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A possible amnesia victim has been sighted more than 100 times.
CASE DETAILS  She caused a car accident On April 20, 1989, on a dark country road near Circle, Montana, a woman driving on the wrong side of the road almost hit a car head-on. Another driver, Carol Heitz, witnessed the near miss, and then was hit by the same car. Carol emerged from the wreckage dazed, but not seriously injured. Then a woman appeared out of the darkness. Carol realized it was the woman who hit her:
The driver of the first car, Peggy Bueller, returned to help and saw the silent woman:
The silent woman walked away from the accident scene and vanished into the night. Police traced the car to its owner, 38-year-old Patricia Meehan, and began to search for her. Over the next five days, they looked on land and from the air, but found no trace of Patricia.  She may have amnesia and may be lost There were two theories as to how Patricia left the area. She may have stowed away on a hay truck that was seen about half a mile from the accident. Or, she simply hitched a ride. At least one hundred people have reported seeing Patricia Meehan since she vanished. Patricia has made no attempt to contact her family or friends. Authorities believe she may be suffering from amnesia. Just before the accident, those who knew her well, including her mother, Dolly Meehan, noticed that Patricia seemed depressed and withdrawn:
After Patricia disappeared, her family found a roll of undeveloped film still in her camera. It contained a haunting self-portrait. Psychologist Don La Plante speculated on Patricia’s mental health:
 Patricia has been spotted at several truck stops Patricia was spotted dozens of times between Montana and Seattle, mainly at truck stops. But in every case, she had hitchhiked out of the area by the time authorities arrived. Waitress Barb Ruff confirmed one sighting of Patricia in Bozeman, Montana, in May of 1989, just a few miles from her home:
Another waitress, Brenda Clements, also noticed that Patricia was acting strangely:
Although years have passed with no word from Patricia, her father and the rest of her family still hold out hope that she may one day find her way home:
Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season two with Robert Stack and in season six with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
Thomas
The comments on this case are sometimes ludicrous. She was not exactly “middle aged,” she was in her mid-30’s when this happened. People are acting like she was elderly and doddering when she clearly was not. All these “verified” sightings are of multiple other women who are a common type. None of these people ever knew Patty, so they couldn’t verify positively someone they didn’t know. One of the irritating things about the original UM episodes is they attribute so many incidents to amnesia when diagnosed amnesia is unbelievably rare. I think it’s sadly apparent she is dead. A woman hitchhiking is an incredibly dangerous activity. She may have met with foul play, she have died in some other fashion as a Jane Doe. A haunting and sad case in any event.
Anonymous
Just another possibility, a police officer that may have not wanted to charge her for the accident, may have possibly assisted her disappearance. I looked at the trail of the shoe prints they followed. Even with an hour head start they should have seen her walking to the mountains. (I’m almost blind and can see everything within tens miles away towards mountains. Not too many people can walk ten miles in one hour.)
Anonymous
This reminds me of the Devin Williams case on Unsolved Mysteries. They searched for him. And his remains were later found in a previously searched area. There is just so much wildlife in Montana, it would be difficult to survive it. Patricia may have had southern instincts being from Oklahoma. But Montana can be compared to Africa for wildlife.
heywood
It’s been more than 30 years now, she’s clearly dead, she was probably dazed during the accident, wandered off and died. If you look at Google earth there are lots of large bodies of water around Circle Montana where this happened, she probably found one and drowned, and the searchers just missed finding her body. It’s find it stupid how on Unsolved Mysteries they said ‘over the years there were hundreds of “verified” sightings of her” what??? how could they be verified? what they meant was there were hundreds of tips from people saying they say a blonde woman similar to her description, that’s all they could be, they are not ‘verified’ as being her. Back in those days they loved to throught he amnesia theory around every time someone went missing. To have complete amnesia like that is extremely rare. Plus if she was that confused how was she surviving? After 30 years there is no way, she would have been discovered by now, she probably died that first night.
Ryan
I think you’re right
Anonymous
I don’t think she made it out of there either. Morningstar was just mistaken for her.
Anonymous
If Unsolved Mysteries couldn’t find her that has to be taken into consideration. This is one of their rare unsolved cases I don’t believe was a homicide.
J
yea I agree..
