Nurse in Chicago IDs woman found wandering in Oregon

ALBANY, Ore. - A woman found wandering along an Oregon country road two weeks ago has been identified, thanks to the help of the public and law enforcement agencies in a half dozen states and two countries.

The woman found alone and confused east of Albany on May 15 has been identified as Marcia Lee Rackley, 67, of Yorktown, Va., Linn County sheriff Tim Mueller said.

Rackely had been committed to a hospital for her own safety while authorities worked to identify her.

Last week, detectives from Linn County managed to trace Rackley back to a bus terminal in Spokane, Wash., boarding a bus to Portland.

Surveillance footage from Portland showed the woman buying a ticket from Portland to Albany.

On Thursday, detectives found out Rackley had arrived in Portland from Chicago, where she bought a bus ticket to Portland on May 11 under the fake name of Kelly Somerson.

The sheriff's office alerted the Chicago Police Department on Thursday, who distributed information to the media there.

On Friday morning, a nurse manager from a Chicago area hospital called the Linn County Sheriff's Office and said she recognized the woman as a patient in the hospital's emergency department Apri 23, 2012.

According to the nurse manager, the woman was found at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after being seen in a bathroom for three days.

During the course of treatment in the Chicago hospital, the hospital staff located photo identification as well as insurance cards on the woman identifying her as Marcia Lee Rackley.

Once she was treated at the hospital, she was committed to a Chicago-area psychiatric ward. After treatment there, she was released and purchased a Greyhound Bus ticket at a Chicago Greyhound bus station with a destination of Portland, the sheriff's office said.

The nursing manager also provided Linn County detectives with contact information for the family of Ms. Rackley. Detectives contacted her sister, who positively identified Marcia on Friday morning through photographs.

Marcia was last known to be living in Yorktown, Va., with her sister. She has no children and never been married. According to her sister, when Marcia left Norfolk she was on her medication and was in good health.

Detectives received information that Marcia suffers from severe mental illness. When she is not taking medication, she wanders, boards buses or trains, and often travels without any form of identification, the sheriff's office said.

The Linn County Sheriff's Office is now working to provide the health professionals currently working with Marcia all the information received so that proper medical treatment can be given and so she can aid in her own care or be treated within an in-patient care facility, Mueller said.

"Marcia's identity may never have been brought to the Linn County Sheriff's Office attention if it weren't for law enforcement, media, social networking, and the public's assistance," Mueller said. "Investigators working this case received over 60 tips from across the United States and Canada which came in the form of emails, direct telephone calls, and Facebook messages."

Law Enforcement agencies assisting in this investigation include the Oregon State Police, Oregon Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Social Security Administration, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Spokane Police Department, Chicago Police Department, Maine State Police, Fort Kent Police Department (Maine), Aroostook County Sheriff's Department (Maine), Lake County Sheriff's Office (Montana), Grand Forks County Sheriff's Department (North Dakota).