Amnesia Victim (ID'd: Janene Nicewonger ) Houston, TX 5/21/09

[foxfarmboxers]

Amnesia Victim Still Without Name
Woman Believed To Have Been Assaulted

POSTED: Thursday, May 21, 2009
UPDATED: 4:43 pm CDT May 21, 2009
HOUSTON -- Despite more than 100 calls, police still do not know the identity of a woman who has amnesia and may have been an assault victim, KPRC Local 2 reported Thursday.

Houston police asked for the public's help on Wednesday to identify the woman, who was found walking in the 6000 block of San Felipe during the early-morning hours of May 3. She suffered several minor head injuries.

Officials said she has no memory of who she is or where she lives.

A lot of people said they believed they recognized the woman in the picture. Police have received calls from those who claim they went to school with her, some even named her. But, so far none of those leads has checked out.

"She made contact and she made the outcry, and then at that point, that's when the real confusion came up in that she doesn't know who she is," said Sgt. C. Abbey with HPD Homicide.

She was released from the hospital a few days ago after weeks of treatment.

She's now living in a local shelter.

Police said they believe she has a home, but just cannot remember.

"This lady was dressed nicely, dark slacks, tennis shoes, multicolored shirt. There was mud on her tennis shoes, so we know she had walked through some muddy areas. But these clothes are not worn down and they are not in bad condition. They're in excellent condition," Abbey said.

Investigators said they believe she is a high school graduate and possibly attended college.

Investigators said there are no reports of a missing person fitting her description.

The woman is 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 160 pounds.

Anyone with information on this case or on the woman's identity is asked to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.

Several charitable organizations have come forward to help the unidentified woman.

Previous Stories:

* May 20, 2009: Do You Know This Woman?

http://www.click2houston.com/news/19529946/detail.html

Video at link as well.

[foxfarmboxers]

DO YOU KNOW WHO SHE IS? Police need help identifying a woman they say was injured and may have amnesia AMNESIA: She may be from out of state, police say

By By PEGGY O'HARE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

CAN YOU HELP?

Anyone with information on the woman's identity or about her injuries is asked to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.

The woman recalled only that she had been walking a black and brown dog named Bones. But beyond that, she could tell doctors and police little.

She could not remember her name, where she lived or how she suffered head injuries that landed her in a hospital more than two weeks ago.

Now Houston police are seeking the public's help in identifying her. Investigators believe she may have been the victim of an assault or fall.

The woman may be suffering from amnesia, police said. Doctors and psychologists who have examined her believe she is being truthful about her memory loss, said Houston Police Department homicide investigator C.P. "Abbey" Abbondandolo.

"This is a sincere, articulate woman who is confused and, I think, a little bit frustrated that she can't figure out who she is," Abbondandolo said Wednesday. "It's a terribly sad case."

The woman - believed to be between 25 and 30 years old, standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds - was treated at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital for more than two weeks but has since been released. Several charities have stepped in to help her. Police declined to say where she is staying now.

Police checked the woman's fingerprints in their computer database and found no match, indicating she has never been arrested. No missing persons reports match her description. And the Texas Department of Public Safety's face recognition computer program failed to match her photo with any Texas driver's licenses, said Sgt. Stuart Harris of the HPD Missing Persons Unit.

"I'm almost thinking she's from out of state," Harris said. The DPS face recognition program "sent out 30 or 35 (photos) that were close, but weren't her, which tells us she probably doesn't have a Texas ID card or driver's license."

The woman showed up with head injuries at St. Luke's Medical Clinic at 6363 San Felipe at 1:45 a.m. May 3 and asked the staff for help. They took her to the St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital on Bertner.

The woman recalled she had been walking a black and brown dog named Bones when she fell, Harris said. It is not known whether she fell from a stumble, an accident or an assault, he said.

The woman told police that when she woke up, it was dark outside. She walked to a nearby office for help, but people there asked her to leave and told her to walk to an emergency room several blocks away, Harris said.

Doctors discovered she had suffered bruises to the right side of her forehead, as well as to the back of her head, police said. However, doctors found no other injuries or defensive wounds.

The woman was neatly dressed on the night she was injured, wearing dark, dressy slacks, a multicolored shirt and new sneakers with mud on them.

"This lady seems like a very nice person - surprisingly upbeat for someone who doesn't know who she is, very intelligent, artistic," Abbondandolo said. "But I do believe somewhere someone is missing this woman, We just haven't connected all the dots.

"Obviously, she is someone's daughter, sister or loved one. It's unfortunate even with all the technology we have that we haven't been able to figure out who she is

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2009_4741375

[packy]

http://www.click2houston.com/2009/0520/19516081_240X135.jpg

[foxfarmboxers]

Thanks Packy.....(I did it again....so sorry).

