Woman With Amnesia Drove To Georgia Before Turning Up In Joliet
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) -- Amber Gerweck didn't know who she was or how she ended up in Joliet. She found out Wednesday that she's a mother of four from Michigan and on Thursday, it was revealed she traveled to Georgia before coming to Illinois.
Gerweck's parents came to meet her at the hospital on Thursday, nearly a month after she went missing.
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, Gerweck has been in the Chicago area since at least last Saturday, but no one knows how she got here.
Her parents said finding her was the answer to their prayers after a month of hell.
Dale and Jackie Seger drove more than 600 miles from Georgia to see their daughter at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet on Thursday.
"It was like, OMG, she's alive, she's alive," Jackie Seger said. "We almost lost hope."
Gerweck had been missing since April 9.
"We couldn't find her. There were no leads," her mother said.
Until Monday, no one had seen or heard from Amber since April 9, when she disappeared from her Jackson, Mich., home.
The next day, her car was found in Georgia about 30 miles from her parents' house. Gerweck's keys and ID's were still in the vehicle.
Then, nearly a month later, she showed up at the Joliet police station with no apparent recollection of who she was or how she got there.
"There are a lot of unanswered questions. How would she get from Tunnel Gills, Georgia to Joliet. She still doesn't have any recollection of how that would have occurred," Joliet Police Chief Fred Hayes said.
Gerweck was being treated for amnesia at Silver Cross Hospital. Doctors were hoping that the arrival of her parents would help her reclaim her memory.
They said they can't wait to see her. The waiting has been the hardest part of the last month for the Segers.
They found out Wednesday that a woman suffering from amnesia in Joliet might be their daughter.
"The minute we saw the picture we knew it was her," Dale Seger said. "We cried, jumped up and down, we screamed."
Gerweck's four children were given the news by their aunt.
"She had them put it on speaker phone and told the kids and they screamed," Jackie Seger said. "There has never been a better Mothers Day in my entire life. We are so thrilled she is alive. We are so grateful."
Police said that foul play might be involved, but at this point it's still too soon to say.
Police were able to identify her after a Facebook user matched her picture with a flyer put out by her family.
As for the reunion, it's still not clear if the arrival of her parents has helped with the amnesia.
