A woman based in London whose mum Tatiana Lupaca disappeared in 1999 has been searching for answers for 27 years – and she's now fundraising for a private investigator after finding new information
www.mirror.co.uk
EXCLUSIVE: 'My mum vanished 27 years ago when I was just seven – now I've made terrifying discovery'
January 2026
A woman whose mum vanished 27 years ago this month is raising funds to bring in a private investigator – following the emergence of "concerning" fresh details.
Tatiana Lupaca was last spotted by neighbours in Brooklyn,
New York City, packing items into a van. The mum had informed a friend she was heading to Miami for a job interview and would return within a week.
Yet her devastated family, including her husband and two kids, haven't had any contact with her since.
Her eldest daughter, now living in London and just seven when her mother disappeared without trace, has been probing the case since her schooldays, and a recent finding has left her more anxious than ever.
In an
exclusive chat with the Mirror US, the daughter, who preferred to remain anonymous, discussed her cherished mum, the
missing persons investigation and why she might be nearer than ever to uncovering the truth, despite harbouring a disturbing theory about what could have occurred.
Discussing her urgent quest for closure, she revealed: "We believe she is still alive. I don't think you can believe in anything else when you want your mum back. I guess I will believe she is alive for all my life until I find her.
"Whatever happened to her, as long as she is alive, this is all I want..."
Tatiana was 27 when her family last had contact with her. She had relocated to Brooklyn from Latvia in the summer of 1998, seeking a better life for her family amidst challenging times in the eastern European nation.
The initial plan was for Tatiana's husband to make the move first and establish their new life, but a relative residing in New York City felt it would be better if a woman made the initial journey. Theref, the mother-of-two secured a visitor visa and set off for the Big Apple herself.
Reflecting on the emotional farewell at the airport, her daughter shared: "Of course it was very emotional for all of us. Of course I did not want her to go. But she promised that soon we will be together again."
She added: "She asked me to look after my younger sister and my dad while she is away. And I guess I took this duty very seriously."
After arriving, Tatiana moved out from her relative's place and started renting a room in Brooklyn. Her family believed she would have been safe had she stayed put.
She informed them that she was employed by a Jewish family nearby, where she worked as a housekeeper and childminder.
Despite the 4,000-mile distance, the couple were making headway with the paperwork, with plans to reunite soon. Recalling her mother, her daughter said: "She was amazing. I remember a lot because I was lucky enough to spend all my seven years with her. I didn't go to nursery so I remember quite a lot about her.
"She was so caring and there was nothing she could not do, she was very positive, happy, energetic. She loved everyone and everyone loved her. She would trust anyone really so it was really easy I guess to get in trouble because she always wanted to help someone and she would always think of someone else first and she would never really think of herself."
Tatiana was last spotted in Brooklyn on 25 January 1999, after allegedly setting off for Miami to attend an interview for a secretarial position. Her daughter is adamant that she was "definitely planning to come back" and worries her mum may have been abducted and exploited.
She had travelled to Miami the previous month with the family she was employed by in Brooklyn. She was due to return within a week on her second trip as she had an appointment at the immigration office that would help bring her back together with her family.
Her daughter suspects that Tatiana only confided in her friend about the Miami trip because her husband would have urged her to be cautious, not to trust anyone, and to delay until they arrived. Discussing her unsettling theory about her mother's fate, she said: "I don't want to focus on the possibility that she was trafficked... but it was a big thing back then in the USA.
"Of course anything could have happened to her, but there would definitely never be a single chance that she would have left us behind. She loved us all and she was waiting for us to come soon.
"I believe there are people involved who kidnapped her because she quickly made lots of friends and she did trust everyone. It was easy to trap her as she was so focused on a thought that she needed to get us over and obviously she wanted to provide a good start for our arrival."
The daughter went on to say: "It does look like trafficking but I am hoping it could be something else, she got in an accident, maybe she is homeless. Maybe she lost her memory because she could also have experienced big stress if something stressful happened and she might possibly lose memory. Maybe she is in the hospice or something."
Tatiana's daughter has been yearning for answers since she turned seven, tirelessly spreading awareness about her missing mum and even writing to a Russian television programme dedicated to finding vanished individuals. She recalled: "All my life, since I was seven, I was waiting for her return. All my life I was thinking I would find her."
The daughter commended her father for providing them with the most loving upbringing possible despite the devastating situation. Now 34 with a young daughter herself, she recently stumbled upon crucial new details about her mum.
This breakthrough came after Tatiana's closest friend in Kazakhstan discovered an old diary containing an American telephone number written beside her mother's name. It was a contact Tatiana had shared, and posting on the
Facebook group Missing Tatiana Lupaca, the daughter wrote: "As exciting as it was to discover, it has also become very concerning."
With assistance from volunteers helping in the search, they tracked the number to a Brooklyn address from 1998-1999, remarkably close to where her mother had resided.
Digging deeper, they discovered that a Jewish family resided at the address during that period. She penned: "This immediately stood out to me, because it matches the story my mum always told us – that she worked for a Jewish family in Brooklyn. Until now, we never had their names or the address.
"I then found a woman who I believe lived at that address at the time and reached out to her via Facebook, explaining the situation. Without responding, she blocked me, and I can no longer access her account... that was instantly alarming to me.."
After numerous attempts, she finally got through to a man who sounded irate and claimed he didn't know her mum and couldn't recall her, without even verifying her name. They abruptly ended the call, leaving her with a "strong feeling that something was being hidden".
Recounting the subsequent events, she said: "I then sent messages to their phone, apologising if I've frightened them, explaining that I don't need anything from them, that I only wanted to know whether they knew my mum, if she was working in their house.
"After that, I called again and pleaded with them to listen to me and assist me. They wouldn't utter a single word. After a few seconds of silence, they would hang up.
"This happened several more times. Eventually, I stopped calling, as they would answer the phone, remain completely silent for a moment, and then hang up...Now, I am lost and confused."
Tatiana's daughter clings to the hope that her mum is still alive, aware from other missing person cases that individuals often feel too ashamed to reconnect with their loved ones after a long absence.
"And I am more than anything sorry for him and my mum, that they didn't get to live the happy life they wanted to. I am sorry too for my younger sister that she doesn't remember how amazing our mum is and how lucky we were to have her. I am so proud to be her daughter and more than anything, I feel proud when I hear that I am a copy of my mother. People say I look like her and my character and energy is hers too."
She conclued: "It's so not fair that possibly some really bad guys out there decided that they can do this to my beautiful, kind young woman and her family. I remember how amazing my mother was, and I still wish and hope my daughter one day can meet her too."
![[IMG]](https://www.namus.gov/api/CaseSets/NamUs/MissingPersons/Cases/55671/Images/97629/Original "[IMG]")
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