Girl on cellphone walking on Houston freeway causes major traffic jam

HOUSTON, Texas -- The identity of the woman who brought North Freeway traffic to a crawl during Monday afternoon rush hour remains a mystery.

A driver recorded her walking between lanes of slowly moving traffic, moving in a straight line in the opposite direction as she talked on her cellphone.

"It looks like something a crazy mad woman would do," said one man to whom we showed the video that's gone viral.

Houston police are less excited about one of the strangest things to happen recently in Houston traffic.

"Our units were up there trying to get through the traffic to locate her, to give her some assistance, but we weren't able to locate her at the time, " said HPD Captain Kenneth Campbell.

"Maybe she needed medical resources. We're not sure what the lady needed, but we would have been able to help her if we'd been able to find her," he said. There's also the possibility the distraction to drivers might have caused an accident or even killed her. Campbell noted 20 fatal auto-pedestrian incidents so far this year.

Despite thousands of views on social media and countless comments, the woman has not been identified. Not far from the same section of freeway, a woman who watched the video reached her own conclusion.

"She's high," the woman said.

Some Facebook comments hinted the "walking woman" might have had a fight with a male companion. Another claimed she had asked to hitch a ride, but couldn't provide gas money. None of those claims have been confirmed.

"If I had seen her, I would have offered her a ride," said a man eating lunch at the Hungry Farmer near the Crosstimbers exit where the woman was seen. "We don't know what people are going through."

The video has shock value for some and was entertaining for others. Diana Buscos wondered about the possibility of mental illness.

"That's somebody's life, somebody's daughter, maybe somebody's mother. We don't know," Buscos said.