Small town baffled by mystery of unknown woman

The Mystery woman who was left at Nambour General Hospital on September 6th after being found on the side of a rural road remains unidentified despite making national news. Local residents of the area in which she was found are baffled as to who she is or where she came from, with no one recognising the older woman.

Initially unable to speak, the woman has since started communicating but has been unable to tell medical staff who she is.

Believed to be in her 80s or 90s she was found in a frail state walking along Brandenburg Road in the small, close-knit community of Mooloolah Valley. The town of only about 4000 people is one where residents pride themselves on knowing their neighbours and business owners greet customers by name. But no one seems to know the identity of the mystery woman.

Speaking to the ABC, Natalie Lelievre said the woman has never been a customer in the two years she’s run the local newsagency.

“We’re very shocked. Most of the town know each other, either neighbours or relatives,” she said.

“Everyone just knows everyone, it’s a small community, but I’ve never seen this lady, never heard of anyone mention that they know her.

“Posters were put up, people were walking around asking if she was a local or if they’d spotted her or know who she is, but no one has any information on her.”

With only one shopping strip containing one supermarket, one newsagency, one butcher, one post office and a small collection of cafes, local residents rely on these businesses for their daily necessities. As none of the local business owners recognise the woman as a member of their small and close-knit community, the residents of Mooloolah Valley remain baffled by her sudden appearance.

Diana Van Jole, manager of the Mooloolah Valley IGA, has run the local supermarket for 15 years. In that time, she said she has never once seen the mystery woman before.

“It’s a bit of a mystery story there,” she said.

“Don’t know her, never seen her, and I know my customers pretty well here.

“Older people I talk to in the town, they don’t know her either.”

Adding to the mystery, the street on which she was found is not one that is regularly walked, according to locals.

Dean Hume, who has run the local butcher shop for 15 years, said that as Brandenburg Road is steep and difficult to walk, he didn’t understand why a frail older woman would be out there unless she lived nearby.

“We’ve been in town over a decade and I would know the customer if she came in,” he said.

“And [where she was found] it’s a long road, a big, long road, it just heads up to Maleny, it’s just rural properties all the way right up to the top.

“For a frail, old lady to be walking it … it’s not somewhere you just go for a walk, it’s quite steep, even in a car.”

Bob Accord has lived in the area for 20 years, and as a resident of Brandenburg Road, he agreed that walking the road was not for the faint of heart.

“It almost sounds like she was dropped here. It’s bizarre,” he said.

“People use the road to exercise, walk or run up and down — unfit people would be done by the time they reached my house, which is only 200 metres [from town].

“There’s nowhere really to go.”

As the ABC spoke to other residents and business owners, everyone denied knowing or having ever seen the woman, reinforcing the general sense of confusion as to how she ended up in their small, rural town.

Police have also continued in the search for answers and her identity, asking around at care facilities, RSLs, CWA Associations, doctor’s clinics and other facilities in the areas around where she was found hoping to find someone who knows who she is.

Following the release of another photo of the woman looking in far better condition than when she was first admitted to hospital, along with the image of a gold ring she was wearing at the time she was found, police have still received no calls confirming her identity.

Acting Inspector Matt Roberston has also ruled her out as a number of missing persons, saying that “police conducted a number of inquiries and a lot of names have been taken off the table” and just “weren’t a match”.

The man who originally dropped the woman at Nambour hospital has also been interviewed by police, and as such has been ruled as unsuspicious, not a relative of the woman, or a friend or carer.

Police are still asking for any information that may help identify the woman and get her back to the people and the care she requires. Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 131 444.

Image Source: Queensland Police