Lucy Ann Johnson (born October 14, 1935) is an American-Canadian woman who was reported missing in May 1965,[1] after not having been seen since September 1961. Johnson was found alive in July 2013[2] after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) reopened the investigation into her disappearance.[3][4]
Lucy Ann Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lucy Ann Carvell October 14, 1935 (age 89) Skagway, Territory of Alaska, U.S. |
| Disappeared | September 1961 – June 2013 (51 years and 9 months) Whalley, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada |
| Status | Found alive |
| Known for | Disappearance |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Spouse |
Marvin Johnson (m. 1954–1990) |
| Children | Linda Evans (née Johnson), Daniel Johnson; 4 others |
Disappearance
editLucy Ann Johnson is an Alaska native who, prior to her disappearance, was living in Surrey, British Columbia with her husband Marvin and their two children, Linda and Daniel.[5] She was seen by a neighbour in the 10300-block of 145A Street, Surrey, in September 1961.[6] Johnson was finally reported missing by her husband Marvin on May 14, 1965, who admitted she actually had gone missing years earlier. The police believed that foul play was involved in her disappearance, and her husband was suspected of her murder.[7] Marvin was interrogated, neighbours were questioned, and the family's yard was excavated, but no evidence was found.[8] The trail went cold and charges against him were never laid.[6] Marvin later remarried and died in the 1990s of natural causes.[9] In the years following Johnson's disappearance, investigators continued to do DNA tests on unidentified remains, but never found any matches.[7]
Rediscovery
editIn June 2013, almost 52 years after Johnson went missing, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey highlighted her disappearance as a cold case in their "Missing of the Month" series.[7] Following that, Johnson's daughter, Linda Evans, decided to do an investigation of her own, and was able to find old documents indicating that Johnson had lived in the community of Carcross, Yukon, before moving to British Columbia and settling down.[7] In July, Evans placed a plea for help in the Yukon News, stating, "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 Oct. 14, 1935 in Skagway."[8] She received a reply from a woman named Rhonda[10] from Whitehorse, Yukon, who claimed that Johnson was her mother. Johnson, who was then 77 years old, was discovered alive and well in Yukon; she had remarried and had four more children.[9] Johnson said she had disappeared because her late husband Marvin was abusive, and that she tried to take her children with her, but he would not allow it.[11]
A few months after Johnson's rediscovery, Evans flew to Whitehorse to reunite with her mother and to meet Rhonda and her three other half-siblings.[11]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "25 Missing People That Were Mysteriously Found Alive". List25. 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
- ^ "Missing mom found alive in Canada after more than 50 years". Fox News. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ Zytaruk, Tom (28 June 2013). "Surrey RCMP still looking for Lucy Ann Johnson, missing for 48 years now". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ Woo, Andrea (19 July 2013). "Missing for more than 50 years, B.C. mother found alive". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ Sheila Reynolds (2013-07-18). "Surrey mom found 52 years after going missing". The Surrey Leader. Archived from the original on 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ^ a b "Missing B.C. Woman Found 50 Years Later". The Huffington Post. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
- ^ a b c d "Surrey woman missing for 50 years found alive in Yukon". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
- ^ a b "'I thought she must be dead': B.C. woman finds mother alive in the Yukon 52 years after she disappeared". National Post. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
- ^ a b "Return of the Missing Mom after 52 Years". The Sunday Observer. Sri Lanka. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ Reynolds, Sheila (July 25, 2013). "Mom who was missing 52 years says she was never hiding". The Surrey Leader. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
- ^ a b "B.C. woman reunites with Yukon mom missing 52 years". CBC News. Oct 9, 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.