Josefino
I agree very much in what you say
marilyn mccormack
iknow i saw her in 1989 in San Francisco (day of the earthquoke world series) iwas at the bottom of market st.sitting on a bench she came up to me sood in front of me haunting looking i ithought shes some one lovely daughter but homeless …i smiled at her nooded then looked away when i saw unsolved mys. callad themand even called circle montana PD inever forgot it …cold she have disappeared into the city and may be today at her age is in anursing home in that area under assumed name …
Sesiley
I believe I just woke up from a dream about this person. In my dream she was going by the name Jamie and was really great at working the cashier and played the guitar. There is also a man in my dream named possible John who knew her and owned a bag with a Bible, pictures of her, and a Sony CD player, and menthol Marlboro ciggs?
MD
Slow down there, Dale Cooper.
Jamie
My name is Jamie and I believe I know this woman I submitted a tip. Hope it helps
Sharon
They need to find her even though her family has passed away they still need closer.
Faith
You need to put up an aged progressed photo of Patricia Meehan on your website that people can print out. People would probably recognize her since she’s 31 years older than the picture shown.
Anonymous
The police also need to do that with the ID data bases. An old photo is a glitch for their photo tracing.
Bill Blaski
Sadly she would be 68 yrs old. I can’t help but to think she left the accident wondered off and took her life. The only problem I had is why could a k9 or blood hound not track her scent or a cadaver dog brought in? I say do a solid check around the area she wrecked. Is it rural terrain? Or suburban area?
Shawn
Very rural, other than 1 house at that time it was just prairie land.
Anonymous
That theory is very possible. I believe that is why she left the scene. Not so much to be a fugitive, but to possibly avoid safety and protective custody. A lot has changed since the 1980s. I actually can’t go over stigma.
Anonymous
It is just a puzzle. She couldn’t have went too far. She was middle aged. I’m surprised they didn’t catch up to her tracks before 3am.
SM
I don’t understand – if Patricia had been seen so many times, why would she have remained missing like that?
It’s an eerie case. I wonder how she lived on the run like that. Where did she stay? How did she take care of herself? No one will ever truly know.
Judy
They are unconfirmed sighting. She will remain missing until law enforcement can confirm it’s her.
Anonymous
She is the kind of woman that looks like someone everyone knows. But if she really returned to her hometown, someone would have recognized her. Everyone knows everyone out there. All those north west sightings were of a lady they arrested for littering. I’ve never heard of such court hearings over a person’s identity before this case. Usually it’s someone wanting money like the Anastasia lady. The entire community was convinced she was Patricia Meehan. They even had a press conference saying they found her. It wasn’t her however.
Anonymous
If a cop instructed me to go into hiding, I would never come out of hiding. The Police should be questioned more.
Anonymous
It is hard to ignore 5,000 sightings. Women often change their family names. See was single with no offspring baggage. She could have easily found someone to take care of her. But with 50 million people over 70 that is next to impossible to identify. (If she did survive the woods.)
Heitz
Carol Heitz is actually my great aunt.
josefino
How is she? Was she harmed in the accident?
Nicole
She looks really familiar, like I have seen her somewhere but im not entirely sure. I watched her case numerous times.
Sarie
I get that same feeling every time I re-read about Patricia or when I try to find out if there are any updates. My husband and I were just watching Forensic Files and a women that looks eerily similar to Patricia was being interviewed. My husband said [In re: the women on TV; also not saying the lady was Patricia, just looks so similar], “She looks really familiar, as if I’ve talked to her before.” I looked up and saw the lady he was referring to and said that she looks just like Patricia Meehan so I pulled her case up on here to show him. Then I saw your comment. Patricia seems to have that kind of face that is so familiar, even if you’d never seen or spoken to her before.
I think what happened is she was concussed and ran off into the wilderness. From there, she likely succumbed to the elements but I always am hoping she made her way somewhere, is still alive but totally confused. Sadly, I believe retrograde amnesia is temporary, therefore, after all this time, if she were alive, she’d likely have gained some memory back, even without medical treatment.
I do remember a few years back that someone had possibly found her on facebook and the person did really look similar but I don’t know. I know she had the “strange behavior” before her disappearance but I didn’t really think any of it was strange or indicated that she should be running ti start anew. I explained to my husband if I ever go missing, they will not even bother to look for me. I have severe PTSD from deployment followed by a decade of heroin use (over five years clean now!) and if I want to go shopping at nine, I’d like to eat breakfast quick, too. So I hate to think they’d basically say I ran off or killed myself or relapsed and wouldn’t even bother looking for me. I’ve always told him if I ever felt the need to go missing, he would know.
I hope Patricia is found. Sorry for this long comment.
Anonymous
That was my first impression also. She looked like someone I had seen before but I couldn’t picture where. Then my methods kicked in. Blonde hair does standout. It is not a frame for facial features like darker hair.
