If it were a friend-of-a-friend story, or a "this happened to a lady from out of town that visited my Sunday school class last Sunday" story, I'd be inclined to simply write it off as an urban legend--the typical vanishing hitchhiker sort of story that's made the rounds for decades, if not for centuries.

But this is the first time I've heard it as a "this happened to me" story.

Interesting.