Multilingual Mystery Man Can't Recall Past

He Surfaced in Seattle; Is Suffering from Rare Form of Amnesia, Doctors Say

(CBS/AP)  Little snippets of memories have been coming back to the man who now calls himself Jon Doe: being treated in Shanghai for a kidney stone, a high school girlfriend, a wife who died while pregnant.

But he doesn't remember much else and still hasn't embraced the identity he was given after readers saw his story in the Seattle Times about a man who emerged from a city park with $600 stuffed in his sock but no clue as to who he was. For now, he'll stick with Jon Doe and not Edward Lighthart.

He spends his days mostly inside the hospital keeping a notebook to jot down the fleeting names and places, passing along the information to police, who are trying to help him track down his past.

"It's like a jigsaw puzzle, with pieces all over the place that don't have any interlocking joints," he said at a news conference at Seattle's Swedish Medical Center, where he was been since July 30 after walking out of Seattle's Discovery Park and flagging down a bus driver for help. " ... I have no idea how I arrived here, or by what means."

Reporter Chris Legeros, of CBS Seattle affiliate KIRO-TV says it was awkward for media members to have to ask the man what they should call him when he walked into the room full of reporters at the hospital.

"I've been addressed as Jon," the man replied.

Within hours of the story being posted on the Internet, an English teacher in Shanghai identified him as Lighthart, according to Legeros.

The Dr. Edward Lighthart about whom records have been found is a public relations consultant to international businesses who has a Ph.D.in cultural anthropology and analytical psychology, Legeros says.

Some of the memories have been upsetting for the man, including learning that he had an estranged sister in Las Vegas and being told by police that he may have been assaulted while in New York, he said.

His sister in Las Vegas told The Seattle Times he had been staying with her for the past year-and-a-half, before she asked him to leave in May because he wasn't working or paying rent.

"There are still things I have to get through, and I'm not sure how I'm going to do it," he said.

Wearing a navy blazer, blue dress shirt and khakis, the man spoke articulately, his language revealing a highly-educated background and a flair for foreign languages. He speaks French, German and understands Spanish, and has traveled extensively to cities such as Vienna and Paris. He discovered he was fluent in French when he tried to explain something to a French-speaking social worker and found it easier to speak to her in French than English.

He recalls addresses in Sydney, Australia, streets in Paris, that he was married November 1984 and that his wife died while pregnant. He still wears his wife's wedding ring on his pinky finger.

But he doesn't remember Tucson, where police believe Edward Lighthart's family lives, or childhood memories. American TV shows are alien to him and he doesn't understand cultural references in crossword puzzles.

"The curious thing about this is I'm able to see it from a subjective and objective standpoint," the man said. "From an objective standpoint, it's absolutely fascinating. From a subjective standpoint, it's absolutely terrifying."

Among his biggest fears, the man says, is that many memories may not come back. Also, not knowing what he'll do to support himself once he's out of the hospital.

He accepts that he could be Edward Lighthart, the man identified by readers after The Seattle Times published a story Thursday. But he still prefers to be called Jon. The Times said that, based on public records, he's 53. Police report he's in his 50s.

Doctors have told him he has a rare form of dissociative amnesia and he fears that he may not be able to regain all of his memory.

He said the past few weeks have been lonely, frightening and overwhelming.

"This is definitely not a hoax," said the man. "This is one of the most hellish experiences that anybody can go through."

Dr. William Likosky, a neurologist with Swedish's Neuroscience Institute, who has not treated him, said his experience seems genuine.

"I don't think he's making it up at all," the doctor said at Friday's news conference.

Likosky told "Early Show Saturday Edition" co-anchor Erica Hill, "In a lifetime of practicing medicine, I've seen just, maybe three of four people" who've had dissociative amnesia, "but none comprising such a verbally-gifted individual."

The doctor said it could be either a physical or emotional trauma that causes a level anxiety that's difficult to deal with.

"One does this kind of thing to protect oneself," he said. "There may be along the way some novelty to it. ... But I think underneath this is a very frightening experience."

Likosky said dissociative reactions are a person's way of dealing with stress or a disturbing event. He added the man could be in a very fragile state, particularly as he has been bombarded with information about himself through the newspapers and Internet.

Doctors at Swedish have examined him for head injuries and conducted a battery of tests, including brain scans, and have ruled out a stroke or other "organic problem," the man said.

[Void_Master]

by alphaa10000 August 22, 2009 10:35 PM EDT

CAN'T FOOL ALL THE DOCTORS, ALL THE TIME

Void_Master said, "I actually pulled a gun on a man once for trying to run over one of my cats. I would have fired too, had he not hit his brakes."
---

All can understand your concern about one of your cats, but what about shooting to kill another human being-- over a cat?

Talk about dissociation-- you apparently are master of the process.

***

I'm not talking about someone who accidentally runs over an animal in the street. The plick deliberately swerved, trying to hit the cat and I'd seen him do that before, killing a neighbor's cat that time.

He doesn't even go down our street any longer; problem solved.

[g-gfather]

Educated and born again.Indeed Rare.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour erica....chris
by SkirtLifter
a dit..
I think his real name is Jason Bourne

mdrr..dans ce cas il s'appellerait matt damon
plaisanterie a part,
quelle histoire, mais s'il arrive a se souvenir de petite choses d'autres suivront, je lui souhaite du courage..il suffit de le vouloir au revoir

[legacyabq]

I know what will fix this... ONE WORD...

