Man hopes someone in Indy knows him

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Updated: Oct 17, 2007 04:05 PM
John Stehr/Eyewitness News

The FBI is hoping someone in Indianapolis will recognize a man who doesn't know who he is. He woke up one day in a hospital bed, and didn't remember how he got there or anything else about his life.

"I believe I was born in Indianapolis. I know I'm from Colorado. I'm pretty sure I went to a Catholic school. I'm sure my first name is Benjamin."

He calls himself "Benjamin Kyle," but that's not his real name.

Emergency crews found him three years ago - beaten, blind, without clothes or a wallet.

"I was found behind a dumpster at Burger King in Richmond Hill. They were calling me BK Unknown so I just picked a name for K, and been using that ever since then," said Kyle.

A charity donated eye surgery and that's when Kyle finally got a good look at himself in the mirror.

"That freaked me out, because I looked so old! I'm not really sure what happened before that - there seems to be a 20 year gap in my memory."

Now Kyle spends a lot of time on missing person sites, hoping to see his face. He looks at pictures of Indiana and Colorado to provide clues to his past.

"I'm intelligent, I haven't lost that part, but I've lost a lot of facts."

And the facts get in the way of the present and future.

"I can't get a social security number and they won't assign me a temporary one."

Without an identity, Kyle can't get a job. Last month the FBI ran his fingerprints through their databases.

"The way the computers are nowadays and the way everything is tied together, thought they'd find a match somewhere," said Kyle. "Unfortunately their exhaustive search did not result in a match."

It's a mystery the FBI hopes to help solve.

"Our salaries are paid for by taxpayers, and Benjamin Kyle deserves any service we can lend him," said Bill Kirkconnell, FBI. "And if we can reunite him with family members, or make his life easier, then that's our responsibility."

Kyle has been undergoing hypno-therapy to try to recover some of his memories. But, again, there is a chance that he has a connection to Indianapolis.

If you recognize him, please contact us at WTHR or e-mail us.

Websleuths Forum

There is a large community trying to help Benjaman piece his life back together.
If you'd like to read more, click here

A Walking Talking John Doe?

August 16, 2008 by Todd Matthews

To Be Or Not To Be: Benjaman Kyle?

They don't come along very often, but it happens. A LIVING John or Jane Doe.

The man we now know as "Benjaman Kyle" has a very short history for a man thought to be somewhere in his mid 50's.

Four years ago a man was found naked, beaten and covered in fire ant bites beside a dumpster behind a Burger King in Richmond Hill, Georgia. No identification unable to remember his name and where he comes from. "John Doe" adopted the pseudonym "Benjaman Kyle" until he recall who he is and where he is from

Benjaman feels that he may come from Indiana or Colorado but has no leads to prove it one way or another. He is willing to undergo hypnosis, submit DNA, undergo x-rays for dental or other purposes.

Recently I had heard from the Dr. Phil show from several directions! Producers are a lot like detectives in fact, and they have been thorough in their research. Some time back they decided to do a show on Benjaman Kyle in effort to help find his identity. They contacted several of my Doe Network colleagues as we have Benjaman posted there as 1007umga.

Round and round we go --- and Project EDAN ended up doing an age regression for the case upon request of Dr Phil. Two artists created a variety of age regressed images to various ages -- both hand sketched and digital. These will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr Phil. I hope that not only will this be able to help ID Benjaman, I also hope that the artistic science of age regressions will also have a bit of a highlight.

Oddly enough -- Benjaman Kyle had already been on my mind along with other living Doe cases. It has been brought up at the NamUs working group meetings. Where do living does fit into the plan? NamUs is a system that will consist of two databases, an unidentified database (UDRS) and a missing persons database planned to go online this fall.

Now one might think that the unidentified database might be the spot for Benjaman. But that might not be the case -- as that database is geared toward the deceased and is managed by coroners and medical examiners. So the next thought was we would enter him into the almost functional missing persons databases managed by police agencies.

The plan for the NamUs system was to cross reference the missing and the unidentified deceased. A living doe was a unique scenario that would require a bit of planning. But never fear we do intend to include any current or future living doe into the NamUs system. I have to wonder if that will be the magic bullet for the Kyle case?

I think the route he is on is the very best route he can take. A confirmed case of amnesia with no detectable history is almost unbelievable. If direct efforts to work with Benjamin to find a clue continues to fail, reaching out to public will become more and more vital.

