BANGOR, Maine — Police in Oregon are asking the public to help them identify a woman they described as lost and confused who may have ties to Maine, in particular Fort Kent.
The woman, who says her name is Katie Walker, was found walking the streets of Albany, Ore., on May 15. She had no identification with her.
According to a flier provided by the Linn County Sheriff’s Department, the woman appears to be between 50 and 70 years old, is about 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 153 pounds and has blue eyes and shoulder-length white hair.
Though the woman could not provide her date of birth, she did tell personnel from the Linn County Sheriff’s Department that she had traveled there from Maine, according to Detective Micah Smith. Smith said the woman is under observation in a hospital.
On Thursday, Oregon authorities confirmed the woman arrived in Linn County on a Greyhound bus, Smith said.
He said while Greyhound does not usually require that its riders show identification, police were able to confirm through surveillance video that the woman arrived in Spokane, Wash., aboard a westbound bus at 11:15 a.m. May 13. The woman then immediately got on a Greyhound bound for Portland, Ore., arriving there at 6:10 p.m. that day.
A flier put out by the Linn County Sheriff’s Department noted that the woman told them she may be from Fort Kent or may have been there, that she has a history of rheumatic fever and tuberculosis and was treated by a “Dr. Trudeau.”
She also said she had a thyroid adenoma removed in 1969, which resulted in a 10-centimeter scar above her clavicle, and has a linear scar on her left foot from a bunionectomy.
When she was found, the woman was wearing a purple knee-length rain jacket, a black skirt with floral print and brown shoes. The woman also may have been carrying a black tote bag. Photographs of her belongings are shown in the flier.
Smith said Thursday that the flier recently was updated and was being disseminated to all hospitals in Maine.
Fort Kent police said they had been contacted by Oregon authorities but had no active missing person cases. Aroostook and Penobscot County dispatchers had no reports of a missing older woman.
Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said the only recent missing person case involving an adult woman was that of 62-year-old Fay Johnson, who hasn’t been seen since early March, when she was in the process of moving into an apartment.
Smith said county and state police in Oregon were aware of the Fay Johnson disappearance.
“We haven’t definitively eliminated [Johnson] as a possible match, but we don’t believe [the Oregon mystery woman] is her,” Smith said.
Oregon authorities also are working with their counterparts on both sides of the border, among them U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but so far have come up empty, Smith said.
Smith said that efforts to identify the woman are being hampered somewhat because she has been uncooperative.
“She says she has no family, but then she says she has relatives in Canada,” he said. Efforts to track down those relatives have not been successful so far.
Police also have taken the woman’s fingerprints, Smith said.
“She said we won’t find anything because she’s never been arrested,” Smith said.
Smith said that while the woman has not provided any information about her work history, police hope they might find a match in one of a number of databases created for educators, other professionals and volunteers.
Anyone with information on the woman’s identity is urged to call the Linn County Sheriff’s Office detective division at 541-967-3950.
“…the woman appears to be between 50 and 70 years old…” this could be any woman from maine
Can’t they do better than a 20-year age range? That could be me or my mother. Huge physical difference in many areas. Also, she appears to have a lot of edema in her right arm and hand. Wouldn’t that indicate something serious?
Perhaps it was a a relative who put her on a one-way ticket to Oregon, and that’s why there’s no missing person report on her. :(
Perhaps “Dr Trudeau” is the “Doctor” from the infocomercials regarding arthritis and such?
I dont think that she is the missing woman from Maine unless the pictures of her they have are from awhile ago since the missing Maine woman has short hair. I still say maybe she was to board a bus to Portland MAINE and went to portland Oregon??
I’m guessing her childhood, young adult years were spent in northern Maine. But her later years could place her anywhere in the country. Alzheimer’s and dementia sufferers often go back to those early years with surprising clarity. And they often aren’t all that co-operative if you probe for more info than their brain will come up with. A geneaologist needs to work in reverse on this case. Perhaps someone will remember Dr Trudeau from 1969 in the Fort Kent area. Hoping for the best. We need an adult Amber Alert!
There is an adult Amber Alert system in many communities. They call it a Silver Alert. Sadly, it’s localized, and not as well publicized as the Amber Alert system is.
hmmmm there is a kate walker listed in presque isle. woman early 70’s something to check out. i did call and pass on the info…hope someone claims her so so sad.
I find it really sad that no family members have reported there mother or grandmother missing.
I wonder if she’s like those stories you hear once in a great while in which a child or young adult goes missing. They actually had some head trauma or personality disorder that made them run away and they forgot who they really were. They spend decades living their life as someone else and then suddenly forget that personality. In other words perhaps she was much younger with a different name when she went missing. Though I’m only speculating.
was wondering where she is staying now, or did she leave? it didn’t really say where she is now
An earlier article said she was staying at a local hospital for observation.
thanks!
Poor lady
I think it could be Fay Johnson. Height measurements in women are often from years ago, and osteoparosis causes woment to get shorter. Hopefully someone makes sure before dismissing the idea that it is the same woman. The face look very similar, especially in the second photo of Fay with white hair, on the BDN site article.
It’s sad to me that she has been labeled ‘uncooperative.’ It sounds as though she has demenia, and is probably being as cooperative as she can. She is in a strange place surrounded by strangers. Her cognitive abilities are going to vary greatly. If she can get to a safe, consistent environment where she can connect with someone, she may recall a bit more.