The Frustrating and Heartbreaking Story of Geraldine Largay’s Disappearance

Geraldine Largay was an avid hiker and loving grandmother. She loved nature and dreamed of hiking the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail that went from Maine to Georgia. In 2013, she was able to make that lifelong goal happen. She’d already trekked roughly 900 miles through the trail, but then she disappeared into the dense forest.

Her husband was actually waiting for her 20 miles away in a parking lot, but she never arrived. It took two years before her disappearance was solved, and the truth of the trek finally emerged. What could have possibly happened to Largay? Was foul play involved?! Continue reading to find out!

A Nature Enthusiast

Geraldine Largay, or Gerry as she was known, was a retired nurse. She and her husband moved to Atlanta, and she was passionate about the environment. Ultimately, she spent many hours exploring the woods beside their home, which made what happened much more surprising!

Adventure of a Lifetime

While Gerry was over 60, she was healthy and fit. In fact, she was empowered when walking for long periods and enjoyed being surrounded by nature. She had a bucket list idea for the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail hike, which took five to seven months to finish, but she was prepared mentally and physically!

George Cared Deeply

Gerry’s husband wasn’t happy because she had a back injury, and the trek might be too strenuous. Still, he could do nothing more than support her ambitions, and they came up with a plan to make things easier for her. George wasn’t participating, but he agreed to drive to various checkpoints to give her supplies.

Slow and Steady

Gerry and her friend, Jane Lee, set out for the adventure on April 23, 2013. Calling herself inchworm because of her slow pace, she carried a journal. The two ladies started in the middle, making their way up north, and Gerry couldn’t have been happier.

Unexpected Plan Change

Jane and Gerry made a great pair. They covered plenty of ground and helped each other. However, Jane ended up having a family emergency two months into the hike and had to quit. Though she begged, Gerry wanted to continue the trail and managed fine for three weeks.

Her Last Photograph

Gerry stayed at Poplar Ridge Shelter the night of July 21 and made friends with Dorothy Boynton Rust. The next morning, she woke up and realized she was 22 miles away from where she could see George again. That’s when Dorothy took a picture of her. About 7:15 a.m., she texted her husband to tell him she was leaving.

Lost Her Bearings

Gerry had planned to spend one night at the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to and hike to where the trail met Route 27. However, she had to urinate and walked into the forest to find a tree. When she finished, she realized she was way too deep in the forest and couldn’t remember how to get back to the trail!

Directionally Challenged and Flustered

By 11 a.m., she was lost in the woods. Jane had said that she’d taken wrong turns before and got combative and flustered. Now, though, Gerry was alone. She texted her husband at 11:01 to say she was lost. George never received the message because there was no signal.

Desolate and Dark in the Woods

Gerry continues walking deeper into the forest to find higher ground. However, the sun was starting to disappear, and dark clouds were rolling in. With no other choice, she pitched the tent and waited.

Gerry Delayed

The next morning, she awoke to a downpour. She decided to send another message, but that one didn’t send either. Ultimately, she knew today was her day to see George, but he wasn’t worried. While she pitched a tent, he slept in his SUV and hoped to see her face.

No Trace

The rain stopped, but Gerry wasn’t there. Now, George was concerned, so he organized a search party to search for her. Gerry actually wasn’t far from the trail, but the search party still missed her!

Surviving the Wilderness

Because of the sunny weather, Gerry kept going. She found a stream and was optimistic of her impending rescue. To stay calm, she reminded herself that she had three days worth of food and hung pieces of a silver blanket to catch a plane’s attention.

Items Connected to the Disappearance

The search team found clues of Gerry, such as strands of hair, Band-aids, and blood droplets. However, testing proved that they weren’t hers. Dorothy Rust heard about her missing friend and sent the police a photo. This was printed on various fliers.

Multiple False Leads

Various crazy theories surfaced about her disappearance. Some believed that suspicious men murdered her or that she was attacked by a bear. One group of hikers claimed they saw her near Spaulding Mountain, but the police just didn’t know!

Searching the Wrong Area

An unknown hiker claimed to spend the night with Gerry at the Lean-to, so police focused the search on that particular area, but this was way off!

Hope Dwindled

Search teams didn’t have much luck and went to searching by plane. Gerry heard them flying overhead and was relieved. Though she made noise, she realized that no one could see or hear her and was getting weak.

Glimmer of Hope

Gerry finally ate the rest of her food and had little energy. She couldn’t bear the thought of George living without her and tried to hang on. Two weeks after she disappeared, there was no progress. This was now a missing person case.

Gracefully Accepting Fate

On August 6, Gerry was still alive and hadn’t eaten in nine days. She tried sending one more text message, but there was no network. With little left in her, she lit a fire. Writing in her journal, she gave up and knew she was about to die.

The Doppelganger Sheds Lights

At that time, another hiker in her 60s contacted the police. She fit Gerry’s description, but she was reserved and quiet. Everyone who claimed to see Gerry had actually found her doppelganger! This woman stayed at the same places, but she never saw her the day she got lost.

