Identified! MI - Grand Rapids - LIVING Female "Mary", 40-50, May 2006

hoppyfrog · May 20, 2006

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-29/1148106521259460.xml&coll=6

GRAND RAPIDS -- A woman stricken with severe memory loss and calling herself "Mary" is hospitalized at Saint Mary's Health Care, and police need assistance in determining her identity, Grand Rapids Lt. Ralph Mason said. The woman, who is black, between the ages of 40 and 50, and has short hair, told authorities she believes she is single and lives alone. She was wearing a white dress and a necklace with a black and orange medallion with the initials RB on the back and a crest with the letters MH when she came to the hospital Tuesday. The woman told police she may be a member of a Pentecostal church and had worked with computers. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 616-456-3400.

dulcinea · May 20, 2006

Considering this woman doesn't remember much about herself and what she does recall might not be accurate, it would be wise to post a picture of her. People reading the article might know her but have no clue because they can't see her! Does anyone else think this is silly? I assume they have no missing persons reports that match her description. Surely someone somewhere has noticed she's missing?

bykerladi · May 20, 2006

How did she get to the hospital? Drive? Walk? If she drove, they can look up the license plate, right? And if she walked, she either lives nearby, took public transportation, or her abandoned car should be within walking distance. Seems like she should be local in order for her to find the hospital without calling 911 for an ambulance.Wonder what's caused her "Severe memory loss"...

hoppyfrog · May 20, 2006

bykerladi said:
How did she get to the hospital? Drive? Walk? If she drove, they can look up the license plate, right? And if she walked, she either lives nearby, took public transportation, or her abandoned car should be within walking distance. Seems like she should be local in order for her to find the hospital without calling 911 for an ambulance.Wonder what's caused her "Severe memory loss"...

I found this additional information at http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/grmetro_article.aspx?storyid=54760

"It is believed that 'Mary' walked a short distance to the downtown hospital campus."

I haven't yet been able to find a picture of her.

dulcinea · May 21, 2006

The necklace she was wearing should be a HUGE clue for them. It sounds like it's a senior key, you know the kind of thing you get when you graduate. It had MH on the front which I believe to be Muskegon Heights, an area not far from Grand Rapids, maybe 45 minutes at most. I believe their mascot is the Tiger and it would make sense for their school colors to be black and orange. We used to play MH in high school sports and I think they were the same colors as us, black and orange. It would be easy to look through school records to find someone in the class of 1976 with the initials that were on the necklace. If she is 40-50 years old this necklace could certainly belong to her or a high school sweetheart.

Bobbisangel · May 21, 2006

dulcinea said:
The necklace she was wearing should be a HUGE clue for them. It sounds like it's a senior key, you know the kind of thing you get when you graduate. It had MH on the front which I believe to be Muskegon Heights, an area not far from Grand Rapids, maybe 45 minutes at most. I believe their mascot is the Tiger and it would make sense for their school colors to be black and orange. We used to play MH in high school sports and I think they were the same colors as us, black and orange. It would be easy to look through school records to find someone in the class of 1976 with the initials that were on the necklace. If she is 40-50 years old this necklace could certainly belong to her or a high school sweetheart.

You are right on the ball dulcinea. I hope LE is able to figure that out

It doesn't seem that she would be that hard to track if they come to the same conclusion that you did. Did you email that LE office with that info?

Amazing that they expect the public's help but neglect to show her picture. This happens quite often. It really amazes me.

hoppyfrog · May 21, 2006

Bobbisangel said:
Amazing that they expect the public's help but neglect to show her picture. This happens quite often. It really amazes me.

It's entirely possible that they showed her picture on the tv news and in the newspaper but the pic wasn't on the tv stations' and newspapers' websites.

Hoppy

hoppyfrog · May 21, 2006

dulcinea said:
The necklace she was wearing should be a HUGE clue for them. It sounds like it's a senior key, you know the kind of thing you get when you graduate. It had MH on the front which I believe to be Muskegon Heights, an area not far from Grand Rapids, maybe 45 minutes at most. I believe their mascot is the Tiger and it would make sense for their school colors to be black and orange. We used to play MH in high school sports and I think they were the same colors as us, black and orange. It would be easy to look through school records to find someone in the class of 1976 with the initials that were on the necklace. If she is 40-50 years old this necklace could certainly belong to her or a high school sweetheart.

Did you email this info to the GRPD?

dulcinea · May 21, 2006

No, I didn't email them. I guess I just figured that it would be the first thing they would think of since it jumped right out at me and I'm not a detective (though I would love to be one!). If anyone has an email address for them I'll pass it along. I also wondered if they HAD checked this out but it became a dead end for them and they were hoping someone would recognize the necklace.

