Meanwhile, in Jefferson County

A husband and wife team are travelling across America armed with 16 disposable cameras, taking pictures of town and village signs that they pass, rock formations and cemeteries. But this is no ordinary couple. Teagan Nefer cannot speak, cannot walk and is wheelchair-bound, mainy because she is a mannequin.

Ned Nefer said he was born in Syracuse and in the 1980s spent some time at the Children’s Home of Jefferson County in Watertown, where he said he met Teagan when she was just a head. He said he built a body for the mannequin and the two were “married” Oct. 31, 1986, in California.

Lisa Spear, principal social welfare examiner for the Jefferson County Department of Social Services, stopped to talk with him Wednesday morning while he was in Adams Center. Ms. Spear is not a mental health professional; she deals with fraud investigations for the department. She said she deals with a variety of cases that include people who have mental illnesses, but has never met anyone like Mr. Nefer.

“This is definitely one of the very oddest things I’ve ever come across, but he seems very happy,” she said. “I wouldn’t classify him as dangerous at all. He seemed quite happy in his own little world.”

There’s more information on the couple and their travels on wikipedia.