Woman Battling Cancer and Amnesia Relies on Faith, Social Media to Retrace Past
By Steve Luke and Neil Giardino

NEW YORK: -- A woman with a thick Australian accent rescued from the streets of Carlsbad, California, and battling cancer has caught the attention of police and FBI agents after doctors confirmed she suffers from a rare case of amnesia.

With the help of social media and a small group of supporters, the woman, known only as Sam, is on a search to find her identity — and possibly a person she may have been in love with.

“I just feel like there’s a thick fog over my mind, my memory, over my brain that I can’t see through,” Sam said. “I can’t remember anything. How I got here? I didn’t have anything on me, no jewelry, no purse, nothing.”

According to Carlsbad police, the case began February 1 when emergency responders found the woman barely conscious near the corner of Tamarack Avenue and Adams Street in the small beach resort community north of San Diego.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/Woman-Suffering-Amnesia-Relies-Faith-Social-Media--310911741.html

-- NBC New York 2015-07-01

Source

She's a Pom, not an Aussie. She's spent some time in NZ, maybe less than ten years, and I also detect a year or two in California.

My guess from her accent.

She's definitely not Australian.

She's a Pom, not an Aussie. She's spent some time in NZ, maybe less than ten years, and I also detect a year or two in California.

My guess from her accent.

She's definitely not Australian.

Yeah, UK-base accent for sure with other stuff mixed in. North Americans are really poor at recognizing accents.

"thick Australian accent"... gotta chuckle at that.

She's a Pom, not an Aussie. She's spent some time in NZ, maybe less than ten years, and I also detect a year or two in California.

My guess from her accent.

She's definitely not Australian.

Yeah, UK-base accent for sure with other stuff mixed in. North Americans are really poor at recognizing accents.

"thick Australian accent"... gotta chuckle at that.

Yes, a mix so it's hard to be sure. I could be wrong about NZ and it may be just a few years in Oz instead.

Met a guy from Bermuda once...wow, his English was a strange mix of accents but was probably standard Bermudan.

Identity of mystery 'Australian' woman with amnesia revealed as Ashley Menatta
Lisa Visentin

SYDNEY: -- A mystery woman, whose identity had perplexed the FBI, Interpol and thousands of online amateur sleuths, has been named after her nephew saw her call for help in the avalanche of media coverage that her plight generated.

Sam, as she was known, is in fact Ashley Menatta. She is 53 and, contrary to some earlier reports, she is not Australian.

However, she appears to have been a regular visitor to this country.

Her home is near San Diego not far from where she was found in February in poor health and with a tumour on her ovary the size of a volleyball.

Ms Menatta was born in Pennsylvania, lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, and several years ago found her way to Southern California, living in La Jolla, Vista, and Carlsbad, NBC 7 San Diego reported.

She never married, but has sisters in Colorado and Maryland.

Full story: http://www.theage.com.au/world/identity-of-mystery-australian-woman-with-amnesia-revealed-as-ashley-menatta-20150702-gi35g7.html

-- The Age 2015-07-02

Identity of mystery 'Australian' woman with amnesia revealed as Ashley Menatta

Lisa Visentin

SYDNEY: -- A mystery woman, whose identity had perplexed the FBI, Interpol and thousands of online amateur sleuths, has been named after her nephew saw her call for help in the avalanche of media coverage that her plight generated.

Sam, as she was known, is in fact Ashley Menatta. She is 53 and, contrary to some earlier reports, she is not Australian.

However, she appears to have been a regular visitor to this country.

Her home is near San Diego not far from where she was found in February in poor health and with a tumour on her ovary the size of a volleyball.

Ms Menatta was born in Pennsylvania, lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, and several years ago found her way to Southern California, living in La Jolla, Vista, and Carlsbad, NBC 7 San Diego reported.

She never married, but has sisters in Colorado and Maryland.

Full story: http://www.theage.com.au/world/identity-of-mystery-australian-woman-with-amnesia-revealed-as-ashley-menatta-20150702-gi35g7.html

-- The Age 2015-07-02

There's still something not right here...she is definitely of British upbringing, or an actor. I've heard American actors, good actors, trying to do "Australian" and it often comes out very British-sounding....usually Cockney, though (eg Elaine from Seinfeld)...even actresses such as Streep in the "A dingo stole my baby" movie.

I did catch the Californian hint to her accent, and a bit of Antipodes.....but it seems now she is feigning.

I have heard of a few rare cases where a trauma victim started speaking with a different accent, or even a different language

There's still something not right here...she is definitely of British upbringing, or an actor. I've heard American actors, good actors, trying to do "Australian" and it often comes out very British-sounding....usually Cockney, though (eg Elaine from Seinfeld)...even actresses such as Streep in the "A dingo stole my baby" movie.

I did catch the Californian hint to her accent, and a bit of Antipodes.....but it seems now she is feigning.

Yeah, Americans are rotten bad at accents. There just isn't the cultural awareness of dialects and accents that there is in the UK. Few Americans can tell the difference between accents and fewer can do a passable job.

That said, who knows if she feigning. It's possible she really is the victim of brain trauma, and believes that she is Australian with a goofy accent. Like sdaniel commented above, I have also heard of people suffering amnesia and speaking with another accent. The brain is a mysterious, screwy thing.

Glad they found out who she is. I hope she gets the treatment she needs, be that for recovery from amnesia or psychiatric treatment for seeking such attention or speech coach lessons to do a more convincing accent.

Since she has stage 3 ovarian cancer which has spread through her body, the accent she uses is hardly of any interest.

Hopefully the re-connection with family members will help her.

....Or all our resident linguists could just admit that you were wrong.

You are a cunning bunch, you know.

A tumor the size of a volleyball????

....Or all our resident linguists could just admit that you were wrong.

You are a cunning bunch, you know.

We got it right that she wasn't Australian. Admitedly wrong on the other speculation. I thought it was ok to guess here? I don't want to take away from your haha-you-got-it-wrong dance, though.

I like the "cunning linguist" allusion. Clever.