The other night I watched a documentary about an American teacher named, Hannah Upp. She was living in the U.S. Virgin Islands when she went missing in 2017, around the time of Hurricane Irma and Maria. It was the third time she had gone missing.
The first time was in 2009. She was living in New York and was found, alive, three weeks later – floating, face down, in the Hudson River.
THE HUDSON RIVER.
The second time she went missing was in 2013. She reappeared after two days.
In 2017, she went missing for a third time and still hasn’t been found.
She has a rare condition known as a dissociative fugue, which is a temporary form of amnesia. The media calls it Jason Bourne Syndrome. She forgets who she is and it takes days, months, or maybe years to snap out of it.
That is terrifying. To just wander around, not knowing who you are, and not even aware that people are trying to find you. If people went up to her and asked if she’s Hannah, she’d say no.
All three times she went missing were right after school started, so they’re assuming something about that acted as a trigger, perhaps the stress of it.
The first time Hannah went missing, they found surveillance of her at an Apple store. She logged into her Gmail account, but immediately logged out. Her mom still sends her emails, hoping her daughter finds them and remembers who she is.
A psychologist attributed that to muscle memory (potentially), rather than her knowing who she was and what she was doing.
The whole thing is scary to think about, but to her family and friends, it’s a reality they have to wake up to every day.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this today. If you want to know more about it, feel free to look into it with a Google search. I’m sure I left out a bunch of details.
Have you heard about this story before? Were you aware of what a dissociative fugue was?
I haven’t heard the story and wasn’t aware of the condition. Poor family, though. It must be exhausting and scary to lose a family member, or friend, or lover like this.
I bet, a good writer (or screenwriter) would come up with a bestselling novel.
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Yeah, you could see in the interviews with her mom and friends that they’re thinking, “Well, she’s been missing before and has found her way back” but they’re also realizing it’s been two years…
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Oh my gosh! I have never heard of this person or condition before. What’s the show? It’s going to be a horrible weekend I’m staying in and need stuff to watch!
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Oh it was on TV! I saw the title while I was randomly looking through the guide and decided to tape it. I’m sure there are videos about it on YouTube!
If you need a fun show, I recommend The Circle on Netflix!
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I’ve seen the trailer for “the circle” but I’m confused at what it actually is? Lol I just started “the good place” but I’m sure I’ll power through it in no time! I’ll add “the circle” to the list!
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The Good Place is also a good choice! The Circle is a reality game show where the contestants don’t meet each other in person. There’s 8 of them and they communicate via text messages on a TV screen in their apartment. Basically they’re trying to be the most likeable person in the Circle. Some of them go into it with a fake identity since it’s all online. It sounds weird but it’s so good.
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Oooohhhss lol Okies! Sounds interesting! Can’t wait to watch it
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That…is scary. Maybe the stress of the hurricane made her go into amnesia? There’s a book/movie called Before I Go To Sleep and every morning she wakes up not remembering the day before or any of the days before and she has suspicions her husband wants to kill her. It wasn’t my favorite movie, but it was kind of creepy to think you can wake up and not remember anything before.
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The doc showed a home video of her and family/friends in their house, waiting out the hurricane. Seemed to be in good spirits, but who knows. It would be scary waking up without a memory. If she did wander off, I wonder what she says to strangers when they ask who she is or where she’s from.
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Who knows. How does she survive without her name?
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Seems impossible, doesn’t it?
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Yeah…like blows my mind…it could be a philosophy question. How does one survive if you don’t know yourself?
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No, I’ve never heard about this syndrome, but it does sound terrifying! I surely hope they find her…her poor family must be frantic. I wonder if there were some sort of tracking bracelet or something she could wear, if she is found, to prevent this from happening in the future? Prayers for all who are missing her!
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That’s what I thought too! Give her something to wear that can give her location in case she goes missing. Must be so tough on the family and friends – part of them believes she’ll come back because she has twice before, but the other part of them says it’s been two years…
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I know….it’s so hard to have hope, but it’s also so hard not to hope.
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Very interesting.
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