Woman found by road identified; mystery remains

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Police now know the identity of the woman found unresponsive at the side of the road in Independence Township.

She is 38-year-old Waterford Township resident Stephanie Yeider.

John Lankford was at a loss, Yeider, his girlfriend, left their house Friday and hadn't been seen or heard from since.

"I thought she was going with a friend," he said. "By yesterday I was incredibly worried and started calling Oakland County Jail, hospitals, no one had any information."

And then on Monday he received shocking news that she wasn't missing at all. The 38-year-old mother of two had been in the hospital the entire time unidentified and unconscious.

"I freaked out," he said. "I knew I had to get down there immediately. I just want her to be okay."

It all began Friday evening when a woman called 911 after she saw a woman stumbling down Andersonville Road near Curtis. By the time law enforcement arrived Stephanie Yeider had already collapsed on the side of the road.

"She was no longer conscious, but vomiting" said Sheriff Michael Bouchard. "She was rushed to hospital at that point she had no identification on her."

It wasn't until the Oakland County Sheriff's Office desperate to identify a Jane Doe and sent out the picture to local media, who shared it on Facebook. A friend recognized Stephanie in the hospital bed and was able to help investigators learn who the woman was.

But only part of this mystery has been solved.

Stephanie is in quarantine because doctors have no idea why she is sick or why she can't breathe on her own.

"There's a higher level of protocol," Bouchard said. "Mask, gloves, it's an unknown situation so they don't know what they are dealing with. They are protecting themselves and the whole facility."

"They told me they still don't know what's going on with her," Lankford said. "There weren't a lot a lot of drugs or anything in her system, she's just unresponsive."

John claims Stephanie has a history of mental illness and was on medication. The only thing they found in her system was a small amount of Xanax - but nothing that would have caused this.

"I miss her and I love her, I want her to get better and go home,"

As doctors work to diagnose what is wrong with Yeider, the sheriff is asking anyone who may have been with Stephanie or knows what she was doing before she walked away from their Waterford Township home Friday to give them a call.

Oakland County Sheriff's Office: (248) 858-4911.