Joyce Darlene Patterson

Mother is Missing - Possibly in Phoenix
August 20, 2008

To Anyone Who Reads This:

My name is Miranda Rhuda. I am 25 years old and I am from

Ohio.

In 1996, my mother Joyce Darlene Patterson, age 53, went

missing from Ohio.

Since that time, I have continually searched for her with no

assistance and no outcome. Recently, I found public records

with her name and date of birth listed online. She is in

Phoenix (somewhere). The last address given to the police

in September 2007, was 813 W. Madison Street.

This address is an industrial building which is boarded up.

I know this because a man named Jeff Knapp, who is doing

homeless ministries, has assisted me in checking it out.

I believe that she may be homeless. She may be a drifter.

In the past, she has been an alcoholic and has had very

serious mental issues. I really need to find her for family

reasons and mostly so that I can get her off the streets

and get her treatment. There is no reason for her to be

homeless and/or stealing to provide for herself. She is 5 ft.

tall, 117 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes. Her Date of Birth is

07/18/1956.

I am enclosing pictures of her. I would appreciate any help

that you may be able to give me. If you could please post this

somewhere or forward it on to someone who may be able to help me, I would greatly appreciate it.

If you or anyone else, has any information, please send me

an email at misswriter415@aol.com

Thank you and God Bless,

Miranda Rhuda


Joyce Darlene Patterson, age 52, has been missing from Ohio since 1996. She boarded a bus with a couple of individuals who offered to assist her in getting back on her feet and she vanished. She has not been seen by her family again.


In 1997, she made a phone call to her sister in Norwalk, Ohio, in a whispering tone and claimed that she was being held against her will by religious cult members. The phone call was brief and she gave no information other than she was in Arizona.


This small amount of information gave her daughter Miranda, age 14, enough information to try and start searching for her mother. Being a minor there was little that Miranda could do to try and bring her mother home. Due to her mother’s alcoholic past, there were no adults in the family to back Miranda in her search for her mother.

It has been 12 years that Miranda has been searching for her. She has written multiple letters to the Phoenix Police Department reporting her mother as missing from Ohio. Phoenix PD failed to assist her claiming that they had contact with Joyce and she was in deed not missing.

Miranda requested that Phoenix Police Department provide her with the address or phone number to contact her mother, but they refused explaining that Arizona laws states that they can not disclose that information unless the adult in question chooses to do so in their own. But how would Joyce know that her daughter is searching for her if she can not get the word out?

After many failed attempts with Phoenix authorities, Miranda took to the internet to post requests of anyone in Phoenix willing to help her locate her mother. A man named Jeff Knapp, who takes pictures of homeless individuals in Arizona, responded to her request. “He went to amazing lengths to assist me in finding my mother,” said Miranda. “It was his determination in mailing letters and flyers to officials that finally got the Phoenix PD to listen.”
November 15, 2008, Detective Eric Cosgriff with the Phoenix Police Department Missing Persons Detail contacted Miranda Rhuda and reported that he had opened a case for her mother and officially declared Joyce Darlene Patterson as a missing person.

Since that time Miranda says that she has not heard much from them. “Detective Cosgriff explained to me that they would input my mother’s information into the National Missing Persons Database so that if any officers came in contact with her, it would flag her and they would contact me to let me know she was located.

However, they still will not provide me with her information. They will give her my contact information and she can choose to contact me.”

Miranda is grateful to Phoenix PD for the steps they are taking with her mother’s case; however, she did say, “I wish they would just provide me with the contact information. I am afraid that my mother is not mentally well or is afraid to contact me due to the years that have passed without word. If this is the case, I may never be able to locate and speak to her. It is important that she knows what has happened in our family over the years that she has been gone. I need her to know that we are not angry with her and I must find her for healing to begin in our family. I need closure.”

If you can help in any way at getting the word out about Joyce Darlene Patterson, please contact Miranda Rhuda (Skinn) directly at misswriter415@aol.com Miranda is open to any suggestions and appreciates all responses provided.