Amnesiac man found at Calif. motel moves to Sweden


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - A man who was found unconscious in a California motel and awoke speaking only Swedish, with no memory of his past, has arrived in Sweden.

The Desert Sun reports ( http://mydesert.co/174ceLV) 61-year-old Michael Boatwright was greeted by Ewa Espling, a Swedish woman he dated in the early 1980s.

Public records show Boatwright lived in Sweden on and off between 1981 and 2003.

Boatwright was discovered in a Motel 6 room in Palm Springs in February. He referred to himself as Johan Ek, but authorities found ID that identified him as Michael Boatwright.

In March, doctors diagnosed him with Transient Global Amnesia, a condition triggered by trauma that can last for months.

The rare mental disorder is characterized by memory loss, "sudden and unplanned travel," and possible adoption of a new identity.

___

Information from: The Desert Sun, http://www.mydesert.com/

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button