The second player in our wild story is Charles Paglee. Charles Paglee was a tourist (some articles say student) in China when he heard about an elderly American woman in the city of Harbin. This was in 1995. With the help of a Chinese nurse, Paglee tracked down this “American woman” being poorly treated in a medical compound, surrounded by steel bars. This “American woman”, as she was known in local guidebooks and articles, spoke very little Chinese and was left to languish after a stroke in a bed with no sheets. She was asked if she would like to go to America, but she told Paglee not to bother with her any more.
Paglee then started a letter writing campaign to American congresspersons and Ross Perot. Ross Perot contacted his friend Harry McKillop and Senator Orrin Hatch to get an American passport issued and the “American woman” flown to the US. From the time Paglee heard about her until she was issued a passport and a flight scheduled, only 8 months had passed (May to December 1995).
So, who was this “American woman” and how did she come to be held in China? Stay tuned.