Estimated age: 50-60's
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'11"; 240 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Graying hair with receding hairline. Blue-green eyes. Above-average intelligence. Well-spoken. Professional demeanor.
Marks, Scars: Two parallel surgical scars on left elbow (from reparative surgery for broken elbow that may involve pins/plates implantation). Surgical scar on front of neck appears to be from cervical discectomy. Small round scar on left side of face near chin appears to be a puncture-type wound but believes it may be related to former tooth abscess. No tattoos. No body piercings.
Medical: Blinding cataracts in both eyes may have resulted from prolonged exposure to sun while unconscious prior to being found and brought to hospital.
Fingerprints: On file with the FBI in Savannah, Georgia.
Dentals: Three teeth missing from upper front and one tooth missing from upper right side of mouth. Not known whether dental problems occurred after or as result of mugging in August of 2004.

Look for an upcoming episode of Dr Phil featuring Benjaman Kyle. In the mean time -- if you have any tips that might help ID Benjaman Kyle -- we're interested in hearing from you.

If you have any information about this case please contact:
FBI - Savannah, GA
Bill Kirkconnell | 912-232-3716
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

I can also assist in contacting the Dr Phil Show in regards to this case.

If you have any information on the topics I post, then please leave me a comment, email me at SleuthTheTruth@gmail.com or call my Tip Line at 206-279-9993.

Memories Benjaman Kyle has

Mama Elena's is or was on East Colfax. The building was next to a Taco Bell and built of the same brick that they used to use for Taco Bells.. I always thought the building might have been built as a headquarters building for a Taco Bell Franchisee or a regional Headquarters for Taco Bell itself.

Mama Elena"s lad the best "Mexican" food in Denver. They said everything was prepared fresh daily and I believe it. It tasted like it. Th ey said their cuisine derived from the French when France ruled Mexico for a few years through a puppet emperor.

Near the corner of Colfax and Colorado were two coffee shops [now termed "family restaurants" as opposed to Starbucks which I don't believe even existed then] Azar's Big Boy and White Spot. I see by satellite pictures that neither building exists any longer.

Azars did have a great buffet, but lousy service. White Spot was great for bar rush but usually only had one cook on duty so it took a long time to get your food. Azar's always seemed to have plenty of staff on duty but they seemed more interested in talking to each other than waiting on customers. There was another White Spot closer to the State Capital on Colfax that was frequently called the Gay Spot instead of the White Spot. Both chains are now out of business, at least I can not find them anywhere in the internet.

The Normandy was on Colfax at Monroe Street [I think]. Their parking lot fronted Colfax and the building fronted a side street. It was very High End [expensive]. It had originally been located further east on Colfax, again, in an old house on the corner. After they moved another French Restaurant took over the building and made a success of it [ Tante Louise? ].

Down the street from Colorado Boulevard, west, toward the Capital Building, there was a old Sambo's building which was occupied by several restaurants at one time or another but none of them ever seemed to make a success of it. across the street from the Sambo's was an old Red Barn restaurant building that became an antique store. I think it is still in business.

Across from East High School was a Kentucky Fried Chicken clone whose name I do not remember.Just east of the chicken place was an Arthur Treachers Fish & Chips.

Somewhere on East Colfax, near the Park Avenue intersection was Mountain Man Pizza [I think I have the name right]. They had gotten several awards for having the best pizza in Denver, in my humble opinion it was the best in Colorado. They also had a store in Steamboat Springs. They had a salad bar set up in an old cast iron bathtub just inside the door.

Westworld used to publish these awards every year. I think they made up some category's just so their advertisers could win something.

A 'real live nobody'

A 'real live nobody' - article link
Savanna NOW

Megan Matteucci | September 24, 2007

ACCIDENT - The only life he knows started shortly before 7 a.m. Aug. 31, 2004, when a former Burger King manager found Kyle lying next to a Dumpster behind the restaurant on U.S. 17 in Richmond Hill, according to a police report.

Kyle was naked and unresponsive. He was sunburned and covered in bites from fire ants, according to paramedics' reports.

The fast-food manager called police, who labeled the man with no name a "bum" and sent him off in an ambulance, the report stated.

Paramedics took Kyle to St. Joseph's Hospital.

Officers found no clothes, wallet or anything to identify the man. Police told Kyle they found no signs of a crime, but Kyle believes he was mugged.

