Authorities may have learned identity of mystery ‘mermaid’ woman

Fresno County sheriff’s investigators said Wednesday evening they may have determined the identity of a woman who did not know who she was when she was found wandering a road near Table Mountain Casino on Tuesday morning.

The woman was walking in the middle of the roadway near the intersection of Millerton Road and Brighton Crest Drive, a half-mile southeast of Table Mountain Casino, around 3:15 a.m. Police said she was wearing only a black sports bra and that her hair was wet. She claimed to have been in the water.

The woman said her name was Joanna but mainly answered “I don’t know” to questions. She told police she thought she was a mermaid.

Officials say she is in her late 20s and is white. She has brown hair and eyes, is 5-foot-4, weighs 150 pounds and has webbed toes on both feet.

Fresno police initially handled the case, but turned it over to sheriff’s detectives since she was found in the county.

On Wednesday afternoon investigators received a tip and contacted a relative who lives outside Fresno County, said Tony Botti of the Sheriff’s Office.

“We have since learned of a possible name and where she lives,” Botti said, even as he did not yet disclose her identity.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 559-600-3111.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Authorities may have learned identity of mystery ‘mermaid’ woman."