Missing Since: 2003-03-18 Location: Manhattan, New York
Cosgrove traveled from her home in Edinburgh, Scotland to New York City in March 2003 to see the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Her family members advised her not to go because of her illness, but she went anyway. She arrived at Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey on March 13 and checked into the Belvedere Hotel on west 48th Street in the borough of Manhattan. Cosgrove lost her travel bag, which contained her passport and return plane ticket, the same day she arrived in the United States. She was disoriented and confused throughout her stay, forgetting the name of her hotel and once going to the wrong hotel. Cosgrove was last seen leaving the Belvedere Hotel on March 18; she planned to go to the airport and report the loss of her bag. She never got on her return flight to Scotland and has never been heard from again. Her family reported her as a missing person on March 21, the day she was supposed to have arrived home. Cosgrove used a credit card to check into the Belvedere Hotel, but the card has not been used since she disappeared and no money has been withdrawn from her bank account. She is believed to have been carrying about $600 in cash when she went missing. She left some of her belongings behind at her hotel room, but the items contained no clues as to her whereabouts. Eight months after Cosgrove’s disappearance, her missing passport was mailed from the British embassy in Washington, D.C. to a passport office in Peterborough, England. They forwarded it to Cosgrove’s home in Scotland. Authorities do not know who found the passport initially or where it was found. Foul play is not suspected in Cosgrove’s disappearance, but her fate is unclear. Her family in the United Kingdom believes she may be homeless or deceased. Investigating Agency New York Police Department 212-473-2042 Source Information North American Missing Persons Network Newsday The Herald The Edinburgh Evening News Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated April 7, 2006; casefile added.