IBOGAINE

[incog-nito]

Looks like they're finally found Jason Bourne.

[Void_Master]

There is an extensive battery of tests doctors use to determine and evaluate dissociation as well as to determine its degree.

Dissociation is notoriously difficult to fake for any period of time and it is extremely easy to debunk when it is faked. If he were faking it, they would have figured that out by now.

[Void_Master]

Again... more "experts" who know better than the doctors.

[Void_Master]

by OregonJames August 22, 2009 1:26 PM EDT

cats... there should be a bounty on the little varmits.

***

I actually pulled a gun on a man once for trying to run over one of my cats. I would have fired too, had he not hit his brakes.

[Void_Master]

by kerry4ever August 22, 2009 8:03 PM EDT

I don't see why people are saying this man is traumatized. Look at his options.

***

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to fake dissociation to actual doctors?

[kerry4ever]

I don't see why people are saying this man is traumatized. Look at his options. He can stay where he is in a comfortable hospital with good food, people listening to his every utterance and catering for his every whim, chances to chat to pretty french social workers and have intellectual conversations with his peers, warmth and conviviality; ... or he can return to the streets! If he is half a clever as he is supposed to be then he is going to continue playing dumb. That is the clever thing to do. I do like the little touches of the notebook, the inability to comprehend cultural references in crosswords, and his alienation from American TV programmes. These strike me as intellectual affectations designed to give authenticity to his self image as a brilliant lost soul. We had a piano player in England called Andreas Grassi just like that, who actally came out of the sea.

[legacyabq]

Yeah, gee, or maybe he hasnt lived in America for a long time. Mmm?

[signseeker1717]

Sounds like he was traumatized. I wish him well.

[Void_Master]

It's great that we get to hear from all of these experts on dissociation telling us what fraud this guy is. Otherwise, we'd be forced to take the word of mere medical doctors on it.

[NancyLou9]

This is a subjective diagnosis as we all, the medical doctors included, only have the man's word for it that he can't remember anything. He's incredibly intelligent and well-read so certainly he could be committing a huge fraud. There's no way to test his brain to know for sure. The best they could do is a lie detector test, but a truly intelligent person can beat that. Sodium Pentathol isn't permitted unless he agrees to it.

With no other proof other than his word, I'm leaning towards fraud since he was a homeless man until this happened, following his own sister kicking him out for refusing to support himself.

[carolhill814]

I don't know whether he is playing games or not but don't forget his sister just kicked out of the house and he has nowhere to live so maybe he is tired of living on the streets and needs to get a place to live for free.
If I were that hospital I would look into this matter a little closer but that is the way I feel.

[tmittelstaed]

Has his sister met this man and stated that he is indeed Lighthart? I wouldn't assume that he is unless she says he is.

[kerry4ever]

I don't think one needs to be Freud to see Fraud, and this guy certainly is. His amnesia happens after he gets kicked out of his sister's after sponging off her for eighteen months. Now he has found another meal ticket with this sob story. He is getting attention, food and can pontificate at will.. "He discovered he was fluent in French when he tried to explain something to a (pretty) French-speaking social worker and found it easier to speak to her in French than English". And his biggest fear is "not knowing what he'll do to support himself once he's out of the hospital".

[carolhill814]

I hadden read what you wrote kerry4ever but that is what I said almost I didn't use the word Fraud but I will just bet that is what is happening here I will just bet!!!

[Meg003]

No. You don't get a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Science degree, and a PhD because you are too lazy to hold down a job. You work your rear off to achieve that level of education. Something happened to traumatize this man.

[NancyLou9]

I thought so as well... I mean, if his SISTER is coming forward and saying, "Yep, that's him. I kicked him out for refusing to earn a living and support himself" then certainly someone, anyone, with a little bit of proof, like, I don't know, a DNA test between the two, would just release him to her and move on.

It's like you said, he found another meal ticket and won't budge an inch until he's forced to do so.

[petesis]

I agree. These cases always turn out to be frauds. Look at that Giant Moustache. That is a good tell. He dodged out of somewhere.

[SkirtLifter]

Now we can't comment on the gender scandal in SA. dangit! That is a juicy debate possibility.

[OregonJames]

cats... there should be a bounty on the little varmits.

[SkirtLifter]

varmint ... little varmints!

[SkirtLifter]

Why are there no comments on the Martin Luther spinning faster than a hurricane in his grave story?

And no comments on the freaky Cat Torture-Killer story?

I'm asking here because this is the top story and I want to comment on the others.

[SkirtLifter]

I think his real name is Jason Bourne

[barbaram99]

I saw this on KIRO last night and he does sound like a smart man. I think he is kind. It must be a hell of thing he is going thru. I was abused as a clild. And I shut down and tried to tune out the abuse. I would not talk for years out of fear. I was too scaerd to talk. It was too much.I blocked it out as I had to. I was robbed of those I loved dearly. Shoved in foster care as a child. I am blind. I am 54. Could it be he has put up a block in his mind and trully forgot he did so. He is here in Seattle however he got here. It is sad he has been robbed of who he is. Surely someone can help him. I don't know.