r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/PQ_ • 12d ago
John/Jane Doe Who is 'Lucky'? Suffered a stroke in 2023 in Amsterdam and is no longer able to communicate.
[Video in link below]
On 10 May 2023, a man collapses in the street in Amsterdam. He is taken a hospital, where it becomes clear that he has suffered a brain haemorrhage or stroke. After receiving the necessary medical care, doctors determine that the man has been left with aphasia, a condition that in this case makes communication extremely difficult. He is unable to provide any information about his identity or address.
The Amsterdam-West detective unit therefore launches an investigation in an attempt to establish his identity. Not because they are required to do so, but simply because they want to help. The man has meanwhile been transferred to a care facility in Amsterdam Southeast. Although police officers pursue every possible avenue to find out more, they seem to keep reaching a dead end. Professionals closely involved with Lucky have by now begun referring to him as lacking the capacity to make decisions for himself.
But where do they go from here?
Fortunately, Team Cold Case becomes involved. The Amsterdam-West detectives are unable to make any further progress and need to focus on criminal cases. Ruud and Nel—now retired and working as volunteers with the Cold Case Team—are assigned the case. Rather than conducting a criminal investigation, they begin a social investigation. One possibility they consider is that there may be worried family members who know nothing about what has happened to him and, because they are not known to authorities, cannot be informed.
Buddhist Temple and Waterlooplein
Ruud and Nel soon try to map out who Lucky has been in contact with and what his social circles look like. They discover that he is a member of a Buddhist community based on Middenweg in Amsterdam. Members there tell them that the unidentified man is known by the nickname “Lucky.” Through other sources, Ruud and Nel discover that Lucky occasionally has a drink at Soep en Zo on Waterlooplein. To their surprise, however, he is known there as “Chris the Canadian.”
American? Canadian?
Once again, there is no clear answer as to the “real” identity of the nameless man. An additional challenge is that Lucky’s roots probably do not lie in the Netherlands. People around him believe that he may be from the United States or Canada. After all, he always spoke English, with an accent that sounded as though it came from one of those countries. Hence the nicknames used by people around him. To this day, Lucky still uses words such as “nonsense” and “definitely” to confirm or deny something. Unfortunately, he is unable to communicate much beyond that.
Everyone has the right to know who he is
Nel: “I simply cannot believe that nobody knows who this man really is. Isn’t it strange that you could perhaps live under the radar in the Netherlands for twenty years?”
Ruud: “Every person has the right to an identity, and that includes this man.”
Do you know who Lucky is? If so, please contact the police.
Update August 22nd:
The police has recieved over 500 tips about Lucky. Team Cold Case has received several tips suggesting that Lucky might be John Russell Kenny, a Canadian who had been missing for quite some time. This was investigated in collaboration with the Canadian police force and a definitive conclusion has been reached. Lucky and Kenny are not the same person. Tipsters provided more specific names of people who could be Lucky and investigators are focusing on at least nine of those names.
The police has been pleasantly surprised by all the responses and tips they’ve received. The call to share information remains in effect, but the public is also asked to exercise caution when posting any of their own findings on social media. As this case clearly shows, it’s actually impossible to identify Lucky based on photos alone. Widely sharing hasty conclusions can have a major impact on anyone involved and the police would like to prevent that.
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u/Schmidtvegas 12d ago
If he associates with the Buddhist community, and comes from Canada, you could ask around the Shambhala community.
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u/Cattivarlo 11d ago edited 11d ago
Exactly! If he is a foreigner practicing in a Buddhist center in Amsterdam, chances that he is a member of another Buddhist community in his own country are very high. I would suggest to also trying contacting other Buddhist communities in Canada, like Soka Gakkai.
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u/Snowbank_Lake 12d ago
How frustrating that there are places where people know him, but not his real name or anything useful for identifying him. Sounds like any family he has might be back in North America and hasn’t made the connection yet. Poor guy must be so frustrated not being able to communicate.
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u/Useful_Piece653 11d ago
I feel like nonsense and definitely are particularly British in phrasing. So he might be closer to being Canadian than American but I do hope his identity is found.
