David Hamlin, Emmy Award winning filmmaker and producer for National Geographic TV, will be in Lititz Feb. 23 to talk about his work in Africa. This visual program, sponsored by the Lititz Rotary Club Travelogue, will be held at the Warwick High School Auditorium, 301 W. Orange St., Lititz. A matinee is scheduled for 2 p.m., and an evening show is set for 7:30 p.m. A musical prelude starts at 1:30 and 7 p.m., respectively. Tickets are available at the door; adults are $5 and students are $2.

Brenda Heist, missing for 11 years and declared legally deceased, found in Key Largo

By:  STEPHEN SEEBER, Record Express Staff

She dropped her kids off at school, befriended a group of vagabond hitchhikers, left for Florida and never looked back…until last Friday.

Brenda C. Heist, who on Feb. 8, 2002 traded her life as a Lititz homemaker for that of a dumpster diving scavenger, was immediately reported missing and eventually presumed dead after an extensive investigation went cold. The case was brought back to life, more than 11 years later, with a phone call to Lititz police on April 26.

“I was shocked,” said Det. Sgt. John Schofield, the officer who took the call. “Quite honestly, I presumed her to be deceased as well, and I thought we were going to get the phone call one day that her remains were discovered.”

The call came after Heist, who was reportedly tired of being homeless and on the run, approached a sheriff’s deputy in Key Largo. She said there was an open warrant on her in which she used a false identification. While the officer was checking on the warrant, she handed over her Pennsylvania ID and said her husband reported her missing in 2002. A national database search confirmed that Brenda Heist was missing and declared deceased, and a photo sent to Schofield via text matched the face to the name.