A man at the center of a growing international identification mystery may be Canadian, investigators say, as authorities continue efforts to locate his relatives after he suffered a suspected stroke in the Netherlands.
The man, whose name remains unknown, collapsed on a street in Amsterdam on May 10, 2023, and was taken to a nearby hospital, police said. Doctors believe he may have had a brain hemorrhage or stroke and say he has been unable to communicate who he is.
Medical staff said he has aphasia, the language disorder also associated with actor Bruce Willis, which can affect a person’s ability to speak and to understand written or spoken words.
Because of the condition, he could not tell hospital workers his name, where he was from or how to contact anyone who knew him. He also had no bank cards, identification documents or other belongings that could help authorities confirm his identity.
Although police have not opened a criminal investigation, detectives began examining the unusual case. It was handed to two retired officers who volunteer with a cold case team in the Netherlands, according to CTV.
As they traced his social connections, investigators encountered several competing accounts about the man’s background, including claims that he may have come from Canada.
The retired officers assigned to the case, identified in a news release only as Ruud and Nel, first learned that he had been connected to a Buddhist community on Middenweg, a major road in eastern Amsterdam.
People in that community told police they knew him by the name “Lucky,” but said they did not know his legal name or any details that could establish his true identity.
Amsterdam police are asking for the international community’s help in identifying a man with aphasia who cannot communicate his name or his past
Some of the man’s personal belongings are pictured, but authorities said he did not have anything on him that could help provide an identification
The man had also been known to frequent a public square, at which he would buy items from shops and market stalls.
He was known by a variety of names at the square, police said, including Lucky, Louis, Lee, John, Ponytail and Sonny.
Authorities were further told stories that the man was extremely wealthy, but also that he had been seen wandering the streets of Amsterdam.
A breakthrough may have finally come when officers learned that the man would occasionally have a drink at the Soupenzo cafe on Waterlooplein, where workers identified him as ‘Chris the Canadian.’
An employee at the cafe told DutchNews how the mystery man would frequently visit the shop, often looking shabby and seemingly mentally unwell.
He always carried a suitcase with him and would ask for very particular variations of soup, which the employees would always accommodate – noting that the man always had money on him despite his appearance.
Investigators were also told that he spoke English with an accent they believed to be American or Canadian.
The man is said to use English words to deny or confirm things, but cops said he is unable to communicate much beyond that.
Employees at Soupenzo, a cafe in Amsterdam, identified the man as ‘Chris the Canadian’
Efforts to ascertain the man’s identity through DNA databases and with facial recognition technologies have also reached a dead end as strict privacy rules hinder the police’s ability to access larger data sources where a match could be found, a spokesperson for the department told DutchNews.
It is now believed that the man has spent some time in North America and Nepal, but it remains unclear how long he has been in Amsterdam.
He is now being held at a care facility where police say he spends his days lying in bed as experts involved in his care say he lacks the capacity to make decisions for himself.
As authorities continue their investigation into the man’s identity, members of the cold case team have been left wondering whether his family members may be worried about him, not knowing where he ended up.
‘I simply cannot believe that nobody knows who this man really is,’ retired cop Nel said in the news release.
Ruud added that: ‘Every person has the right to an identity, and that includes this man.’
Anyone with any ideas of who the man could be are encouraged to reach out to the Amsterdam police.