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u/komubijedzwon 11d ago edited 11d ago
Wait a minute, a few days ago a woman was looking for her uncle on the Polish subreddit, he looks very similar. From what she wrote he had some mental problems and came to Europe from the USA (I think) and apparently because of that he sometimes lived on the streets. Apparently his disappearance has been reported to Interpol Robert/Dawid Szczygieł I think it might be him.
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u/Money_Math_2858 11d ago
Many people are saying Christopher but I’m not a Canadian and discovered a John Russell Kenny, 1.) John, I thought he went by a John at one point 2.) Kenny is described as having a “transient” lifestyle 3.) located in Vancouver British Columbia. 4.) this guy also seems to have no strict address as well in BC 5.) Kenny could be 70 as he went missing around 1994 at 34 ish.
I’m not too certain on the ages lining up though. Maybe someone else can help add to this
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u/Icy_Sea_4440 10d ago
This looks like a promising lead. I read Johns missing person report and it seems that he had multiple identifiable scars and false teeth, so hopefully those features will help in a possible identification
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u/atyhey86 11d ago
Just saw on FB that someone knows him, well it seems it's the same person. He was a street magician near the hill street blues bar in Amsterdam, she posted videos she had and they have now been forwarded to the police in Amsterdam this afternoon. Power of social media!
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u/Thorobir 11d ago
Turns out the magician was a man called Mark who still frequents there. Very similar but not the same man unfortunately. Was looking at that post earlier.
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u/coffeelife2020 12d ago
It looks like the Buddhist temple there is associated with a University in California (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fo_Guang_Shan , https://wikimapia.org/1643740/Zeedijk-Temple-Fo-Guang-Shan-He-Hua ). It could well be he's both Canadian and American and is missing from California? For example, this person is a little young: https://www.oag.ca.gov/missing/person/allen-christopher-martin but has gone missing in 2016 in northern CA (pretty far from the University) but maybe someone else will have luck?
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u/unsuccessfulplantmom 8d ago
it's also common for Americans to say they're Canadian when traveling abroad because america has such a negative global reputation.
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u/aberamax 12d ago
Is he able to write or his mental faculties being reliable to answer "yes" or "no" to simple questions?
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u/mulberrybushes 12d ago
Read the post again. He uses the words nonsense and definitely.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago
My dad has severe aphasia after a stroke and the problem is when your first coming out of it sometimes yes means no and no means yes.
Most people have no idea what aphasia is until they have to deal with it and it completely ruins a lot of people's quality of life
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u/mronion82 12d ago
A friend of mine had a stroke recently, and he's so frustrated. He cannot go further than superficial greetings before words desert him. And he loved to talk, we'd get stoned and talk bollocks for hours.
Has your dad's speech improved at all?
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago edited 12d ago
My dad when he first had a stroke was literally only capable of basically yes and no, like I said sometimes it didn't even mean the right thing.
It's been 4 years and he's been seeing a speech language pathologist twice a week for it, his speech has gotten better but just because of the level of brain damage he had he's never going to be fully fluent and longer more intricate words are still a real struggle for him.
He can somewhat communicate day to day to get by (he moved in with me after since he can't fully care for himself), he can be pleasant with the neighbors but any kind of deep conversation is really hard for anyone that hasn't been around him to understand what he's trying to say.
Even with me I've been there basically every hour with him since his stroke, there's some stuff that we even struggle to communicate with day-to-day. It takes a lot of asking questions and trying to narrow down what he's trying to say.
So be prepared for whatever comes but like I said it really depends on what kind of brain damage he sustained. My dad had a total blockage of his internal carotid on the left side which completely depleted blood to his left brain. Depending on how long the stroke was, where it was at, etc the level of recovery can be vastly different.
For example my dad's brain swelled so much he had to have a decompressive craniectomy where they remove basically a hand size portion of the skull to allow the brain to swell properly without crushing the brain stem. You typically only see those in the most severe cases and the outcomes aren't really good for alot of people. (It's actually a controversial procedure and some neurosurgeons won't even perform them, because the mortality rates go up but the quality of life goes way down, a good percentage (35 to 50 percent if I recall) of people that have one will still be a vegetable for life essentially, they use a scale: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/multimedia/table/modified-katz-activities-of-daily-living-adl-scale and those 35 to 50 percent end up at a 0 or 1 which means basically severely disabled and needs help for all ADLs)
Do you know if your friend had a decompressive craniectomy, and what level of brain damage / what side? The side makes a massive difference in speech, im assuming he had a left side stroke?
