News: Update: Police investigate possible sighting of missing Dr Teleka Patrick

The lead detective in the Teleka Patrick case says he is investigating a report of a possible sighting of the missing Kalamazoo doctor Saturday at a Walmart in Battle Creek.
Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. William Sparrow said he received the tip Tuesday from Patrick’s family and Jim Carlin, a private investigator from Battle Creek who has been hired by the family to help find Patrick, 30.
Carlin said the tip, which was received by Patrick’s family on Sunday, came from an employee at the Walmart, which is located off M-66 south of I-94 in Battle Creek.
The employee, who was with a co-worker at the time, reported seeing a woman who resembled Patrick near the store’s jewelry counter after 9 p.m. Saturday. Carlin said the employee said the co-worker also thought the woman resembled Patrick.
“She was kind of hanging around the jewelry counter looking at different things and she felt her demeanor wasn’t that of a regular customer,” Carlin said. “She was there for quite some time and then was looking to buy some bath powder or some type of lotion.”

Carlin said he spoke to an employee at the Walmart who reviewed surveillance footage and reported that the woman was wearing clothing similar to what Patrick had on Dec. 5 when she disappeared from Kalamazoo. However, Carlin said the woman’s coat had a white lining on its hood, which is different from the coat Patrick was last seen wearing.
Sparrow said police, at this point, are doing “anything and everything” they can to verify the identity of the woman spotted at the Walmart. He declined to elaborate what steps police are taking but did say that one piece of information police may look at on a tip of a sighting in a missing persons case is video surveillance.
It’s way too early to say yay or nay,” Sparrow said. “... We’ve got to check into it.”
Carlin said he has spoken with Sparrow since passing the tip to the detective and that Sparrow told him it appears the woman used a credit card to purchase items at the store, leading Carlin to believe that “probably, this isn’t (Teleka.”
“I would kind of be more on the 50/50 if she used cash,” Carlin said. “... But I think this is just a good citizen, saw someone who looked like her and sent the e-mail to the family. But there’s going to be many things like this.”
When Dr Teleka Patrick disappeared  on the 5th of Dec., she left her cellphone at Borgess Medical Center where she worked and later that night -- when police found her gold 1997 Lexus ES300 in a ditch alongside westbound I-94 in Indiana -- her wallet, credit cards and $7 were inside the car.
At a news conference on Jan. 22, Sheriff Richard Fuller said investigators had received no viable tips about Patrick’s whereabouts. There also has been no activity on any of her bank accounts or credit and debit cards since her disappearance.
As of Wednesday, Sparrow said there still has been no activity on any of Patrick’s accounts.
Sparrow said police have received, at most, 10 tips about possible sightings of Patrick since December. None of those reports have panned out.
“We’ve had tips all over the country and they turn out not to be her so it’s just way, way, way too early to say,” Sparrow said, referencing the recent reported sighting in Battle Creek.
Investigators ask anyone with information about Patrick’s whereabouts to call the sheriff’s office at 269-383-8748, Indiana State Police at 219-696-6242, or contact Silent Observer at 269-343-2100 or www.kalamazoosilentobserver.com.
Watch the surveillance vid.below.