It was claimed that legendary singer-songwriter Linda Perhacs had been missing for eight months, according to concerned friends who believed she had disappeared. That is, until she was discovered safe and sound.
On Wednesday, the Daily Mail was the first to report that Perhacs, 82, had been found – but as it turns out, an insider has now revealed she was never actually ‘lost’ and was exactly where her family knew she was the entire time.
The Los Angeles Police Department Missing Persons Unit said in an exclusive statement, ‘She was found today. She’s safe. We can’t share where as it involves her HIPAA.’
The update came just two days after Perhacs was reported missing by concerned friends, who posted pleas on Instagram asking for help finding her, and who claimed they had been unable to get in touch with the singer for months.
‘Linda Perhacs, our dear friend and legendary singer-songwriter, was discharged from a residential care facility approximately eight months ago under the supervision of her legal guardian,’ friends, who are close to the 1970s folk singer, shared on their personal social media accounts.
‘Since then, friends and longtime collaborators have been unable to reach her and repeated attempts to contact her guardian have reportedly gone unanswered. Please help us locate Linda to ensure her well-being.’
Friends shared a photo and plea for help in finding legendary folk singer Linda Perhacs who has been reportedly missing for eight months after leaving a senior living facility in California
Perhacs, 82, has dementia and the Los Angeles Police Department Missing Persons Unit said she was safely found on Wednesday, the Daily Mail can confirm
Anyone with knowledge of her whereabouts was asked to contact Perhacs’ former manager, Laurel Stearns, who told the Daily Mail that Perhacs suffers from dementia and that they had even gone as far as to file a missing persons report with the LAPD and contacted Adult Protective Services.
Prior to stating that Perhacs was found, an LAPD representative informed the Daily Mail that they could not confirm whether there was an active investigation or one under her name.
The Daily Mail can now exclusively reveal new details about Perhacs’ alleged disappearance since she left the facility that was taking care of her eight months ago.
Perhacs’ legal guardian, who the Daily Mail has identified as a man by the name of David Williams, is the singer’s nephew… and has been protecting his aunt all along.
Williams lives a private life away from social media… and it wasn’t until he and his wife were contacted by the Daily Mail that they reportedly learned there was concern Perhacs was missing.
‘Linda is not missing and never was missing. Reports claiming otherwise were inaccurate. Her legal guardian has confirmed that she is safe, well, and has been appropriately cared for,’ Williams told the Daily Mail in an exclusive statement.
‘Our position is based on both legal and ethical considerations. Linda has consistently expressed her desire to maintain her privacy outside of her public career in music. Any public discussion regarding her personal circumstances, without the complete factual context, would be incomplete and potentially misleading.
‘Out of respect for Linda’s privacy, dignity, and legal rights, we will not discuss or disclose any information regarding her personal or medical circumstances, regardless of whether others have chosen to do so. Those matters are private and will remain confidential. Accordingly, this will be our only public statement on the matter.
Perhacs resided at Northridge Valley Senior Living in California since 2019
According to the executive director Ben Pak, she left the facility on October 21, 2025 and was moved to another place. Her nephew David Williams serves as her legal guardian
Prior to leaving the facility, Perhacs was involved in a lawsuit with the senior living facility over unpaid rent. The lawsuit was settled in April 2025
‘We will have no further involvement beyond confirming that Linda is safe, has never been missing, and has always been under appropriate care and well looked after.’
Speaking to the Daily Mail, an insider shed light on Perhacs’ backstory leading up to the bombshell report that she had gone missing – and why some loved ones jumped to the worst case scenario.
According to the insider, Perhacs had been diagnosed with dementia about 10 years ago. There was one instance around that time when she ‘went missing’ but was found a few hours later.
They continued: ‘The truth of the matter is Linda’s actually a very private person. She doesn’t like to communicate her personal life. She liked things on the surface and she was happy to be in the public eye, but her everyday personal life, her dating life, all of that, she kept very top secret.’
Perhacs resided at Northridge Valley Senior Living in Northridge, California – a luxury assisted living facility – since 2019, the Daily Mail can confirm.
Before she was moved into the facility – which specializes in care for all levels of dementia – she resided at her home in Los Angeles, a five-bedroom, four-bathroom house in the West Hills neighborhood. Public records show she’d resided in the home since the ’90s.
Her former home – which was given to Williams via a trust in 2021 – has since gone into foreclosure and was sold for $322,222 during a trustee’s sale in November 2024.
According to Northridge’s executive director Ben Pak, Perhacs left Northridge on October 21, 2025, and was moved elsewhere.
Perhacs worked as a dental hygienist throughout her career. Her album Parallelograms, released in 1970, was rediscovered in 1998 and became a sensation among fans
The Daily Mail has learned she is now at a nursing care facility in Los Angeles County.
Of her health decline, the source went on to say that it’s a ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘devastating’ situation.
‘Linda was the most independent woman I have ever known in my entire life. She was a force to be reckoned with. She was soft, she was kind, but she was so sharp. One of the most brilliant people I’ve ever known,’ they said.
‘She would remember she took notes 10, 15 years ago, and she would remember where they were at. Her memory was so sharp and so profound, and her creativity was so impeccable. To be where she is now is devastating.’
Music was Perhacs’ saving grace.
‘Sometimes when you play her music for her, she will sort of have memories. Like she said [about two years ago], her album was being played and she remembered listening to that,’ the source shared.
