not only find out what happened to her mother but also she found her mother alive, along with new people who she could now call her family. She truly was one of the lucky ones who got the chance to be with someone they thought they had lost forever.
This reunion meant a lot to the RCMP as well. After so many tries to find a lead to Lucy, her daughter Linda managed to achieve it 52 years after her disappearance. They were finally able to close the cold case of Lucy Ann Johnson. The biggest unsolved missing person case was, at last, over.