Real Name: Sarah Powell
Case: Amnesia
Date: November 16, 1993
Location: Clear Lake, Texas
Case
Details: At around 9:30AM on November 16, 1993, fourteen-year-old Sarah Powell woke up in her middle class home in Clear Lake, Texas. She was in her bedroom, hogtied with duct tape and the phone cord. The room was unfamiliar to her, she was disoriented, and she had no idea who she was. Her home had apparently been broken into and ransacked. She was only able to call for help by calling the last number on the phone. The number was the post office where she reached her mother, Deborah, who realized that Sarah, who was sick from school, was the girl on the phone. By the time she arrived, police were already there. When the police and Deborah went inside, they found the house ransacked and Sarah in her bedroom, who did not want Deborah near her because she did not recognize her.
The police believed that she may have been involved in what happened that day; no sign of forced entry was found in and around the house, nor were there any fingerprints. Also, despite it being a rainy day, there were no wet or muddy footprints in the house. Police eventually determined that nothing had been stolen from the house. When they questioned Sarah, she claimed to have no memory of what happened. In addition, she was unable to write her name, tie her shoes, and even brush her teeth. It was soon determined that she was most likely suffering from a traumatic-induced amnesia.
Deborah and the rest of the family tried to jog Sarah's memory with family photos. However, she could not remember anyone in her family. After about two months, she began getting her memories back of basic skills. Then, while she and Deborah were leaving school, she suddenly suffered a seizure, the only words she said being, "I didn't let them in." Her memories of the home invasion and several masked intruders terrorizing her began to return.
A composite of Sarah's attacker and his tattoo
She claims that at 8:30AM, she was home with her dog when she heard sounds coming from the second floor. She ran upstairs and saw intruders breaking in through the window, so she called Deborah, but the line was busy. She then ran downstairs but she could not go out the front door because the lock was dead-bolted and she did not have the key. When the noises stopped, she decided to go up and investigate when she was suddenly grabbed by two men. They threw her on the bed and tried to suffocate her with a pillow. When she stopped moving, they let her go, but as she fell to the ground, she saw their faces; the taller one wore pantyhose over his head, while the smaller one wore a Freddy Krueger mask. When he realized she had seen his face, he became angered and hit her in the head with his gun, knocking her out.
When she woke up, he was in the room with her, told her to be quiet, and that she would be okay. However, when the leader saw them talking, the two men began to argue and the taller one pointed his gun to her head. Then he had the smaller one tie her up and he saw two girls exiting through the window. As the smaller one left, he placed the phone back on the hook and she passed out.
She has had nine seizures since the attack and continues to regain her memory, but police remained skeptical and believed the whole incident was a figment of her mind. They put her under hypnosis, but her story continued to hold up. However, nobody has ever been able to determine if her house was actually ransacked, or if she had made the situation up.
Sarah has since regained the memories of her family, friends, and her life. However, the cause of her amnesia remains unknown.
Suspects: Sarah described one of the intruders as a man that is 5'10", muscular build, and a cobra tattoo. He would be in his late 30s or early 40s today. Along with this intruder, there was apparently another male intruder and two female intruders. None of the intruders have ever been found, if they exist.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the May 10, 1996 episode.
Results: Unsolved. Sarah, now Sarah Estes, is married and the mother of two children. Her alleged attackers remain unidentified.
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