NYC's Jane Doe: How Long Before The Made-For-Lifetime Movie?

The story started making the rounds on Facebook - a CNN piece about a young woman found at a homeless shelter in New York City, who claimed to have total amnesia. The story reads like a movie, and I'm sure it will be soon. I wouldn't be surprised if Lifetime already has the rights.

I don't know why I was so drawn to the story, other than the cinematic quality it took on. Here was a girl, somewhere between 14 and 19, who showed up at Covenant House, the famous NYC shelter for homeless teens and said she had no idea who she was. Her innocent smile drew me in, as did the odd coincidence that she remembered lines from a fantasy novel, and that she claimed to be writing one as well. How could she remember bits from a story but not her own name? I was fascinated. 

The initial report said that her dental hygiene showed that she had been on the streets for quite some time, and when she was identified (details were not given as to her name and background) it turned out that she had been missing from Washington state. Washington to NYC is a long trip, and *how* she got to New York, and to Covenant House made me want to do my own detective work. Of course this is not "Law and Order," although I bet you any amount of money they do a "ripped from the headlines" story about it within the month, and I am not a detective. But there was something about the fantasy novels that struck me.

Could it be that "Jane Doe" only remembered the bits and pieces from the novel because she had some sort of psychiatric event that made her retreat into the world of fantasy? She told police that she was writing her own book, and remembered details about how it involves a heroine named Rian, who was raised on the outskirts of a fantasy kingdom. Maybe in her mind, she went to live in her fantasy kingdom, repressing all other memories, and somehow she was found, seemingly miraculously, alive and well in the real world.

Of course there will be those who cry hoax, and you know, maybe it is a hoax. We all got burned by Balloon Boy and this is just another of those weird and wild stories that just *can't* be true, right? But maybe it is all true, and "Jane Doe" somehow crossed the entire country with just scraps of a fantasy in her memory and nothing else. Could those bits of fantasy been what kept her going as she braved the streets? Could you or I survive the same situation?

Perhaps "Jane Doe" ran away from home and wanted to recreate herself. Maybe she is mentally ill, and had a psychotic break. Maybe she made the whole thing up. But you've got to admit, it makes for a hell of a story. Lifetime, you need a screenwriter? Call me!

source: CNN

Comments

[indycitygirl]

I just hope she gets better.I do find it odd the police didnt have anyone come forward sooner and ID her.If my kid were missing it would be all over the place news.

[iambellaluna]

Even if this is a hoax. I like it. It's quite interesting the mind. I want to follow this & I *hope* it does get picked up for a movie or Law & Order...Awesome.

[Katya]

About the fantasy novel thing... amnesia doesn't just mean that you can't remember anything.

Retrograde amnesia erases memories prior to the event that caused it, and anterograde amnesia prevents you from forming new memories. One person can have both types, but they don't necessarily go together. The claim that she doesn't remember her "distant" past but remembers the "near" past is perfectly plausible.