Belinda “Gigi” Lin: How Unsolved Mysteries Solved Her Puzzling Identity
YouTubeIdentifying herself only as “Gigi,” Belinda Lin was initially believed to have been an amnesia victim.
This is one instance where Unsolved Mysteries solved a case, but the underlying problems that caused the case sadly remained in place.
In February 1995, a woman was found wandering in Audubon Park in New Orleans. She had no recollection of who she was or how she got there, and she insisted that she only be called “Gigi.” Experts were baffled by her bizarre case of amnesia, and nothing seemed to help bring closure to the case. Even the administration of sodium amytal, better known as “truth serum,” proved unsuccessful in restoring her memory.
After months of getting nowhere, producers from Unsolved Mysteries aired Gigi’s story on August 23, 1995. Soon afterward, Nancy Lawrence, a former co-worker, recognized “Gigi” as 31-year-old Belinda Lin, a medical secretary from Delaware who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had stopped taking her medication, according to DGO Mag.
But unfortunately, this story doesn’t have a happy ending.
YouTubeThe makeup bag that Lin found on her person while supposedly suffering from memory loss.
Belinda Lin’s parents, Stanley and Carolyn Lin, proved to be unsympathetic to her plight. Her father told the Times-Picayune (via The Associated Press) that he wasn’t particularly interested in helping his daughter.
He was even quoted in the article as saying, “I would like to find out what happened to her that was so terrible that she decided she had to forget everything. I’m not going to spend the money to go down there if she does not remember us. She is of legal age, and I don’t know if I want to bring her home when there are such emotional problems.”
Meanwhile, Belinda Lin continued to insist on being called “Gigi.”
Initially, investigators believed that Lin had been attacked in New Orleans, causing her to enter into a fugue state and triggering amnesia. Later on, it was revealed that she had done something similar to this before and that it was possibly related to her ongoing mental health issues. While Belinda Lin’s whereabouts are unknown today, it’s widely believed that she faked her amnesia. With parents like hers, it’s not hard to understand why.