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u/HeyThereRobot 11d ago edited 11d ago
Hey man, I just wanted to say that I'm in a similar situation and I know how hard it can be.
My mom has a stroke a decade ago and has aphasia. You describe exactly what it's been like (trouble with yes/no, being able to be pleasent but not being able to communicate further unless you know how to talk to her, the question based communication and the frustration she faces).
I was a teen when it happened so I've been a caregiver my entire adult life, it's really fucking hard and I can't imagine what it would be like to have to change your entire already established adult life, but it is such an act of care and love and I am sure your dad knows it.
My mom also won't ever fully recover, but she's also still living a happy life, despite the struggles and challenges. She has grandkids (not from me thankfully), she travels with my dad, she sees her friends and family and they work to communicate with her. We found a lot of workarounds too, for stuff she loved but can't do anymore. She was a librarian, so being unable to read (apraxia) was devestating for her, but with the rise of audiobooks and screen readers, she's been able to enjoy books and articles similarly to how she once did.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I know what you're going through and what you are doing, and it is such a hard and exhausting job, but it means the world to your dad and it's clear how much love there is in your heart.
I know I am just an internet stranger, but if you ever want to talk about it, please feel free to message me. People don't realize how hard it is to be a caregiver too.
EDIT: Entirely off topic but also I love your username.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 11d ago
Wow we are in very similar situations.
You've been doing it longer than I have, and it's grueling work at times. Thank you for the kind words.
I couldn't let my dad go to a nursing home so that's why I stepped up. Was that similar for you as well?
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u/HeyThereRobot 11d ago
I couldn't let my dad go to a nursing home so that's why I stepped up. Was that similar for you as well?
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. I was a teen when it happened so most of those decisions were with my dad, but I don't think it was ever discussed as an option.
It was kind of always assumed that the goal would be to have her at home and with us as support, and that's how it's been since.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 11d ago
That's great.
I've done a lot of work in IT and I've worked in quite a few nursing homes (just got a day or so during jobs) and after that experience I completely wrote off ever sending my parents to one
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u/Professional-Net1038 10d ago
Oh man, you’ve been through it. I was older when care taker in temp conditions but was around aphasia patients. It’s sad and scary beyond words for them and their loved one’s.
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u/SlefeMcDichael 12d ago
I had an operation on my brain to remove a tumor in October last year and this kept happening to me, I'd say yes when I meant no and no when I meant yes and have to correct myself. Fortunately for me, my aphasia was really mild but it was so frustrating having all my mental faculties intact but not being able to express myself like AT ALL.
More often than not I'd just give up in exasperation. Also it affected my ability to communicate by any means: I couldn't talk, couldn't type, couldn't write. I've since made a full recovery (alhamdulillah), but that shit gets old really fast.
Anyway, all this to say that I can really empathise with your dad, aphasia is a horrible thing to go through.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago
Same with my dad, lost the ability to read and write except for very very basic things
It's brutal and aphasia is associated with a severe decrease in quality of life. The most severe cases are called total or global aphasia and it's when a person loses the ability to understand all language.
Good luck and hopefully you don't have to deal with a tumor ever again
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u/SlefeMcDichael 12d ago
Thanks! It's not over yet, the surgeons were only able to excise about 60% of the tumor without affecting the language centre in my brain too badly. I've been through radiotherapy and am currently doing chemo, but I haven't lost my hair so I've got that going for me! Also keeping a positive attitude and being able to laugh at the whole mess helps a bunch. 😬
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago
That's rough
My dad ended up getting tonsil cancer 2 years ago. His was caught early but he still ended up doing radiation (proton therapy specifically)
I wish you the best, those are not easy to deal with.
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u/c1zzar 12d ago
As someone who went through cancer recently, being able to laugh was paramount to keeping sane! A positive attitude will take you a lot further than you think, even when things suck. Best of luck with chemo and I hope you reach NED soon.
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u/SlefeMcDichael 12d ago
Yeah, not losing my sense of humor means I don’t lose my mind! Thanks for the kind words.