[packy]

You're welcome, FFB. Hope someone recognizes her and can bring her home.

[foxfarmboxers]

I sure hope so. They think she's from 'out of state'. I hope she can be reunited with her loved ones soon.

[Naia]

Why hasn't someone issued a missing person report on her?

[texanne]

It is reported that she is bright, outgoing, and articulate. She had on good clothing. She thinks she remembers falling down. Could she be someone from out-of-state who was mugged, or fell when walking through the construction area near where she was found? I hope her picture is being sent to LE all over the country. SOMEONE has to be missing her.

[Nut44x4]

Police ID apparent amnesia victim who may have been assaulted
02:19 PM CDT on Friday, May 22, 2009
HOUSTON—After receiving more than 200 calls from citizens with information, HPD investigators have identified a possible assault victim suffering from amnesia.

The woman was found walking in the 6600 block of San Felipe around 1:45 a.m. on May 3. She had no idea who she was or where she lived. Police said she’d suffered minor head injuries.

Investigators were unable to identify her through traditional means, and no missing person reports matched her description, so they issued a plea to the public for help.

Information from a witness led police to a vehicle with out-of-state plates, parked in a lot in the 7600 block of Westheimer.

Evidence inside the vehicle provided investigators with a name for the woman, which they have not released.

Early Friday morning, the woman’s family called HPD.

They told police the woman is 34 years old, and that she had just moved from New Mexico to Houston, where she was starting a new job.

Police said the woman’s family and friends were making arrangements to come to Houston to help her. http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou090522_tnt_amnesia-assault-victim-identified.791feb5.html

[MrzEzell]

Well it's good news that someone was able to identify her. Hopefully she get's her memory back this is truly sad story.

[packy]

That's good news.

I wonder if she had a seizure that day and if it's true that she was walking a dog I hope they can find him/her.

[Nut44x4]

Woman may have found amnesia patient's dog
After caring for pet, she says she hopes to reunite it with its rightful owner

5/23/09
A Houston couple say they believe they found a missing link in the mystery of an apparent amnesia patient hospitalized in Houston three weeks ago — a dog.

The 34-year-old woman, whose name has not been released by police, doesn’t remember anything about her life other than that she was walking a black-and-brown dog named Bones. She doesn’t recall where she lived or how she suffered head injuries.

A car with the woman’s belongings, including a bank card with her photo, was located in the parking lot of a Barnes & Noble store in the 7600 block of Westheimer. That’s where Deetra Hegger, 23, found a dog matching Bones’ description, a well-groomed, pure-bred rat terrier.

She found the dog outside her job at Petco at Westheimer and Voss, which shares a parking lot with the Barnes & Noble, on the same Sunday that the unidentified woman showed up at an after-hours medical clinic.

The dog darted into traffic on Westheimer and dodged several other people who tried to catch him before Hegger finally grabbed him.

“He wouldn’t come to us,” said Hegger. “I think he was scared. There were so many people trying to chase him.”

Hegger said the dog was wearing a “red, dingy-like collar,” but no leash. He weighs between 10 and 15 pounds.

“He was limping on his leg like maybe he jumped out of a car or something,” she said. “His nails were groomed down and trimmed down like he was taken care of very well.”

She took him to her townhouse about a mile away to meet her boyfriend, Kenny McIntosh, 26.

“We called him Little Man. He’s so sweet. He slept with us every night,” Hegger said. “He has a weird little personality. When he wants to go out, he spins in circles.”

With two other dogs, the couple couldn’t keep a third. So, they fitted their new friend with a harness and sent him to live with McIntosh’s boss, who has a yard.

They didn’t take him to animal authorities, Hegger said, “because I didn’t want to risk him being put down.”

“You figure someone would have put out a lost sign for him,” McIntosh said. “We’re thinking nobody put a sign out because this chick didn’t remember.”

She’d like to reunite the amnesia patient with the dog, if it belongs to her. Authorities have not yet returned calls.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6438683.html

[packy]

Oh wow, hope it is her dog. And I wonder if so what did happen because this particular dog had no leash yet the amnesia victim said he thought she was walking the dog. I wonder if they have surveillance cameras in that parking lot where her car was found.

[foxfarmboxers]

I'm sooo thankful this woman has been identified and soon to be reunited with her family. I hope "Little Man" is indeed her faithful companion and that they will be happily reunited as well.

Thank You to Packy and Nut and the others at HFTM who have kept the 'updates' in this story going since I posted it, as I have been unable.

HFTM....such a wonderful group of people here. Thank You.

[Amusedtdth]

Great news that things seem to be working out for this woman. Praying for her speedy recovery and she recover her memory.