Curtis Rowe
I too, saw her in Butte many many years ago. It was at Pork Chop John’s on Harrison Ave.
Anonymous
I was in a Butte, MT bar one evening. Ive forgotten which one but its likely the bar was on the hill since its where I hung out at the time. I met or was approached by a woman matching her description. She spoke of Sidney, MT. I remembered a woman was missing from that area. I attempted to get more info including her name but her speech was disorganized and soft. She did not appear to be intoxicated. It was during this encounter I kept a cigarette lighter she gave me. I wanted to get some fingerprints from her so I handled the lighter with care. I called Butte police from a payphone located in the bar and informed them of my situation but was told by whoever answered the phone that there was nothing they could do. I still remember this and I was almost positive this was her.
Sarie
Do you still have the lighter? You could contact NAMUS to see if they can help. Here is her NAMUS page but it says fingerprints aren’t on file but its not always accurate and they may be able to get your local police to actually care. This is good looking out on your part.
DK
You should always ask for the detective in charge.
Anonymous
I recognise Patricia Meehan, from tonight’s airing of Unsolved mysteries I went from Yakima Wa. over to Ogden Utah, to meet my brother in law for the first time who was a Christian when my wife Tamar and I arrived in Ogden my meeting Tim Tamars brother must have made quite an impression 4 days later my wife left me and my Ford Lightining blew up after Tamars Uncle Buck who was employed through the City of Ogden as a mechanic had borrowed my Ford. Tim didnt let me stay there So having no place to go didnt know a soul. Thanks to & Robin OBrien who worked at Hill Airforce Base lazar sighting Xray missiles had taken me in after being at the Truck stop for so long I had been working at Labor Ready thanks to the kindness of Angela Silkwood and while I was staying in a Truck Stop for over 40 plus days met Patricia through a Truck driver named the Tin man She hung out with me daily I would buy her lunch and dinners at the stop I about fell out after seeing her tonight on Unsolved could never forget her she was a reay beautiful girl I worried about her the That Stop had alot of Riffrat driver’s frequenting through there! I got the impression she didnt want me to be worried but it came easily for me and get honestly from both parents!
RISSSS
No one needs to know any of that other useless rambling you wrote before you say you saw this woman. You need to contact the proper authorities. Hopefully they can understand you. Leave all that other nonsense out. No one needs to hear YOUR sob story. This poor woman is lost and no one cares about your wife and your brother-in-law.
kelli collins
Exactly….. WTF???
Jeff Geoff
Dude, what are you talking about??? You’ve made no sense! Care to revise you epic (in duration) statement?
Anonymous
This post is rambling and confusing. Too many irrelevant details, and really bad syntax/ punctuation. Sounds like a child wrote this, and is probably not true.
Anonymous
Yes, she has living relatives in the Pittsburgh area. I looked up December Davis on Facebook and that girl looks too young to be her. She would be in her 60’s now
Anonymous
I found the same things, with so much time passed, someone needs to come forward!!!
a guy
She may be a homeless person in El Centro CA.
robert lee
do you have any more pictures of her and is there a reward
Jessica Beck
I think an above commenter is on to something. They stated a Facebook page by the name of “Pat Meehan” looks just like her, just older and with short gray hair now. Naturally curious, I looked it up on Facebook and the woman looks similar, but also posted a picture saying she took it on the way to Pennsylvania. Patty’s family lives in PA.
sarah
This is so simple…. But there is a lady living in south philadelphia by the same name who looks just like the picture of the real Patricia, but older.
unsolved
Hi Sarah – please send us more information at unsolved@unsolved.com, through our tip form (https://unsolved.com/content/tips) or through our app. Thank you.
MICHEL KERSHNER
Any updates/sightings ? I grew up with the Meehans, lived directly across my back street on Tybee in Pittsburgh, great family. (Party babysat me a couple times). I’ve been a cop for 22yrs and am constantly poking around within our ranks but come up empty. You (public) have better opportunity to see her out & about & report your sighting…. Please do so, I’d love to see her family reunited with her.
Anonymous
This case brings back a lot of memories. I think she went to heaven like Lucille Ball did a week later. The number one song that week “She Drives Me Crazy” is just so surreal. It’s like we are in 1989 again.
Anonymous
If she did get out of that situation alive, the police would of had to help her. The cops are just too good at chasing people. (It is what they do best.) Someone from the city may have not wanted the county prosecuting because the dispatcher said she may be injured. Or someone from the county after the original search was cut off could have helped her.
bob haller
I grew up as pattys neighbor. her parents were nice people. sadly they have both died now. I am friends with her family. her brothers and sisters are still alive. her sister runs a hair salon very close to her family home. pattys youngest brother owns the family home. tom meehan pattys dad was a awesome person.
