On Wednesday, police in Joliet, Illinois released photos and information to the media about a woman they had found near the city's Bicentennial Park. The woman appeared to be suffering from near-complete amnesia -- she couldn't remember anything from before a couple of days ago, her own identity included.
Shortly after the media publicized her image, readers were able to identify her, as HuffPost Chicago user Reality Checked did Wednesday evening.
"I know her," the user wrote. "Her name is Amber Gerweck and she is from Jackson, Michigan. She has been in the newspapers and news here and in Tunnel Hill, Georgia for three weeks now."
Indeed, authorities are confirming that the missing woman is in fact Amber Gerweck. On April 9, her husband reported her missing from their Jackson Township, Michigan home, saying she disappeared without giving any indication that she was leaving, according to CBS 2.
The next day, Gerweck's car was discovered in Tunnel Hill, near her parents' home in Calhoun, Georgia, though they were not expecting a visit from her, FOX Chicago reports. That led authorities to suspect she had been abducted.
Family members have no idea what might have brought her to Joliet, reports say. And the Chicago Tribune reports that doctors are still uncertain as to how or why she lost her memory:
"There were absolutely no marks that would indicate something has happened," [Joliet Police Chief Fred] Hayes said, adding that based on the department's prior experience with amnesiacs, the cause need not necessarily be due to an exterior reason.
"It really depends, there can be organic issues besides," he said. “We're really relying on the team of medical personnel that are treating her."
That team, which told Joliet police the woman appears to be an amnesiac, already has put her through a neurological evaluation and will probably conduct a mental health evaluation, Hayes said.
Gerweck has not yet been told her own identity, FOX adds. Family and medical staff are expected to confer and determine the best way to proceed.