[foxfarmboxers]

Amnesia patient’s family doubts her story
By MIKE TOLSON and PEGGY O’HARE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 3, 2009, 11:13PM

Two and a half weeks after a young woman walked into a Houston medical clinic saying she did not know who she was or where she lived, the mystery of her identity was solved when police got a tip about a car that had been parked next to a nearby bookstore and never moved.

But now, a month after officials found Janene Luttrell Nicewonger at an after-hours medical clinic with unexplained bruises on her head and no memory of how they got there, a deeper mystery has surfaced: Does she really suffer from amnesia, which investigators say they have no reason to doubt, or did she concoct an elaborate escape from a troubled life, as her first husband contends?

Police insist they believe the 33-year-old Arizona native, who early on the morning of May 3 arrived at St. Luke’s Medical Clinic at 6363 San Felipe with head injuries that could have stemmed from an assault or accident. They say the doctors who have treated her agree. Her estranged second husband described her as a “wonderful woman” who would never pull a stunt such as faking the loss of her memory.

“This is not something she would do, even out of jest,” said Henry Lamkin, who said he has not seen her since they split up in October. “If she says it happened, it really happened. There is no way this is a false anything. She would never go to these lengths.”

Others are skeptical. Her first husband, Brian Nicewonger, says her amnesia is hard to accept because of past behavior.

“I think she’s scamming,” he said from his home in South Carolina, where he is a single father to their three children. “I told (police) I knew she didn’t have amnesia. Janene is a habitual liar. She’s so good at lying she can convince herself and can convince other people. I don’t believe it, not for a second.”

Neither does her mother.

“You can’t believe anything she says,” Diana Luttrell said, adding her daughter has led a nomadic life since leaving their home in Vernon, Ariz., 14 years ago. “This has happened over and over. We had written her off, so to speak, because you don’t know anything is true with her.”

Janene Nicewonger remains in an undisclosed location in Houston. She will not talk to the media or anyone associated with her past, police said. Her parents were en route to Houston on Wednesday, hoping to meet with her.

Luttrell said neither she nor her husband, Kenneth, were contacted by police and were unaware of their daughter’s predicament until called by a Chronicle reporter.

Luttrell said she and her husband first sought help for their daughter when she was about 14. A neurologist could not find anything wrong and suggested mental health counseling to combat what Luttrell described as “bizarre but not bad” behavior.

Luttrell said over the years she has begun to think her daughter may suffer from multiple personalities, with one constant being an inability to tell the truth.

“I think she has a lot of mental issues,” Luttrell said. “Sometimes she doesn’t even know she’s lying.”
Police cite real injuries

Police say they spent a lot of time investigating her story, speaking to friends, family and former co-workers, and could find no motive for fabricating amnesia.

“In this scenario, she certainly had some real-life injuries that didn’t appear to be self-inflicted,” said homicide investigator C.P. “Abbey” Abbondandolo of the Houston Police Department. “I think the medical staff that looked at her would verify that as well. … She wasn’t looking for notoriety. She wasn’t looking for money. She had an automobile, credit cards and a cell phone. She wasn’t trying to scam anybody out of any money.”

Brian Nicewonger said she owes him more than $7,000 in back child support and has plenty of reason to wipe the slate clean.

“To me, this is all hoodoo,” he said. “She’s just trying to escape her past. She’s an abandoning-type person.”

Janene Nicewonger’s family said she has lived in a number of cities since running off with Brian Nicewonger when she was 19. He was 32. He said she did not work consistently and left for good when their youngest child was still in diapers.

She and Lamkin were together for several years after that, living in Washington and Virginia. When they separated, family members said, she stayed for a while with a grandmother in Albuquerque before deciding to move to Houston.

Lamkin paints a different picture of her. He said she is friendly, artistic and good-hearted.

“She’s one of the coolest people you’ll ever meet … just an amazing woman,” he said.

Abbondandolo said people should give Janene Nicewonger the benefit of the doubt. Even if it turns out she doesn’t have the classic form of amnesia, it’s possible that mental illness could be making her believe she does, though there is no evidence of that yet, he said.

“I would hate to think as a society that we have become so cynical that in a person’s hour of need we look at it with such a disbelieving eye,” he said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6457168.html

[packy]

This is conflicting news about her from different people but bottom line is that her injuries did happen. And the brain is a mystery in many ways. Glad they know who she is and hope they can help her.

[Emyo]

Amnesia patient’s family doubts her story
By MIKE TOLSON and PEGGY O’HARE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 3, 2009, 11:13PM

~snipped~

“I would hate to think as a society that we have become so cynical that in a person’s hour of need we look at it with such a disbelieving eye,” he said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6457168.html

I like this statement. It has become so true in many of the stories that we read here.
jmo