Linda Perhacs, the 82-year-old psychedelic folk artist, has been reported missing. Yesterday, Perhacs' former manager Laurel Stearns posted on Perhacs' Instagram page, asking fans for help in finding the musician. Stearns writes that Perhacs "was discharged from a residential care facility approximately eight months ago under the supervision of her legal guardian. Since then, friends and longtime collaborators have been unable to reach her and repeated attempts to contact her guardian have reportedly gone unanswered." Stearns is asking anyone with information on Perhacs' status and whereabouts to contact her at lstearns@primarywave.com.
People like Julia Holter and DubLab co-founder Mark “Frosty” McNeill have shared Stearns' message. Before her discharge, Perhacs had been living at an assisted living facility in California's San Fernando Valley. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Laurel Stearns says:
Numerous friends and longtime collaborators report they have been unable to establish direct contact with her. Repeated attempts to communicate with her guardian have also, they say, gone unanswered...
Those issuing this statement are not alleging wrongdoing. Rather, they are seeking confirmation that Linda is safe, well, and receiving appropriate care, while expressing concern over the prolonged absence of communication with a beloved public figure.
In a follow-up post shared to Perhacs' Instagram page, Perhacs' guitarist and co-producer Fernando Perdomo says that Perhacs' friends and collaborators have reported her missing to Adult Protective Services:
We've all been in touch with [Perhacs] since she's been in a home for memory care, and we even performed with her two years ago for her 80th birthday party. Basically about six weeks ago, I did a podcast called the Dolls podcast with Abigail Devoe, and I was excited to talk to [Perhacs], so I gave her a call and found out that she had been moved out by her next of kin, and because of California law they can't tell us where she is. Well, her next of kin's number, which we had — we used to have contact with him — he's not answering phone calls, and I think he might have blocked us, which is really, really weird.
So we need to find her, and the good news is that one of my clients, Morty Coyle, helped us do an official report with Adult Protective Services, which is definitely a step in the right direction. But we need help, so if anybody could help, please write Laurel Stearns at the email that's above, or DM Linda on Facebook or on Instagram. Thank you so much. We will find her.
In 1969, Linda Perhacs was working as a Beverly Hills dental hygienist and writing and recording demos in her spare time. Film composer Leonard Rosenman discovered her and produced her 1970 album Parallelograms. The record was not a commercial success, but it became a cult favorite over the years. The album was reissued several times in the '00s, and Perhacs, who had continued to work in dentistry, returned to music, collaborating with artists like Julia Holter, Devendra Banhart, and Nite Jewel. In 2014, 48 years after Parallelograms, she released her second album The Soul Of All Natural Things on Sufjan Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty label, and she followed it up with 2017's Kickstarter-funded I'm A Harmony.
