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Missing Pennsylvania Woman Believed Dead Found In Keys

KEY LARGO (CBSMiami) – A Pennsylvania woman who disappeared nearly a dozen years ago after dropping her kids off at school has been found alive and well in the Florida Keys.

Last Friday, 53-year old Brenda Heist approached a deputy in Key Largo and told him that she may be wanted in Pinellas County. Heist has been living in Key West.

When the Monroe County Sheriff's Office ran her name, it came back that she was "missing and possibly deceased" from Lititz, Pennsylvania.

According to a detective from Pennsylvania who worked the case, she and her husband were divorcing. After dropping their children off at school, her car was found abandoned just days later with no signs of a struggle.

Three years ago, her husband asked Lancaster County courts to declare her legally dead.

Pennsylvania authorities were notified that she had been found. She is currently in protective custody in the Keys.

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