Lacey, Wash. – He has flipped through the photographs, listened to the stories, read through all the letters. He’s even trolled through his computer files looking for clues.
But more than a month after he woke up with no memory on the streets of Denver, Jeff Ingram still has no idea who he is.
“Family vacations, high-school graduation, prom night … your first dance, your first kiss. That’s all lost,” Ingram said Wednesday. “It’s very hard to put into words. … It’s probably the most frustrating thing that a person can ever go through, is to lose their identity. Because your past is what makes you who you are today – good or bad.”
Ingram made headlines when he turned up in Denver on Sept. 10. He says he awoke, alone and terrified, with no idea who or where he was. He had no wallet or ID – just $8 cash, the clothes on his back, a few pieces of his jewelry and a driving headache.
Ingram says he began wandering the streets, pleading for help from strangers. He walked several hours before finding Denver Health Medical Center, where he was admitted as a John Doe and underwent tests. He was later nicknamed “Al.”
Ingram, 40, returned home to Olympia about a week ago. He was recognized on TV news programs, pleading for help: “If anybody recognizes me, knows who I am, please let somebody know.”
The former mill worker’s planned wedding to Penny Han sen is on hold for now. But the couple sat hand in hand Wednesday, thanking the police, doctors, family and friends who helped bring Ingram home to Olympia.
Doctors have said Ingram’s memory loss came from a disorder called dissociative fugue, a rare type of amnesia that can be triggered by stress.It’s the second time he has lost his identity. Relatives say that in 1995, he vanished for about nine months. He eventually surfaced in Seattle but had no recollection of family, friends or his previous life.
