# Legal status/options for unidentified total amnesiacs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359 "2011-07-26T04:30:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/1 "2011-07-26T04:30:11Z")
A question that’s been percolating in my brainpan for awhile, inspired by any number of TV shows, movies, comic books, etc… Here’s the setup: A caucasian man, about 25-30 years old, is found washed up unconscious on the beach in California. No wallet, no ID, watch, no money, only wearing a pair of boxers, and suffering from a head injury. He’s taken to the hospital, where his condition is stabilized, and he makes a full recovery with no mental impairment…except he’s lost all memory of his identity. He speaks english, and has got his basic skills (he can read, write, dress himself, he actually says he remembers how to drive a car, etc), and in fact, he seems to have the education of someone who’s at least graduated high school, or had some college education. But that’s it—he can’t even remember his own name. His fingerprints aren’t on file, or his DNA, no one recognizes his photograph, nothing. Legally, he doesn’t seem to exist. So…what happens to this guy now? How hard would it be for him to get a job, or a driver’s license, or a social security card? Would he be able to enlist in the military if he wanted? Where would he even start? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/2 "2011-07-26T05:00:28Z")
Are you talking about [Benjaman Kyle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjaman_Kyle)? ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/3 "2011-07-26T05:49:13Z")
Amnesia of the type you’re describing (permanent pure retrograde with no other symptoms) is very rare. Extensive amnesia is usually a result of serious brain injury or illness, and it’s typically accompanied by anterograde amnesia. There are probably only a handful of cases like BK - certainly few enough that there probably aren’t any special rules for them. It’s not quite what you’re asking, but this might be of interest: [http://www.springerlink.com/content/t310l865hjq35763/](http://www.springerlink.com/content/t310l865hjq35763/) ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/4 "2011-07-26T07:00:48Z")
There was a TV show based on that premise, called “John Doe”, I believe, if that piques your interest. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/5 "2011-07-26T09:02:32Z")
Another example is Jane Dee Williams/Jody Roberts, who managed to set up a completely new life after suffering amnesia. Originally she was a reporter for a Tacoma newspaper but ended up as a housewife in Alaska. She doesn’t have a wikipage for some reason, but you can find out more details via Google. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/6 "2011-07-26T09:54:33Z")
I think I saw a [documentary](http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Muppets_Take_Manhattan) on that once. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/7 "2011-07-26T15:54:43Z")
An infant in such circumstances would have his or her existence registered with a foundling certificate, a document equivalent to a birth certificate. It might be possible to bend the law to register an adult that way. Example of such a form from Illinois: [http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/077/07700500ZZ9996adR.html](http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/077/07700500ZZ9996adR.html) Taken from a larger section dealing with vital statistics and record-keeping: [http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/077/07700500sections.html](http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/077/07700500sections.html) ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-status-options-for-unidentified-total-amnesiacs/590359/8 "2011-07-28T11:50:23Z")
At the local history museum in Culpeper, Virginia, I think that there’s an exhibit about this very thing, but in this case it was a Civil War soldier who may have been wounded and recovered, but lost his memory. The people of the town (Culpeper) gave him a name and he lived the rest of his life there. Of course, this would have been a lot easier back in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s due to the corresponding looseness of documentation required.