According to the paramedics' reports, three depressions showed on the right side of Kyle's head, which could have come from blows delivered with a blunt object. The report also indicated Kyle was unconscious but breathing when he was found, and that he was sweaty. Prolonged exposure to the sun had left him blinded.

Paramedics also noted signs of possible neurological problems.Two weeks later, Kyle was transferred to Memorial Health University Medical Center. He was semiconscious, records show.

At that time, he could tell doctors he was thirsty, that his back hurt and that he couldn't see. But he could not tell them the one thing they wanted to hear: who he was.

"When I looked in the mirror, I could not believe how gray my hair was and how old I was," Kyle said. "There's a bunch of years missing, and I don't know what happened."
The fire-ant bites went away, and his back grew stronger. His blindness, which doctors diagnosed as bad cataracts, was repaired by donated surgery.

Twice he has returned to the Burger King where he was found.

"I thought seeing the place would help. It didn't," he said. "I don't remember how I ended up in Richmond Hill or how long I was lying there."

He also has talked to operators at most of the motels and restaurants in the area, but no one has found an abandoned car or any records that the man was there.

During the past three years, vague flashbacks have popped into his head, Kyle said.

For some reason, the name Benjaman - "with the A, not the I" - has logged into his mind. He's not sure if that is his name or the name of a family member, but he likes the name, he said.

He decided to use the last name of Kyle because that would make his initials BK - just like the short version of Burger King.

"I got tired of the jokes about Burger King," he said.

Doctors estimate Kyle is in his late 50s or early 60s, so he has adopted a 1948 birth date.
Kyle said he remembers living in Indiana and Colorado, but he doesn't know when or where. He has no memories of Richmond Hill or any other place in the South.

He believes he has three brothers, but he can't picture them or remember their names.

"It's like I have a 20-year gap," he said. "I just don't remember."

Kyle can read and write and has the intelligence of an adult.
He believes he might have worked in a nice restaurant, because he has a lot of knowledge about kitchen equipment and restaurant design.
Georgia Legal Services was trying to help him obtain a Social Security number, but they hit a wall when Memorial Health wanted $800 to obtain copies of his medical records, said U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga.
At Kingston's request, the FBI took Kyle's fingerprints and forwarded them to the National Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia. There, technicians ran the prints through their national databases, which include convicted criminals, crime scene evidence and anyone who ever served in U.S. armed forces, said William Kirkconnell, supervisory senior resident agent for the FBI in Savannah.

"There was nothing on file," Kirkconnell said.
They also took photographs and checked to make sure Kyle was not in the federal Witness Protection Program, Kingston said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 944-0700.

2004 Amnesia Victim needs help

Do you know me?
Doe Network - Click here - Case File 1007UMGA

FACTS ~ Male - Late 50's early 60's

DATE FOUND - 8/31/2004
Location found - Burger King restaurant on U.S. 17 in Richmond Hill, Georgia





Age regression from the Dr. Phil show (below)
Link to the Dr Phil show page for Benjaman - click here
to discuss this on Dr Phil's message board, click here

EYES - blue/green - (he was "blind" when found and not able to see for 8 months)

HEIGHT -5-foot-11 weighs

WEIGHT - 252 when found (2004) - 240 current (2009)

HAIR - Grey - receding hair line

Facial hair when found - no notes stating the amount of facial hair he had when he was discovered
no tattoos or body piercings

SPEECH - to hear sample video see here and here

***** From Dr. Phil's linguist - Definitely midwestern to western, ie Colorado etc...possibly Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska. He does not have any drawl or broad A when he speaks, so the south or even Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan seem to be out of the question.

Dr Phil's linguist : Carmen says that when she heard Benjaman's dialect, she believed it to be an inland southern dialect. "The states that it would include would be Oklahoma, parts of southern Indiana, Kansas, southern Missouri maybe, maybe parts of Texas. So that’s the area that I’m mostly focusing on, in terms of trying to determine where he’s from," she explains.
We have estimated his birth date to have occurred in the 1950's.

He is well spoken, well read and seems to have a higher education.