Can’t Find Gerry

Unfortunately, the doppelganger’s statement came too late. In those two weeks, Gerry went further into the woods, and there were too many false leads. Ironically, the land she was lost on was owned by the Navy and primarily used for SERE training, which helps soldiers learn how to avoid getting captured.

Finally Found

A Navy forester finally found Gerry’s tent near the Appalachian Trail. She was inside her sleeping bag. The issue was she’d been missing for two years, two months, and 24 days. This poor man just solved a missing person’s case and reported it to appropriate authorities.

The Tragic Circumstances

They found Gerry’s journal with her body, and her last entry was dated August 18. However, authorities aren’t sure that this was correct. If so, that meant she’d been alive 26 days after the missing person’s report! In fact, her tent was about two miles north of the trail and just 30 minutes from lodging.

Her Family, Her Priority

Gerry’s tent was filled with heart-wrenching things. She wrote each of her loved ones a letter. Up until the end, she was thinking of everyone else. George is ultimately grateful for those who looked for Gerry. More than 130 certified people assisted.

A Compass, Map, and Survival Skills

Dee Dauphinee was inspired by Gerry’s story and wrote a bestseller about her. While Gerry’s search was unsuccessful, Dauphinee believes that rescuers couldn’t have done anything differently. He hopes that his book helps others save themselves if they’re in the woods. Continue reading to find out about the twist ending for Flora Stevens!

42 Years Missing and Found in a Strange Place

Imagine taking your loved one to the doctor for a checkup, and they’re gone. That’s what happened to a New York couple. The man took his wife to a doctor’s appointment in August 1975, but when he came back, he waited for her, and she was gone. It took 42 years to figure it out!

Just a Routine Cold

The day started like the others. The Stevens had a to-do list, with Florence (Flora) going to the doctor. Her husband drove her and never dreamed he might spend the night alone. This 36-year-old woman was adventurous and exciting.

The Catskills Resort

1975 was a year of fun, and Flora seemed to have the best times at her job. She worked at a hip and lavish resort called The Concord, which was in the Catskills. It held 1,200 rooms and was a great place to unwind.

Education Is Crucial

During the investigation about her whereabouts, detectives found that she attended Lincoln High School. However, they weren’t sure how an old high school name might help them now. With little to go on, they only knew she was married to Robert Stevens.

End of the Line

Back then, people couldn’t use the internet to keep up with family members. It was actually much harder to find someone. Even Flora’s husband didn’t know where she went. There were just no breadcrumbs to leave them or a cell phone to track.

Going Cold

Robert and the detectives tried to determine what happened to her. However, the days turned to weeks and months. Leads went nowhere, so the case was marked as an unsolved one. Even Robert chose to stop looking for her to get closure. About half a century later, the case was solved!

Fresh Eyes

Once the case was cold, no one picked it up until 2017. Then, Yan Salomon learned an interesting fact that burst open the case. This senior investigator went through old files and realized that something familiar was there. He continued looking and believed he solved it. He had found human remains and believed that woman was Flora!

Putting Together the Pieces

Over the course of several days, Salomon made phone calls about the remains. He called the Sullivan County Sheriff’s office and talked to a detective, explaining how he had found the remains of a woman in the area. The detective chose to help him identify this body!

Playing a Numbers Game

Roughly 70,000 women go missing each year in the US, and some are cold cases. For Salomon, that made it hard for him to do it all alone. With a keen eye and a bit of luck, he promised to find out what happened to Flora.

On the Hunt

Salomon required database access to figure out whose body this was and if it was Flora’s. He realized that sifting through 21,894 files took too long, so he gathered a team to help. While it took a lot of time, they were all focused.

Wrong Trail

After so many hours, Salomon asked for another favor. He asked the team to find living friends or relatives that could be connected to this body. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do it, and Flora’s case remained unsolved.

Handing It Off

With so much time and effort invested, Salomon had to hand off the case to Detective Rich Morgan. He couldn’t crack it alone or with his team. Rich took it over and was tasked with connecting the body and Flora’s case. Somehow, he knew there was a link and continued digging.

The Missing Link

Detective Morgan finally caught a break when he saw the woman’s ID badge. They had a name for the body that Salomon had earlier found. This badge proved she worked in the Catskills Mountains and went missing around the same time.

More and More Dead Ends

Days turned to weeks and months with no other clues. Again, Robert lost hope and passed away 10 years after the report of her going missing. That made things more complicated for the detective because there were no more living relatives.

What Changed Everything

With modern technology, Detective Morgan had what he needed. He searched the Social Security Database and discovered that Flora’s number was being used.

The Weirdest

Detective Morgan drove to an assisted-living facility and asked to see Flora Harris, which was Flora Steven’s maiden name. He was finally face-to-face with the woman who caused such a fuss. This poor woman experienced psychiatric issues and run away only to become confused and forgetful.