Missing For Month, Woman With Amnesia ID'd In Joliet
UPDATED: 5/4/2011 7:15 p.m.
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) -- A Michigan mom missing for nearly a month and suffering from amnesia has been found in Joliet.
A woman walked into a Joliet police station Monday night saying she had no idea who she was or where she was from.
Police and emergency responders determined she was suffering from amnesia and brought her to the hospital where she is still being treated.
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, police have identified the woman as Amber Gerweck of Michigan.
When police couldn't determine her identity they released her photo to the media. A local citizen saw her picture and called police, saying she thought it resembled a woman whose face was on a missing person's flyer out of Jackson, Mich. Police checked it out and found out that the woman was indeed Gerweck.
Police have since been in contact with her family. The family said Gerweck is 32-year-old mother of four who was reported missing by her aunt on April 9.
The next day her car was found in Tunnel Hill, Ga. apparently abandoned. The condition of the vehicle led investigators to report the case as a possible abduction.
Now nearly a month later, Gerweck has turned up in Joliet, apparently with no memory of who she is.
Police are trying to figure out how she made it to Joliet from Georgia without her car. Police say toxicology tests have shown that Gerweck's amnesia does not appear to be drug or alcohol related.
On Monday, the young woman walked across the Jefferson Street Bridge where she was able to flag down a passing patrol officer who brought her to the hospital.
"Our detectives have been working with the staff at Silver Cross Hospital and this seems to be a legitimate case of amnesia," Deputy Chief Mike Trafton said.
Joliet Police Chief Fred Hayes said: "She seemed to be bit confused. Didn't really know who she was or why she was here in Joliet."
After seeing her picture some restaurant workers said they had seen the woman at Joliet Restaurant in town.
"She comes in here and Saturday [or] Sunday at 5:30 in the morning ," said Valentina Georgouses, who noticed nothing unusual about her behavior. "She sat here and drank her coffee, read the newspaper and that's it."
Her fingerprints were not found in the national database, Trafton said.
The woman was wearing "unremarkable" clothing and did not have any personal items with her except a pair of eyeglasses.
She has small surgical scars on her stomach and a large tattoo of an angel on her right shoulder blade.
