NYPD identify mystery teen as resident of Washington state

A teenager who two weeks ago turned up in the heart of New York City without remembering her name or where she lives has been identified as a resident of Washington state.

Detective Brian Sessa, a spokesman with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), confirmed late Saturday that the 18-year-old is from Washington and her parents are flying to New York.

Sessa said the teen is in good health but still hasn't regained her memory. He declined to provide further details about where she's from in Washington or what happened to her.

The New York Post reported late Saturday that the break in the case came in a call to the NYPD tip hotline from an as-yet-unidentified caller.

Authorities were able to use that tip to figure out who the teen was and reach her family.

According to the New York City Administration for Children's Services and the Post, police picked up the teen after midnight Oct. 9 outside the Covenant House shelter near Times Square.

She was wearing tattered clothing and didn't have identification.

A Covenant House spokesman told the Post the girl wasn't a resident at the shelter and workers didn't recognize her.

"I just want to know who I am," Children's Services quoted the teen as saying last week. "I want to know who I am and what happened to me."

Authorities said the teen told them she had no memories of her name, home or family. Police experts and psychiatrists didn't believe she was faking.

After finding the teen, Children's Services teamed up with the NYPD and law-enforcement agencies nationwide in an attempt to identify her. Children's Services said the teen wrote down the name "Amber" and, at one point, responded to the name, but they remained unsure last week if that was her real name.

The young woman did recall some words from the fantasy novel "Fool's Fate" by best-selling author Robin Hobb. She also told authorities she'd been writing a fantasy story featuring a heroine named Rian.

New York authorities described the girl as soft-spoken.

She had no problem doing the math portion of study materials for a GED exam but had no memory of the history or science materials, authorities said.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com