Earlier this week, Perhacs’ former co-producer, Fernando Perdomo, shared insight on the search for his friend via Instagram.
Perdomo informed his followers that he found out the folk singer was seemingly nowhere to be found a few weeks ago, when he did a podcast and was ‘excited to talk to her’ about it.
Perhacs, born September 21, 1943, in Santa Monica, California, is widely regarded as one of the most legendary voices in American folk music
Later on in life, she released the albums The Soul of All Natural Things in 2014, and I’m a Harmony in 2017, which introduced her music to an entirely new generation
Due to California law, information about where she was transferred could not be disclosed by the senior living facility, and her ‘next of kin,’ who is also her legal guardian, had been unresponsive, according to Perdomo.
‘Well, her next of kin’s number, which we had, which we used to have contact with him, he’s not answering phone calls and I think he might’ve blocked us, which is really, really weird,’ Perdomo said in his Instagram video.
Pak, the executive director of Northridge who took over around the time Perhacs moved out, told the Daily Mail that he wasn’t aware of the concern over her whereabouts until it was brought to his attention. Once he learned about the news, he found it ‘a little bit alarming’ as he hadn’t found anything concerning about her family.
‘I can tell you that when she moved out… there was no weird shenanigans going on. It was that they just had to move her out of here and then move her somewhere else,’ he said, while noting he wasn’t allowed to disclose where she was moved to.
‘The family moved her out due to some issues that they had with our company, and they moved her out.’
He continued: ‘I can tell you the way she moved out of here, there was absolutely no foul play or wrongdoing or anything like that. It was just the parties did not agree, therefore, they moved her out of here. And then after that, I have no idea.’
According to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail, there had been a dispute between Northridge and Perhacs and her legal guardian.
She was behind in paying her monthly rent at Northridge Valley Senior Living, and so, the facility took matters into its own hands and filed a civil lawsuit in March 2025 against Perhacs and ‘Does 1 to 5’ in Los Angeles – just months before she left.
Perhacs resided in West Hills, California, since the ’90s. Her home was sold in a trustee’s sale in November 2024 for $322,222 (pictured)
A source revealed that there was one instance years ago where the folk singer ‘went missing,’ but she was found a few hours later (pictured performing at the Santa Monica Pier in 2014)
Before moving in, the parties entered a contract in which she’d agreed to pay $3,396 on the first day of each month, beginning October 26, 2019.
The facility alleged that ‘on or about November 1, 2024, defendant breached the agreement by failing to pay for monthly basic services when due.’
On February 4, 2025, Northridge served Perhacs a written 30-day notice to vacate the premises. At the time of the notice, she owed $14,830.
She was also to pay ‘at least $113.20 per day,’ since February 1, 2025, plus damages that were caused by the unlawful detention of occupying the premises. The amount was to continue to accrue at that rate if she remained in her apartment.
A Writ of Possession was issued, and a judgment was entered on April 15, 2025. It appears, though, that the payment issue was resolved and she remained in the facility until she ultimately left in October.
The Daily Mail reached out to attorneys for Northridge Valley Senior Living for comment and did not hear back.
Pak told the Daily Mail that he was unaware of the lawsuit as he had just started as the new executive director at the facility when Perhacs left in October. He said all he remembers is that ‘she needed to move out.’
‘The power of attorney was this Williams person, and then they made the determination to move her out,’ he added. ‘I had just gotten here not too long ago, so I just followed the protocol of what I was supposed to do. And so when I got this… call that said people were concerned, I was like, “Huh, really?”‘
Perhacs is pictured on the cover of her 2014 album, The Soul of All Natural Things
Perhacs’ inner circle had been conducting their own investigation earlier this week, before she was ultimately discovered safe and exactly where her family knew she was.
The singer’s pal Jessica Hundley told the Daily Mail she and several other friends and collaborators of Perhacs had been working ‘to establish her whereabouts’.
On Wednesday evening, Perhacs’ former manager and friends addressed the news that the folk singer had been found – hours after it was reported by police.
‘We are grateful to share that singer-songwriter Linda Perhacs has been located and is safe,’ the statement read.
‘After a period of concern during which friends, collaborators, and members of the music community were unable to establish contact with Linda and had filed police reports accordingly. Law enforcement has just confirmed that she has been found and is safe.’
They continued: ‘We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who helped amplify this effort by sharing information, reaching out with support, and expressing genuine care for Linda’s well-being. The overwhelming response from fans, fellow musicians, journalists, and the broader creative community has been a powerful reminder of the profound impact Linda’s music.
‘We are especially grateful to the authorities for their assistance and to all those who worked behind the scenes to help bring clarity to this situation.
‘At this time, we ask that Linda’s privacy be respected as those close to her determine the best path forward. We hope this moment allows for compassion, healing, and continued support for an artist whose work has touched so many lives.’
Perhacs, born September 21, 1943, in Santa Monica, California, is widely regarded as one of the most legendary voices in American folk music.
Her 1970 album Parallelograms was rediscovered in 1998, and according to her former manager, is now considered a visionary work that helped shape generations of experimental folk and psychedelic musicians.
She later released the albums The Soul of All Natural Things in 2014, and I’m a Harmony in 2017, which introduced her music to an entirely new generation.
On the side, she worked as a dental hygienist – a career she began in early adulthood and returned to later in life.