Short version - It was thought he was homeless when found NEXT TO a dumpster at the Burger King. The cleaning woman indicated that she had found a "naked bum" unconscious near the dumpster. The police arrived, called EMT's and made statements characterizing him as such....in other words that they had a bum who was possibly rolled...So that is how he was transported- first to one hospital and then to another... labeled an indigent. There was no report done due to them thinking he was homeless

Physical Markings / SCARS -

TEETH - Three teeth missing from upper front and one tooth missing from upper right side of mouth. Not known whether dental problems occurred after or as result of mugging in August of 2004

ELBOW - LEFT --- Mr. Kyle has two surgical scar lines on his left elbow that resemble two arc-shaped lines running almost parallel to each other, one is about 5-1/4” long and the other is about 3-1/4” long. He believes he had surgery for a broken elbow and that pins and/or screws had to be implanted. To the best of his recollection, the broken elbow occurred in Indianapolis when he was in his 20’s which would date around 1968-1978.. He has no xrays confirming the pins in his elbow
____________________________________________________

Forearm - LEFT - He, also, has an oval-shaped scar on the top of his left forearm that measures 7/8” x ½”. From the wrist to the end of the forearm, it would be about 2/3rd of the way above the wrist and 1/3rd of the way below the elbow. He is sure that this scar is from a skin graft that replaced skin lost on the top portion of the left index finger beside the fingernail (the side away from the middle finger and closer to the thumb). He believes this surgery was done around the same time as the elbow surgery mentioned above and that it might be related to falling off of a loading dock.

___________________________________________________

FACE/JAW - He also has a round scar on the left side of his face in the lower region of the jaw. Going from the center of the bottom of the jaw-line. It is about 2-1/2” away from the center of the chin going toward the left ear if you use the bottom jaw-line as a reference. The actual scar is about 1/8” in size and appears to be roundish in shape. He does not recall how he got this scar but the edges are not well-approximated and he was told by a dentist that it could be related to an abscessed tooth in the past. Some say it appears to be like one Johnny Cash has which was the result of a botched attempt to remove a cyst.

__________________________________________________

NECK - In addition, Mr. Kyle has a scar line going across the front of the neck above the collarbones. It measures about 1-1/2” long across the neck and is not exactly in the middle – it is more toward the left side of his neck. He recalls having surgery pertaining to his cervical disc and believes it took place in Colorado but has no idea when.

****NOTE - it is not known if there are serial numbers on any pins that he has.

************************************************************************

He has no xrays confirming the pins in his elbow; he has no notes stating the amount of facial hair he had when he was discovered; it was 8 months from when he was discovered to when his eyes were corrected. The month or so after his discovery does not contain much in the way of memories-jumbled thoughts only.

_______________________________________________________

PAST - He believes he has lived in Colorado, Indiana, and possibly elsewhere in the Midwest. He also has some specific memories of Denver Colorado.
---"there is additional evidence linking Benjaman to Denver. During a visit with a hypnotherapist, Kyle recalled the name of a Denver restaurant, Mama Leone's, and the Big Mac, the local name for McNichols Sports Arena, home of the Denver Nuggets."
"I believe I was born in Indianapolis. I know I'm from Colorado. I'm sure my first name is Benjaman. I'm pretty sure I went to a Catholic school"

He has had his fingerprints run through NCIC and criminal and military databases with no match. His fingerprints have been run against all of the military data bases as well as criminal ones and missing persons by the FBI.

He knows quite a bit about restaurant management and layouts.


DNA - DNA entered into CODIS shortly- MtDNA is in the mito database
YDNA typed and entered (looks at paternal ancestry) - might have a common ancestor with the Joseph Powell family - see here Entry 153

___________________________________________________________________

HEALTH -

Part of his story is that when he was first discovered he was virtually blind. He may have developed cataracts in an acute form as a direct result of laying face up to the sun for many hours as he laid unconscious after being beaten. His vision was corrected by some generous doctors and when he saw himself, he felt firm that he had lost at least 20 years in his memory.

He has documented injuries that are consistent with an accident or perhaps even football, in that he has had surgery on his cervical spine and pins put into his elbows some time ago. The pins in his elbow were never clearly X-rayed - he recalled that he had this surgery and this is why he had scars there. He does not recall why he had it done, like was he in an accident etc... He does not know if he had the surgeries at the same time. He has a scar on his neck that appears to be from cervical spine surgery, at least that is how it is documented in his medical records. He also has a depression in the side of his jaw that looks like (perhaps) surgery to release an abscess of some kind.

BK does have some dental history, but most seems to be associated with the beating he received it is believed.

NAME - There are some associations with the spelling he has chosen for "Benjaman" that might be consistent with his vague recollections of Indiana.