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Michigan State Police attempt to identify Metro Detroit woman who doesn't remember her identity

Living Jane Doe goes by China Black

DETROIT – A Metro Detroit woman is a living Jane Doe.

She does not remember who she is and Michigan State Police are trying to help identify her. 

"I work lots of unidentified remains cases. This is my first living Jane Doe," Detective Sgt. Sarah Krebs said. 

The woman has gone by the names China Black, Joynez Johnson and CJ Jones. Krebs, who handles the missing persons unit for Michigan State Police, interviewed her recently to gather information. 

"I feel really badly for her. I feel like there's got to be someone out there who knows exactly who she is and we've just got to give her her name back," Krebs said. 

The woman currently uses the name China Black. She is a double amputee and is missing her left pinky finger. She says she was hit by a drunken driver after leaving a McDonald's on Woodward Avenue near Wayne State University. She believes that's when she lost her memory. 

"It's frustrating that you wake up in the hospital and you don't know who you is," Black said. 

No one has yet been able to verify her story. Black lives in an adult foster care home and has lived there for at least the past four years. 

It's believed Black grew up in Detroit and may have gone to Osborn and Cooley high schools. She said she was married to a man named Peter Smith and they have a son named David who she thinks is living in California. 

Krebs has taken Black's DNA to run through CODIS, a criminal database. She is also fact-checking her story. 

"Unfortunately, a lot of the names that she's given are very common names and that's really hard to decipher," Krebs said. 

Krebs hopes family and friends recognize her and come forward. 

"We just have to give her name back. I'm just really appealing to the public. If you know who she is, please come forward, please just let us know. There's no financial responsibility that's going to be added onto your family. The state of Michigan is going to end up taking care of her, but we need to know what is her name? What is her social security number? You can't live without that these days," Krebs said. 

The Michigan State Police said they will consider genealogy DNA if no one recognizes Black or there are no hits in the CODIS database. 

If you have information on China Black, call Michigan State Police at 855-642-4847.


About the Authors
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Karen Drew is the anchor of Local 4 News First at 4, weekdays at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. She is also an award-winning investigative reporter.

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