Woman, 24, reveals mystery-ridden journey to find her grandmother who vanished without a trace in 1981... but wasn't reported missing until 41 years later

A woman whose grandmother disappeared without a trace in 1981 - after reportedly going to the shop to buy a pack of cigarettes - has spoken about trying to unpack the family mystery. Roberta Michels-Hopkins, from Camden, New Jersey, was just 29 years old when she vanished, having never come back from her outing to the store.

But bizarrely, a missing persons report was never logged by police. Roberta's son, who was an infant at the time of her disappearance, spent much of his childhood in foster care and presumed his mother abandoned him. It wasn't until 41 years later when his daughter Trinity Jagdeo, would discover her grandmother had mysteriously vanished and, shockingly, that no one had been searching for her.

Speaking exclusively to FEMALE Trinity revealed that she thinks her grandmother was murdered, but her search for answers has only led to more questions. She said: 'I truly think that she was murdered, by who? I haven't a clue at this point, it could’ve been her ex-husband, someone who didn’t like her, my grandfather, it could’ve been anyone, and because we have little information, we have to assume it’s everyone.'.

Trinity revealed she has reached out to her grandmother's sister, who is still alive, for answers however she had yet to receive a reply. She said: 'My hopes are that my aunt, Roberta’s daughter and my dad’s sister comes around. I feel like she knows so much, but won’t tell. She knows who I am, and she knows all about this, but she still hasn’t spoken about it.'.

Roberta Michels-Hopkins, from Camden, New Jersey, disappeared without a trace in 1981 after she reportedly went to the shop to buy a pack of cigarettes and never returned. In 2019, Trinity sent a DNA sample to an ancestry DNA website online and she started to track her family tree, eventually discovering that her grandmother was missing.

She said: 'I always knew she existed, for obvious reasons, but I really didn’t know the extent of what happened until I took a DNA test in 2019. 'Honestly I didn’t know any family members on my dad’s side of the family even existed. 'Once I took that DNA test, I was immediately linked to a tree that listed over 15,000 family members that went back to the 1700s - it was like I finally started to begin to know pieces of who I was and where I came from.

'I really thought that every question that I ever had was going to be answered, but I soon found out that it was the opposite- I had more questions than answers.'. The relatives connected Trinity to Roberta's sister, Judy, who she hoped would have more answers.

She said: 'I finally met my Aunt J (Roberta’s last living sibling) in 2020 and it was very pleasant, but Aunt J didn’t have any answers, just questions. 'In fact, because she found out that I was Roberta’s granddaughter, she was expecting to find answers as well.'.

Roberta was just 29-years-old when she vanished but bizarrely a missing persons report was never logged by police. Speaking exclusively to FEMALE Trinity (pictured) revealed that she thinks her grandmother was murdered, but her search for answers has only led to more questions.

Earlier this month, Trinity shared her story with Wondery's The Vanished podcast, she explained: 'I grew up knowing nothing about my father's side of the family. 'They had a picture and knew of Roberta but they really didn't know anything about her disappearance.'.

Judy recalled that she received a phone call in 1981, from the man Roberta was in a relationship with at the time, Kumar Jagdeo Sr, asking if she had seen or heard from Roberta shortly after she went missing. It prompted her to report Roberta as missing - but she was told by police that the mother-of-two had the 'right to disappear' if she wanted to.

Judy followed up a month left, but was still shrugged off, and felt police didn't take the case seriously. Over time, some family came to believe that Roberta might have gone to live in Florida, because they had family there - however she had left all of her belongings behind.

In 2022, Trinity had ensured that her grandmother's disappearance was finally acknowledged by law enforcement, officially reporting her as a missing person. She said: 'We had a detective volunteer [to take the case], we felt blessed. He asked myself and Judy to come to the police department a few times, they got her DNA and mine.'.

Over time, some family came to believe that Roberta might have gone to live in Florida, because they had family there (Roberta pictured in 1969). She was from the Brown Mills and the Pemberton area and lived in the Country Lakes, and graduated from Pemberton high school in 1970.

Trinity was determined to find out as much as she could about her grandmother and after some digging, found out that Roberta was born on February 26, 1952; the youngest of four children to parents Robert and Elizabeth Michels. She was from the Brown Mills and the Pemberton area and lived in the Country Lakes, and graduated from Pemberton high school in 1970.