Abandoned "Jane Doe" Identified. She was a JW. (page 2)

Tatiana

I really want to find out what happens here.

UPDATE

Family members are glad to know about 'Elba,' N.J. investigator says
by Susan K. Livio/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday March 25, 2009, 11:30 AM

Three members of Elba Leonor Diaz Socarras' large extended family this morning spoke to the state investigator who tracked down her identity, and expressed relief about learning her whereabouts.

They last saw Elba 50 years ago, just before she left Colombia for Venezuela in 1959. She immigrated to New York City in 1969, Human Services Police Lieutenant Eduardo Ojeda said.

Elba, who turns 75 Friday, has been living in state psychiatric hospitals since mall security guards found her nearly 15 years ago. She has Alzheimer's disease and cannot speak. She once told hospital workers her name was "Elba" or "Alba," but authorities did not have enough information to confirm it.

In a conference call arranged by Telemundo and RCN in New York, Ojeda said he spoke briefly with Elba's half brother and a sister in Colombia and a cousin from west Florida. The relatives could not be immediately reached.

"They are very happy to know where she is. They never knew what happened to her,'' Ojeda said. There were many times they wished they would have been able to share family news, such as when one of her brothers died, he added.

The relatives described their long-lost relative as "pretty, lovable and warm,'' Ojeda said.

Elba has as many as 20 brothers and sisters, although some have a different mother, and approximately 87 cousins, he said.

"I am glad the relatives can now know what became of her. That's a consolation,'' Ojeda said.

The investigation did not reveal how the woman wandering the mall on Nov. 2, 1994 wound up there. Ojeda suspects she was abandoned, and is turning his files over to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office to decide whether a crime happened.
Through a six-year investigation, aided by a publicity campaign last fall, Ojeda learned through records and anonymous tipsters the woman lived in Brooklyn, had a daughter, and worked in various factory jobs. She was never reported missing.

betterdaze

Posted by meowjersey on 03/25/09 at 4:35PM

As reported earlier, Elba was an active Jehovah's Witness who shared in the ministry in Brooklyn. Sadly, it is not unusual for JWs to break all ties with family members at the direction of the Watchtower Society (the publishing company pretending to be a religion).

The real questions for investigators: Why didn't the elders in her congregation look after her as her health deteriorated? Were they complicit in dumping her off out-of-state, when her healthcare needs became a burden? They can talk all they want about being Christians and "finding lost sheep," but has even one Jehovah's Witness come forward to claim her yet?

Cheers and many blessings to Officer Ojeda, who never gave up Elba as the Jehovah's Witness "brothers and sisters" at her Kingdom Hall certainly did.

~Sue (meow )

moshe

Yes, this lady became a JW and gained a new family in the US- at the KH, so she lost contact with relatives. I have heard the same story at the KH, that JW's don't need to take care of elderly family and who have refused to become JW's. I doubt that they will ever uncover who forgot this lady existed- and perhaps her purse was stolen and that is why she had no ID on her.

undercover

This is an unfortnate story, whether the lady had been associated with JWs or some other faith.

This doesn't necessarily condemn JWs as unloving and uncaring...but what it does show is that JWs are no different than any other segment of society. There is no special brotherhood. You can be forgotten and ignored just as easily in the JW faith as in any other faith or group setting.

What will really be distrubing will be the defense of a JW when presented with this tale of negligence...I can almost see some of my family saying it..."well, she probably had some mental issues that made it hard for the brothers to deal with.." or "she probably refused to cooperate with the brothers when they tried to help her...". They will put the blame squarely on her shoulders, dissolving in their mind, any and all possible misdeeds by any of the faithful.

StAnn

I'm still putting my money on her daughter being DF'd and her mother, being a good Dub, refusing to speak with her, as to why the daughter had no idea where her mother was.

Wonder how we can find out?

StAnn

asilentone

St Ann, Ask her daughter of her status in the org?

asilentone

If she is df'd, we might be able to help her.

asilentone

maybe we can get her story here on JWN?

wha happened?

This sounds similar in regards to dumping off someone. There was a sister in our hall that I would call special. Her comments would ramble on, she would comment on the pictures, sometimes describing things that no one else saw, etc etc. Well as she deteriorated, our elders contacted the elders of the daughter. They wanted the daughter to pick her up. The daughter said no as her Mom wanted to stay in that cong. It then became a war between the two elder bodies as to who would end up with her. Well fortunately, the elder body of her daughter said they would make arangements.

She was treated with dignaty until she died.

The former cong would still mock her behavior and her social skills.

It's sad that "Jane Doe" was never reported by her daughter. But I can believe it. My own sister would have done the same.

Abandoned "Jane Doe" Identified. She was a JW.

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