When a mother went to a hospital and never came back, her children set out to find the answer, but it wasn’t until 30 years later that they found out what happened to their mother.
Myrtle Brown went missing in 1990 at the age of 35 while visiting friends in New York; Her fate remained unknown until her brother Robert Brown had a chance encounter on a TV special about unidentified bodies.
The common cold, which has lasted more than three decades, was solved by a chance encounter with a news show, but prior to the TV segment, the Brown family suffered for 32 years, constantly agonizing over where their mother might be.
Myrtle Brown went missing in New York in 1990 at the age of 35; Her fate remained unknown until her brother Robert Brown turned on a television segment
The cold case, which lasted more than three decades, was solved by a chance encounter with a news program about unidentified bodies
Robert (pictured left with Myrtle’s daughter Eboney) thought the identified woman he saw on TV was his sister and called the cold case team, who revealed it wasn’t her
When Myrtle was visiting friends in New York, her purse containing her epilepsy medication was stolen
After her purse was stolen, she called daughter Eboney Brown, then 13, and the rest of her family to let them know what had happened and to let them know she was going to King’s County Hospital in Brooklyn to be checked refill their medication.
In an interview with NBC, Eboney said, “She ended up going by herself and that was the last moment, you know, that we ever heard from her.”
Mrytle’s family searched everywhere for her, visiting local police stations and hospitals, but were never able to locate her mother.
“I never thought she died.
“I thought maybe she just wanted something different out of life. I didn’t know to be honest, I was just confused and sad,” her daughter said.
The family wondered what had become of their loved one for 32 years until one day Robert turned on the TV and started watching NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
Back then there was a special about cold cases and it was about the team of people investigating these unsolved mysteries that were traced back decades.
One of the team members was Dr. Angela Soler, associate director of forensic anthropology, who shared that the team managed nearly 1,250 cases of unidentified individuals.
The cold case team got to work, spending two weeks searching through records of unidentified cases spanning two months (Myrtle pictured alongside her family).
Robert and Eboney revealed their beloved sister and mother last told them she was going to the hospital to refill her epilepsy medication after her purse was stolen
Robert discovered an image of a facial reconstruction on a missing person’s poster, a tool the cold case team used to reconstruct the facial structure with a clay model
As he watched, Robert spotted an image of facial reconstruction on a missing person’s poster, a tool the cold case team used to reconstruct facial structures and facial features with a clay model to capture viewers’ attention.
“I saw a young lady who may or may not be my sister.
“And I was like, ‘Wow, I wonder if that could be her,'” Robert told NBC.
Two days after the segment aired, Robert and his wife called the coroner’s office hoping to locate his sister.
Although the woman Robert saw wasn’t his sister, Soler and her team had everything they needed to get to work and uncover the truth of what happened to Myrtle.
Soler said: “I looked at the reconstruction and realized, OK, I’m probably looking for a middle-aged black woman.
“Everything matched what the family told us and we were also informed that she went missing in May 1990. So I knew exactly where to start my search.”
Soler reviewed records flagged as “unconfirmed unknowns” over a two-month period.
She began her search by checking death dates from May 1, 1990 until she reached one person who had died on May 17, 1990.
“In this case, the contextual information included the date she died.
“She died in Brooklyn, which is consistent with family telling me she used to receive medical care in Brooklyn.
“She had a matching putative name, a matching putative birthdate, and the family had provided some medical information about their missing loved one that also matched what was on file,” Soler revealed to NBC.
32 years after Myrtle Brown went missing, her brother and daughter Eboney Brown received a call that they had found a match (Myrtle pictured).
The Brown family found out their mother had died of a seizure while waiting in a hospital emergency room, but were finally at peace after all the questions
The Brown family was able to hold a virtual memorial for Myrtle (pictured) and noted that they were grateful to Soler for helping them solve the mystery of their beloved sister and mother
Soler then called Robert and gave him the news he had been waiting for over three decades.
Soler explained to Robert and Eboney that she thought she found his sister and her mother.
Eboney asked for a photo of the deceased to confirm whether or not it was Myrtle.
And while it took Robert a second to realize it was Myrtle, Eboney knew instantly and felt like she’d been transported back in time.
“As soon as I saw the photo…just, you know, you knew it was her,” Eboney said.
The family then finally learned the truth about what happened to Myrtle.
Myrtle was never admitted to King’s County Hospital, but Robert and Eboney learned that she had been waiting in an emergency and had a seizure and died.
Myrtle had only given the hospital her name and date of birth.
The Brown family was able to hold a virtual memorial for Myrtle and realized they had finally found peace after finding out what happened.
And while the recovery Robert saw wasn’t Myrtle, Soler emphasizes the importance of people stepping forward and encourages other families to do the same.
“Even though it wasn’t the person the game was based on, it helped us solve a case.
“It made a difference. And that’s the whole point … getting people to stop for a moment and think and go ahead and call us,” she said.
