London Woman's 27-Year Quest for Missing Mother Takes a Chilling Turn
A woman now living in London, who was only seven years old when her mother disappeared without a trace 27 years ago, is intensifying her search after uncovering a disturbing new lead. Tatiana Lupaca, a 27-year-old Latvian immigrant, was last seen in Brooklyn, New York City, in January 1999, and her family has been desperate for answers ever since.
A Mother's Promise and a Family's Heartbreak
Tatiana Lupaca had moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 1998, seeking a better life for her family amid difficult times in Latvia. She left behind her husband and two young daughters, with plans to reunite them once paperwork was settled. Her eldest daughter, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalls an emotional farewell at the airport, where Tatiana promised they would soon be together again.
"She asked me to look after my younger sister and my dad while she is away," the daughter shared. "And I guess I took this duty very seriously." Tatiana was described as a caring, positive, and trusting individual, working as a housekeeper and childminder for a Jewish family in Brooklyn. However, on 25 January 1999, she told a friend she was heading to Miami for a job interview and would return within a week. She was never heard from again.
Decades of Searching and a Haunting Theory
For years, the daughter has probed the case, spreading awareness and even writing to television programmes dedicated to finding missing persons. She clings to the hope that her mother is still alive, but fears the worst. "I believe there are people involved who kidnapped her because she quickly made lots of friends and she did trust everyone," she said. "It was easy to trap her as she was so focused on a thought that she needed to get us over."
Her theory points to possible trafficking, a prevalent issue in the USA at the time, though she also considers alternatives like an accident, homelessness, or memory loss. "Of course anything could have happened to her, but there would definitely never be a single chance that she would have left us behind," she emphasised. "She loved us all and she was waiting for us to come soon."
A Breakthrough Lead and Alarming Reactions
The search took a significant turn recently when Tatiana's closest friend in Kazakhstan found an old diary containing an American telephone number written beside her mother's name. With help from volunteers, the number was traced to a Brooklyn address from 1998-1999, remarkably close to where Tatiana had lived.
Further investigation revealed that a Jewish family resided at that address during that period, matching Tatiana's story about her employment. The daughter reached out to a woman believed to have lived there via Facebook, but was immediately blocked. When she contacted a man associated with the number, he became irate, claimed not to know Tatiana, and hung up without verifying her name.
"I then sent messages to their phone, apologising if I've frightened them, explaining that I don't need anything from them," she recounted. "After that, I called again and pleaded with them to listen to me and assist me. They wouldn't utter a single word. After a few seconds of silence, they would hang up." This pattern repeated, leaving her with a strong feeling that something was being hidden.
Fundraising for a Private Investigator
After 27 years of relentless effort, the daughter feels she has exhausted all options and is now raising funds to hire a private investigator specialising in cold case missing persons in New York. Over £500 has already been collected through a GoFundMe campaign, though she admits asking for help has been a struggle.
"Recently, new information from the period shortly before our mum disappeared has come to light," she wrote in the appeal. "These findings may be significant, but they require proper evaluation, access to historical records, and professional investigative experience." She hopes that with expert assistance, she can finally uncover the truth about her mother's fate.
A Message of Hope and Resilience
Despite the years of uncertainty, the daughter remains hopeful, inspired by other missing person cases where individuals reconnect after long absences. She praises her father for providing a loving upbringing and wishes her mother could know how well he cared for them.
"I would want to tell her how amazing our dad was and is," she said. "How we learned what real love, care, kindness and loyalty is. I am so proud to be her daughter and more than anything, I feel proud when I hear that I am a copy of my mother." She dreams of one day reuniting with Tatiana, so her own young daughter can meet the grandmother she never knew.