Hoppyfrog, are you from MI, too? It seems to me like you posted on other MI cases. This one jumped at me 'cause I grew up on Lake Michigan about an hour and twenty minutes away. I also lived in Lansing for 5 years. I now live on the Pacific Coast of the US but I am very familiar with the GR area.

hoppyfrog · May 22, 2006

dulcinea said:
No, I didn't email them. I guess I just figured that it would be the first thing they would think of since it jumped right out at me and I'm not a detective (though I would love to be one!). If anyone has an email address for them I'll pass it along. I also wondered if they HAD checked this out but it became a dead end for them and they were hoping someone would recognize the necklace.

Hoppyfrog, are you from MI, too? It seems to me like you posted on other MI cases. This one jumped at me 'cause I grew up on Lake Michigan about an hour and twenty minutes away. I also lived in Lansing for 5 years. I now live on the Pacific Coast of the US but I am very familiar with the GR area.

Yes, I was born and raised in GR. Moved away to a new state last summer after 40+ years there. I still read the GR Press online everyday and check WOOD-TV online daily.

The email for the police chief in GR is harry.dolan@ci.grand-rapids.mi.us

Or, check out the email address on this web page: http://www.ci.grand-rapids.mi.us/index.pl?page_id=686

Remember that something might seem obvious to you but completely be lost on someone else, even LE.

Hoppy

dulcinea · May 22, 2006

Hoppyfrog, I just emailed Harry Dolan. Thanks for the address my fellow Michigander.

hoppyfrog · May 22, 2006

dulcinea said:
Hoppyfrog, I just emailed Harry Dolan. Thanks for the address my fellow Michigander.

Bless you!

Hoppy

dulcinea · May 23, 2006

Hoppy,

I'll let you know if I get any response from him. Since I'm now on the west coast, it was a little late MI time when I sent the email. He was probably gone for the day when I sent it out.

dulcinea

hoppyfrog · May 23, 2006

dulcinea said:
Hoppy,

I'll let you know if I get any response from him. Since I'm now on the west coast, it was a little late MI time when I sent the email. He was probably gone for the day when I sent it out.

dulcinea

I am SO glad you sent the email and are willing to help. I've been checking for updates at the GR Press, WOOD and WZZM websites but haven't found any.

Again, bless you for getting involved!

Hoppy

dulcinea · May 23, 2006

I received an email from the Chief's administrative secretary telling me she forwarded my email to the person in charge of the investigation. The Chief is out of the office for the week. I had kind of expected this woman to be identified already. Surely someone somewhere has noticed she's missing? At least in this case she is safe. She is not a missing person, but a "lost" one. It must be frustrating and scary for her.

hoppyfrog · May 23, 2006

dulcinea said:
I received an email from the Chief's administrative secretary telling me she forwarded my email to the person in charge of the investigation. The Chief is out of the office for the week. I had kind of expected this woman to be identified already. Surely someone somewhere has noticed she's missing? At least in this case she is safe. She is not a missing person, but a "lost" one. It must be frustrating and scary for her.

From http://woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4940065

Police closer to identifying amnesia victim

GRAND RAPIDS -- She wandered into the emergency room at Saint Mary's Health Care last Tuesday. She told people to call her "Mary."

But that's about all she could tell them. The woman has amnesia.

Police have been seeking tips since her discovery.

Late this afternoon, Grand Rapids Police told 24 Hour News 8 about another lead in the case. Department spokesman Lt. Ralph Mason tells us that a yearbook picture he found appears to be that of a younger "Mary."

That match gave them a last name. They're tracking down family members and confirming information.

Lt. Mason declined to identify the name, but says the woman is from the Grand Rapids area.

more at link, including a PICTURE

Dulcinea---I think that perhaps your tip was the one that helped! Maybe not, but it's possible.

Hoppy

Marie · May 23, 2006

How interesting - I have never ever heard of a 'senior key', we had (yes, many years ago) senior class rings. Are senior keys still being done or was that just 40, 50 years ago? Or maybe it's a regional thing?

Pandora · May 24, 2006

We bought senior keys when I graduated in PA in 1989.
My students just bought them this year in GA. Jostens sells them. Perhaps it depends upon the company which gets individual school's business.

hoppyfrog · May 24, 2006

From http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-29/1148482071210070.xml&coll=6

Carrying no handbag or identifying information, police had little to go on and many unanswered questions, but the woman's identity may be confirmed by a simple pendant she wore.
Police Lt. Ralph Mason believes he has linked the jewelry and the woman to the 1976 graduating class of Muskegon Heights High School. Using a yearbook photo produced by school officials, Mason thinks he has made a match, but police still were trying to locate relatives or friends.

"We still haven't confirmed where she lived, what she does for a living or how she got to the hospital, but we think we've figured out who she is," Mason said. "That was the biggest thing."

more at link (you might need to enter a zip code--real or fake--to access the article)

More kudos to dulcinea!

Hoppy

hoppyfrog · May 24, 2006

dulcinea said:
It would be easy to look through school records to find someone in the class of 1976 with the initials that were on the necklace.

Just reviewing the posts in this thread and wondering: where did you come up with the year 1976? I didn't see that in the news reports.

Awfully curious,

Hoppy

Identified! MI - Grand Rapids - LIVING Female "Mary", 40-50, May 2006

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