Mystery Woman Sings Opera In Los Angeles Metro — And Goes Viral

It's a story fit for Hollywood.

An unidentified woman, her hair pulled up in pigtails and arms loaded with bags, sings a hauntingly beautiful rendition of a Puccini aria seemingly spontaneously on the platform of a Los Angeles Metro stop.

A video of the woman was posted to Twitter by the Los Angeles Police Department late Thursday evening.

"4 million people call LA home. 4 million stories. 4 million voices...sometimes you just have to stop and listen to one, to hear something beautiful," the tweet reads.

The video has since gone viral, racking up more than 220,000 views at the time of this writing.

And, as any good Twitter mystery does, the video has also led to widespread speculation. Some have questioned if the woman is homeless because of the cart and bags filled to the brim. Others have dismissed it as a hoax or a grab for attention in a talent-saturated city. And still, others have claimed to have seen her at other Metro stops or locations in the area.

"I heard her singing at Civic Center earlier today. It was even better in person," one user said.

Other users chimed in too — one had spotted her in Glendale, another claimed to see her often at a stop near Hollywood and another said the woman has been riding the trains for years.

Sgt. Hector Guzman, a spokesman for the LAPD, told The Los Angeles Times that the video was recorded by an officer working at the Wilshire and Normandie Purple Line station who had a short conversation with the woman before moving on.

"It was powerful the first time we saw it, and every time we see it again, it's still powerful," Guzman told the newspaper. "The message for us was simple: Remind ourselves to take a moment to look around and listen."

Several users on Twitter have tagged America's Got Talent or The Ellen DeGeneres Show, hoping someone will find the woman and springboard her into fame.

As for her story? It remains a mystery.

Hoax or not, some users said they were just happy to hear her sing.

"I don't know what to make of this video," one user wrote. "Real or fake, the voice is beautiful."

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.