Missing for eight months: Concern in the USA for the condition of veteran singer Linda Perhacs
Linda Perhacs, the 82-year-old singer who gained cult status decades after her debut, has not been in contact with friends for eight months. Her former manager is urging anyone with information to come forward to ensure her safety.
Linda Perhacs, the 82-year-old American singer who gained cult status decades after her debut album was released in 1970, has been reported missing. According to a statement released by her friends and former colleagues, they have not heard from her for eight months and are requesting information regarding her whereabouts or well-being.
"The most important thing is to make sure she is safe and comfortable," said her former manager, Laurel Stearns.
In the statement, they asked anyone with information about Perhacs to get in touch. She was last seen at an assisted living facility in the San Fernando Valley in California, where she had lived for the past eight years. At some point, she was discharged from the facility under the supervision of her caregivers, and since then, Perhacs and her legal guardians have not responded to repeated attempts to contact them.
Stearns, who managed Perhacs from 2013 to 2016 and worked on the release of her second album in 2014, said that she filed a missing person report with the Los Angeles Police Department last month. According to the report, the police investigated the case but could not inform Stearns or other friends of Perhacs about her condition because they are not legally related to her—neither as family members nor as caregivers with power of attorney.
Perhacs' debut album was rediscovered in the 2000s, and since then, she has been sampled by artists ranging from Daft Punk to Nas. She became a revered figure among artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, and Devendra Banhart during the freak-folk movement. Her third and, to date, final album was released in 2017 and included collaborations with Julia Holter.
