Canadian Woman Finally Explains Why She Left Her Family 52 Years Ago And Moved 1,200 Miles Away
Then she vanished.
This summer Johnson's daughter, Linda Evans, discovered that her mother currently lives in the Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada with a new family, which includes three sons and a daughter.
Evans recently flew 1,200 miles from Vancouver to the Yukon capital of Whitehorse to reunite with Johnson, CBC News reports.
"I was looking forward to it but, I dunno, it was just strange, knowing all this stuff," Evans told CBC Radio's On The Coast. "I thought she was dead all these years, and then, she's alive. And I thought: What was going through her head as well?"
Evans brought the news that her brother, Johnson's first child, had died.
When Evans asked Johnson why she bailed on their family, she was told that her father was abusive and unfaithful before he kicked Johnson out of the house without informing the children*. Evans was about 7 years old at the time.
Evans told CBC that she wasn't sure if she entirely believed the explanation.
"I just let it go. I didn't want to doubt anything she was telling me, but there was still a bit of doubt in my mind," she said. "I think I believe her, just because of the way she would look at me. She wants me to believe her."
Here's a look at the 1,218 miles between Lucy Johnson's two family homes.
*Back in 1965 the Surrey Royal Canadian Mounter police dug up the family's yard after learning Johnson had gone missing years earlier than her husband had claimed.
Since then she became one of world's oldest missing person cases.
Evans, now in her late 50s, attempted to solve the mystery after reading a Surrey Leader story about Johnson's disappearance.
Knowing her mother was born in Alaska, she placed an ad in the Yukon News detailing Lucy's name, place and date of birth, and her grandparents' names.
She received a phone call from a woman who said that she was pretty sure the woman Evans was searching for was her mother too, and they arranged the reunion.
Evans sais she is now seriously considering moving to Whitehorse.