A seriously ill woman who was discovered in California with no recollection of who she was, or where she had come from, has been identified five months after she was first found.

'Sam', as she was known, was found by fire fighters on February 1. She had no memory of who she was or where she was from, and was found to be suffering from stage three ovarian cancer. She spoke with a slight Australian accent and had recollections of time in Australia and Hawaii.

Following several months a global plea was launched to attempt to discover the woman's identity.

A Facebook page set up by people who had become close with her in hospital attracted attention, and was given a major boost when Interpol added the woman to their missing person database.

The woman's appeal was picked up several media outlets, with news of 'Sam's' plight spreading across the US. Her nephew spotted the woman on one of these news reports and contacted authorities to identify the woman as Ashley Menatta, 53, from Pennsylvania.

"It was extremely emotional. We were all sobbing. They're so sorry I had to go through what I did during this time without them," Ms Menatta told NBC 7 San Diego.

Ms Menatta is not married and has lived in Arizona and California, including in the town of Carlsbad - where she was found in February.

Doctors have said they believe the amnesia was a result of antibodies from the tumour which was removed.

On the Facebook page Sam wrote about her scant memories and her fears that she might not find her family. 

"Both Australia and Hawaii are extremely familiar to me," Sam said.

"I remember having breakky almost every morning at the organic restaurant across from the ocean in Cottelsoe Beach outside Perth, and dining for months at the restaurants in Byron Bay," she said.

"I just feel like there's a thick fog over my mind, my memory, over my brain that I can't see through," she told NBC 7 news.

"I can't remember anything. How I got here? I didn't have anything on me, no jewellery, no purse, nothing."

On the Facebook page Sam said she hoped she could be reunited with her family soon due to the seriousness of her illness: "since I've been in the hospital I have been here alone ... I have had no family or friends here.

"However, clergy and doctors and nurses and other patients whom I met have all become friends.

"My prognosis is not good and I pray my family will be found soon."