Brian
My mother was best friends with her growing up. I remember patty coming to visit our family in Colorado. She was so nice. Please let me know if you hear anything. I know my mother has always kept patty in her thoughts.
Christine Paulis hisington
My mother and Dolly Meehan were first cousins. I knew Patty when I was little, she loved horses. I remember her old house off West Carson Street in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where we both were born.
BroGuy
Maybe the woman who was driving her car killed her and stole her car, and was on drugs and she ran into the woods to not get caught.
MD
What? Multiple people say Meehan behind the fence after the crash, nothing fishy happened there other than Meehan walking off into the night, into that abandoned field. This is verified by the shoe prints the cops found on that terrain, which abruptly stopped somewhere in the middle of the field.
She left on her own accord. I think she was having some kind of psychotic break, the other drivers said she looked straight through them, like they didn’t exist, there’s a medical term for that, which I don’t know that name of. Almost kind of like a 100-yard gaze seen in veterans suffering from PTSD? Not sure.
I don’t think she was met with foul play. She literally lost her noodle and is out there somewhere, probably homeless. Poor woman. If she was close to the family they could’ve taken her to a psychiatrist or admitted her into a facility. (Temporarily, of course.) The worst part is she was trying to save herself, she told her dad she wasn’t feeling all that hot and wanted to come back home.
More of a sad story than spooky.
Anonymous
The lady worked for law enforcement. She is an expert witness. (Meaning she knows how to professionally testify in court proceedings.) Not too many accidents have expert witnesses. Her testimony is really beyond credible.
Moe
I think some people come on here playing games. This is serious people not a joke.
Stacey shannon
Pat meehan on facebook. Looks similar. Short grey hair, and her eyes! Something about her eyes.
Patricia Widener
There is a young lady who was found near our home in the late 80.s deceased the local sheriff office had tried many time to identify her she had long strawberry braid hair was 5″3″ and had freckles. dna says she was from seattle Montana area was wearing a tan leather jacketPLEASE CONTACT MIAMI CO. SHERIFF OFFICE TROY,OH IF YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE HER
Bryan
There are a lot of Pat Meehans
December Davis
Hi all. IT appears i am the subject of a missing person theory. I agree we have similar features but i am not patricia meehan. i was born in 1965 to kathleen and walt dorough.
Fox Mulder
You looked too young to be her anyways. Interesting theory. I think what threw people off was you have Meehans in your friends list. (Which is your business not ours. Not trying to be creepy or anything lol) You do have very similar features.
just curios
This lady favors her SO MUCH! yes it states different eye color (but they could change stranger things have happened) and both are said to have suffered from amnesia!
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/officials-search-amnesiac-womans-family-tumor-left-memory/story?id=32127872
UM
We really shouldn’t trust people who aren’t really public officials and post mismatching suspicious messages
Funknut From Reddit /r/UnresolvedMysteries
Are you referring to Janet Franson? Although she’s no longer a cop, she *really is* a public official who works in public healthcare at UNT Center for Human Identification. She’s a retired homicide investigator of 21 years and continues to work in a public function at the only academic center with access to the FBI’s next-generation CODIS 6.0 DNA matching system. Presumably she’s only interested in identifying possible matches.
Anon
Is this her?
https://m.facebook.pcom/december.davis.12?tsid=0.7780376661103219&source=typeahead
janet franson - Univ. N. Texas
I have worked Patricia’s case. She is in NamUs= Nat. missing/unidentified person system. Anyone who would contact with information is asked to email jane.franson@unthsc.edu
Beth
I was just checking to make sure the email you posted was typed correctly. Says your name is Janet, but the email says Jane. Just didn’t want someone trying to contact you and it not going through due to a typo 🙂
nmg
Have you looked into the lady in California going by the name “sam” both said to have suffered from amnesia.
Anonymous
I think I know her did you call the police
yb
Does anyone know if she has living relatives? It’s been such a long time.
drae
Please please contact police in bozeman montana. I live in missoula, mt, and still remember this case. Her family deserves to know if she is safe.
Nicole2580
And I found a December Davis in Phoenix in Facebook.
doesnt matter
I think I know her.
As far as I know she goes by december davis and lives off of 7thst and union hills drive.
The reason I say so is cause she acts the same way and looks exactly the way this story is described.
Anonymous
I am the person who played her in the taping of the incident. What city and state is she in?
Anonymous
That happened a lot on that show.
Jeff meehan
Still looking for her.