[Bear_Slayer]

She was discovered Tuesday when she approached a convenience store owner and told him that she wasn't Nikki Evans, the name the owner knew her by

It appears that she had free access to the outside and that a store owner knew her by a fake name.

If so, how come in ten years she was not able to contact anyone at home, seeing they were just down the road?

You're right. Something stinks.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

I think the guy just got old and she tired of him.