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Newark (Del.) Police Department
Linda Hegg, 56, had been missing since September.
A mystery woman who walked into a downtown Toronto shelter three months ago not knowing who she was has been identified as an American who disappeared from her apartment in Delaware, police said Tuesday.
Toronto police said DNA was used to positively identify the woman as Linda Hegg, 56, who was reported missing from Newark, Del.
She has been returned to Delaware and is resting comfortably at a hospital in Newark, with family at her side, Toronto police said.
It's still not known exactly when Hegg left her residence in Newark or what she did before she arrived at the shelter, Canadian Press reported.
Hegg can’t answer those questions because she apparently has amnesia, said Toronto police Detective Roger Caracciolo, Canadian Press reported.
Hegg asked the staff at her Delaware facility where she had been. "They told her, 'Well, you know, Linda, you were in Canada,' and she paused and she said, 'I like Canada. I'd like to visit there again,'" Caracciolo said, according to Canadian Press. "I don't think she knew where she was."
Police determined that the mystery woman entered Canada via bus on Sept. 3 and walked into a downtown Toronto shelter on Sept. 5. The neatly dressed woman didn’t have any identification and couldn’t tell authorities anything about her history, except that her first name was Linda. All she had on her was a tote bag filled with scraps of paper, a bottle of water, a map of Toronto bus routes and a wallet with a Canadian $20 bill, The Star reported.
The Toronto Police Service began issuing news releases Canada-wide with Hegg’s photo, hoping that someone would recognize the 5-foot-4-inch, 130-pound woman with short blond hair and blue eyes.
Unbeknownst to them, the Newark, Del., Police Department issued a press release Nov. 5 asking the public for help in locating Hegg, who the agency said suffers from an undisclosed medical condition and was missing from her unit in an apartment building run by the nonprofit National Alliance for Mental Illness.
Hegg was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1996 and has had a "difficult" time since then, Caracciolo said, according to Canadian Press.
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Newark police said a person in Canada contacted authorities Nov. 7 to report that the woman known there only as Linda resembled the woman reported missing in Delaware.
“The subject noticed similarities between the photo released by NPD and that released by the Toronto Police Service. NPD Detectives forwarded this information to the Toronto Police Service and assisted them in their investigation. Following an extensive investigation the Toronto Police Service used DNA to positively identify the subject as Linda Hegg,” Newark police said in a statement Tuesday.
Toronto police added: “When officers spoke to Linda and told her that they knew who she was, she smiled and her eyes lit up. It was the first time in two months investigators had seen Linda smile.”
Canadian social service workers took her back home on Friday – “just in time for Christmas,” Toronto police noted.
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Leave a Comment:
Great story... 'specially the smile and the family by her side. They will have to keep a closer watch on her from here on out! Great work from all involved from both sides of the border. :o)
Great outcome for this lady thanks to the Canadians.I'm glad that she is home safe and sound.
I'm so glad she is safe and sound at home, but I have to wonder how she ever made it across the border with no identification. Surely the border agents demanded to see some proof of her residency?
Well done to all involved. Glad she was found safe. Happy Holidays to all.
She went missing from her home (specifically intended for individuals with mental health concerns), entered Canada on September 3rd, showed up at a shelter on September 5th, and had shelter workers concerned about her lack of memory and identity for two months before police in her hometown issued a press release which lead to her identification after only 2 days?! Wow. Maybe they should have tried that a little sooner.
Always glad to hear about a reunited family. Great work to all involved.
How did this woman make it across the Canadian border without a passport?
According to the Canadian Border Services Agency's website, Americans just need a form of ID. The shelter says she arrived without an ID, but we don't know what she left her apartment in Delaware with. She could have lost her ID or even her passport between entering Canada and arriving at the shelter. Considering she suffers from a medical issue and entered Canada on a bus we may be able to assume she was going there to buy prescription medication, since in Canada the exact same meds cost about 20% of what they do in the U.S.A.
Nice but still a weird story. How did she go thru immigration? Didn't she have to answer questions. I don't believe Americans have to have a passport crossing Canada, but they do need one getting back.
Certainly happy for the family that this episode turned out with a reasonably happy ending. Now, about that mental health care Obama is promising to increase access to....
I say that every day. I can't visit Toronto often enough!