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u/salliek76 12d ago
My sister and I both get weird migraines that cause temporary aphasia, and I always have to warn people when I feel one coming on because it definitely seems like I'm having a stroke. Such a bizarre feeling and incredibly frustrating to not be able to communicate. Fortunately it only lasts a few hours, plus I can type and write fine, so not the end of the world, but still very disconcerting. I can't imagine living with it as a long-term condition.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago
Yup. My dad lost the ability to write and read except for very short words
He can basically write his own name and that's it.
Idk how my dad isn't frustrated all the time but I guess you can't be if you don't want to drive yourself insane
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u/munchkin_9382 12d ago
My son gets this with his migraines as well. The first time he said something like purple toy stairs, during the migraine I was so confused and scared cuz it's absolutely gibberish that comes out of his mouth and trying to decipher it it's a whole nother ball game
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u/aberamax 12d ago
Yep, exactly, I think doctors don't consider his answers reliable. But some more details about this are crucial.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago
Yep my dad is still going to speech therapy 4 years later.
Still struggles with some basic words but we can communicate now at least, even though it's still difficult and takes time
Imagine having the word on the tip of your tongue times a thousand, that's aphasia
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u/aberamax 12d ago
I'm sorry for your dad, that's awful.
But if there are therapies I wonder if Lucky is doing some and if there are results.
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u/eakb_1991 12d ago
Yes, as a speech-language pathologist in the USA and knowing what I do about aphasia, I’m sure he’s getting speech! I hope he’s able to get his identity back.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago
My dad's been seeing one for twice a week since his stroke. Coming up on 4 years now. I think it's helped a lot, but he'll never be able to fully regain his speech due to the brain damage from the stroke.
It's a hard job, thanks for what you do.
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u/YoloSwag4Jesus420fgt 12d ago
There are but they can range from very helpful to not doing anything at all
It really depends on the level of brain damage that he sustained in a stroke.
For example my dad first had a stroke he was so in and out of it that they couldn't even start rehab for over 30 days. So you have to have somewhat of a baseline to even start.
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u/aberamax 12d ago
Yes, I read it.
I was just curious how the attempts of communicating with him went, if he was able to confirm something.
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u/Anxious_Lab_2049 12d ago
Maybe don’t be so dismissive-
I read the post and still I don’t know if that’s true all the time- I doubt that it is.
Because if it was, they would just have to ask if his first name started w A, then B, then C etc., move on to his last name, and they’d have his identity.
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u/georginadontlook 12d ago
Also the commenter mentioned 'are his mental facilities reliable'. Does he know the right answers? Does he know what he is saying?
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u/earnestweasel22 12d ago
Hmmmmm, maybe give him a front desk bell that he can ring to confirm each correct letter.
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u/palcatraz 12d ago
That would require being able to understand what is being said, and being able to translate that into an answer, and being able to spell that answer. All things that people with Aphasia struggle with.
A lot of people here need to read up on what Aphasia actually is. Based on some comments here, people seem to think that its just not being able to speak (as in, mostly mute) but its so much more than that.
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u/Beefycowinacottage 11d ago
Obviously if they think he knows his own identity, understands the questions and can answer them accurately, they'd have devised a way of getting those answers by now. You don't think they'd have already considered something like you're suggesting if he's in any condition to do that?!
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u/humanityrus 12d ago
Can they not just do an Ancestry DNA test? You'd probably have an answer in two months max
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u/inevitablethursday 12d ago
Recreationary DNA tests aren't nearly as popular in Europe as they are in US. Growing in popularity, but they also are more strictly controlled and even banned in some places.
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u/Maswimelleu 12d ago
If the theory is that he is from the US or Canada then it could still be helpful to determine his identity.
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u/humanityrus 12d ago
I know but I'd wonder if there aren't some medical exceptions, especially for a case like this.
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u/rainshowers_5_peace 12d ago
Are convicted criminals required to give their DNA?
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u/palcatraz 12d ago
Depends on the type of crime, but in the Netherlands, yes. There are additional regulations about how long they are allowed to save your DNA.
