Colorado mother found homeless in NYC now ‘safe and off the streets’

A missing, mentally ill mother who was homeless for months has been found in what her family believes is nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

A missing, mentally ill Colorado mum who wandered Manhattan homeless for months is now recovering at a friend’s home in what her family believes is nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

“She’s safe and off the streets,” a relieved Kristie Olivier told the NY Post of her wayward 39-year-old daughter Alyssa. “It was very much like an early Christmas present.”

The Olivier family made a public plea in August to find the “overwhelmed” Alyssa, whose life unravelled amid a crumbling marriage, the pending sale of her house and inner turmoil over the next chapter of her life.

The search gained steam as friends spread the word far and wide on social media and The Post reported on the unfolding drama. The family hired a private eye who finally tracked her down.

The NYPD was also hunting for the apparently unhinged woman — in connection to her allegedly attacking a passer-by in Manhattan.

Olivier was eventually spotted by a private investigator that the family hired.

Kristie Olivier, 68, a cancer survivor just released from the hospital after 10 days and emergency surgery, feels “blessed” Alyssa has made it to the upstate home of a friend who happens to be a nurse.

While both Olivier women have been healing, Kristie has refrained from contacting Alyssa. “That’s on purpose. … You can’t go from living on the street to putting on some clean clothes, taking a shower and that puts you back to normal. So her friends are helping her,” she said.

Ms Olivier also doesn’t want to burden her struggling daughter with her health problems. “The good news is I’m done with chemo — finished in September — and no sign of cancer.”

Kristie has been content “getting some updates” on her daughter’s recovery.

“The process is to do this on a slow basis. It’s reintegration and a healing process … Since she’s stable at the moment, I don’t want to throw something into the loop.”

Alyssa is now off the streets and staying at a friend’s home.

The mum added, “I’m still excited. That happiness doesn’t disappear even though I haven’t talked to her or hugged her yet like I would like to do. The joy of knowing she is safe is still there.”

Alyssa’s long strange trip began when she left her home in Denver this summer to visit her great-aunt in Kansas. From there, she headed to New York driving a beat-up 2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara. A Cooper Union art grad with friends in the city, Alyssa was no stranger to Gotham.

But family members became worried when they stopped getting texts two days after Alyssa’s August 2 arrival in New York. They filed a missing-persons report in Colorado later that month after her Big Apple buds also lost touch.

Alyssa, who is separated from her husband and has a 10-year-old daughter, Georgia, “was an artist, who painted, worked with fabric … has her own website”, Kristie said.

On Christmas Day, Kristie intends to finally reach out to her daughter. “That’s the plan. I am hopeful and looking forward to it. Any word by text or call will be joyful.”

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission