may 2 2013 151 the mystery of what happened to brenda heist more than a decade ago when she disappeared after dropping off her two kids at a pennsylvania school was cleared up when she reappeared in the florida keys last week the details of why she decided to emerge however remain shrouded in mystery the husband she abandoned in lititz pa who was left to wonder what happened to his wife fend off suspicions that he was responsible for her disappearance and raise two children alone says he has forgiven her for leaving the family her reemergence shocked me and im sure it shocked everybody that knows her lee heist told reporters this week lititz borough police det john schofield told abcnewscom that heist is coping with the news hes dealing with it very well schofield said thursday he thought she was dead his numberone priority is looking out for the two kids the heists daughter is now a 19yearold freshman at montgomery county community college and their son 23 recently graduated from west chester university and is pursuing a law enforcement career whether they will want to reconnect with the mother who dropped them off at school 11 years ago and never returned remains to be seen he the father said its going to be up to them schofield said he said theyre adults now and hes going to respect whatever decision they make lee heist told abc news that the cloud of suspicion hovering over him all these years and its effect on his children have been difficult there were people in the neighborhood who would not let their children play with my children that hurt me more than anything else he said the kids are doing much better this is a little bump in the road were going to work through it heist 54 was going through a divorce with her husband and applying for housing assistance in 2002 when while distressed and crying in a park in lititz she told police she was approached by a trio of drifters who told her they were about to head to florida the mother of two who worked as a car dealership bookkeeper had just dropped off her kids at school when she decided to join the group and vanished without a trace she decided to go with them on a whim schofield told abcnewscom she told me that it was two males and female they drove to york pa with her car parked it and abandoned it and met up with another group who were traveling down to florida it was a community down there living together schofield has been working on heists missing person case for years when she showed up at the monroe county sheriffs office in the florida keys on april 26 schofield flew to florida and interviewed her about her experience she told him that she was at the end of her rope and tired of running the officer said she turned