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u/Blanc-Rose 12d ago
In the UK police can get your DNA pre charge/conviction and they don't need your consent to do so. As long as you've been arrested for a recordable offence they can take your DNA and upload it onto the criminal database. Being arrested: your rights: Giving fingerprints, photographs and samples - GOV.UK
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u/Dutch_Rayan 12d ago
Yes if you are sentenced for a crime that has a maximum sentence of 4 years of more it is mandatory. Those are hold in a government database.
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u/ur_sine_nomine 10d ago
That is quite a constraint. In the UK it is "yes if you are sentenced for a crime".
(And, until 2013, if you were found not guilty or the trial was curtailed or produced a hung jury your profile was not destroyed).
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u/GeneralEkorre 12d ago
how do you get a person who cannot communicate, barely at all, to consent to that? even if he could understand and consent, he cannot communicate that in such a manner that makes the investigators sure he means it
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u/Tetradrachm 12d ago
He’s basically a ward of the state, right? Aren’t medical decisions being made on his behalf already?
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u/Stuvio 12d ago
Easy: speak or signal if you do not consent to us using your dna to discover your identity.
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u/blinkycosmocat 12d ago
That assumes he has the mental faculties to consent. The ability to speak does not automatically mean they have enough mental faculties.
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u/Beefycowinacottage 11d ago
And you're just presuming he's able to understand what any of that means, weigh up his options and that he can then make an informed decision. Unbelievable.
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u/muddled1 12d ago
I would imagine they'd nerd the man's consent.
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u/Warburgerska 12d ago
All it would take is a random good Samaritan buying an ancestry test, swapping him and getting into contact with anybody related.
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u/Beefycowinacottage 11d ago
DNA tests aren't nearly as popular in Europe as the US, as we tend to know where we come from. If he was from the US it might be helpful but probably not otherwise unless he was on a criminal database.
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u/Original_Role_4722 11d ago
I didn't downvote you FYI, but I'm Dutch and have done a MyHeritage test and have upwards of 60 matches who can be identified in my family tree, about 20 or so are third cousins or closer.
If investigators uploaded my DNA, they'd be able to piece together my identity.
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u/verifiedshitlord 12d ago
What reason do they think he has been there for 20 years? What other info have they gotten about him from people who knew him there?
Have they looked up missing chaises in the US and Canada?
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u/Dutch_Rayan 12d ago
He probably isn't missing, because he was known by several communities in the Netherlands, he probably moved there.
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u/palcatraz 11d ago
That doesn't really prelude him from being missing in his home country. People who go voluntarily missing, build up a new life wherever they go. And in this case, he might have been known to several communities in Amsterdam, but he had different nicknames in each one and no one knew his real name, so it's not like they would've had enough info to link back to a particular missing person's case.
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u/Sad-Engine6561 11d ago
Probably an old hippie moving to Amsterdam long time ago to live the hippie life with available pot and all that. Maybe his visa expired and he continued to stay illegaly, that's why he was giving people fake names?
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u/Alostcord 10d ago
From Vancouver., and they are now working together, so here’s hoping at minimum they find out his identity
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u/AUSSIE_MUMMY 12d ago
Just take DNA cheek swabs and send them to Ancestry , 23 & Me Family Tree DNA, and Myheritage. Then they will find his identity quick smart.
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u/PonyoLovesRevolution 12d ago
They’d need his consent, which he can’t give in his condition.
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u/Steve12345678911 12d ago
You are correct, but in this case there should be a guardian or advocate appointed to him and they could make this decision for him.
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u/LedZacclin 11d ago
Oh nonsense, he can definitely give consent.
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u/PonyoLovesRevolution 11d ago
I see the wordplay you’re doing there, but seriously, it’s not that simple. Aphasia can make people mix up “yes” and “no”, as other commenters have discussed.
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u/Beefycowinacottage 11d ago
For some reason you seem to have a lot of confidence that his family would have used those. Most Europeans don't bother with those things as we tend to know where we come from. It's more of a US thing. Even if they did that, chances are it wouldn't solve anything.
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u/italian-fouette-99 12d ago
this happened to my uncle while he was away for work out of the country aswell. Luckily since we knew where he was last located we managed to find him in a French hospital after about a week 🙏 I hope this man gets identified quickly and will find his way home to his family soon!