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.