Dana Bonanno: Missing Brooklyn Woman Found Safe, Checked Into Mental Hospital

Dana Bonanno was missing for nearly a month after sending a frightened text message to her mother, but the 33-year-old Brooklyn woman has now been found safe after an extended hospital visit.

Bonanno went missing July 22, just after sending her mother a message that read, “I’m scared.” Friends and family had organized rescue efforts, spreading missing persons flyers throughout New York City and establishing a Facebook page searching for leads.

They even started raising $10,000 to establish a reward for information that led to finding Bonanno and had scheduled a fundraiser in Manhattan on Tuesday night.

But authorities revealed that Dana Bonanno was safe the entire time, and had checked herself in to Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens the day of her disappearance. She remained there until she was discharged Tuesday night.

A friend announced the good news on the Facebook page set up for her disappearance, and the news was met with joy and even some humor.

“But is she going to her own benefit???” one friend wrote, adding, “jokes aside, happy to hear it!”

There were few details about why Bonanno was in the hospital, but a pattern of bizarre incidents beforehand. In the days leading to her hospital stay, Dana had sent her mother a series of strange text messages, asking her mother to call 911 and not giving a reason. Dana also confided in her mother that she thought her roommates were snooping in her computer and talking about her.

On the night she went missing, Bonanno asked her roommates if they wanted anything from a story and left at close to 11 pm. She arrived back at her apartment with the items but then left again shortly afterward and did not return.

In April she had been laid off from her job as a paralegal at A&E Networks, and had been trying to break into the world of electronic music production. Dana Bonanno had suffered from anxiety before the layoff, and it may have worsened afterward, her mother speculated.