Back from the Dead. Missing Mother Comes Home after 11 Years.

She dropped her children at school and then vanished without a trace.

Brenda Heist, a 42-year-old mother of two dropped her children at school, went home and then vanished without a trace.

All her things were left untouched in her home, in the town of Lititz, Pennsylvania.

Upon returning from school, her children discovered the house deserted, with no indication of their mother’s whereabouts. Dinner had been left to defrost. The laundry was partially completed. To the kids, it looked like their mother had simply popped to the shop, but she never came home.

The children called their father, who promptly filed a missing person report with the police.

Four days later, Brenda’s vehicle was located in a car park near a bus station in an adjacent county.

A substantial search operation was launched as anxious friends and family members feared the worst. They firmly believed that Brenda would never abandon her children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son. Her husband, Lee Heist, soon became a suspect in her disappearance.

At the time, Brenda and Lee were in the process of a divorce. According to a website established to assist in locating Brenda, she had taken a few days off work to inspect housing complexes. Despite initial suspicions, Lee passed a polygraph test and was eventually exonerated. A cold case unit was later established to continue the investigation.

The Heist family were ostracised by their community, as neighbours were fearful that Lee had murdered his wife.

Lee had Brenda legally declared deceased in 2010/11, claimed the life insurance and then remarried.

In April 2013, a dishevelled woman entered a police station in Florida, claiming to be Brenda Heist and stating that she was sick of running.