Revealed: Fascinating clues about identity of 'wealthy' mystery man who cannot state his name despite three years in hospital

Published: 00:11, 19 August 2026 | Updated: 00:14, 19 August 2026 A suspected stroke victim whose identity has become an international mystery as authorities try to find his family could be Canadian, investigators say. The unidentified man collapsed in the street in Amsterdam on May 10, 2023 and was rushed to a local hospital, police said. He is unable to communicate his identity after a suspected brain hemorrhage or stroke, according to doctors. They explained that the man has aphasia, the same disorder that actor Bruce Willis suffers from, which can impact speech as well as a person's ability to understand spoken and written language. He was therefore unable to provide hospital staff with any identifying information, including his name and where he had come from. The man had nothing on him that could help with his identification such as bank or ID cards. Detectives have since started looking into his case, even though it is not a criminal investigation. It was assigned to two retired police officers who work as volunteers with a cold case team in the Netherlands, according to CTV.  They then decided to delve into the man's social life, uncovering several conflicting stories about who he could be – with some suggesting he is Canadian. At first, the retired officers on the case, identified in a news release only as Ruud and Nel, discovered that the man was a member of a Buddhist community on Middenweg, a major thoroughfare in eastern Amsterdam. Members there told the cops he went by the name 'Lucky,' but they did not have any information about his actual identity. Amsterdam police are asking for the international community's help in identifying a man with aphasia who cannot communicate his name or his past Some of the man's personal belongings are pictured, but authorities said he did not have anything on him that could help provide an identification The man had also been known to frequent a public square, at which he would buy items from shops and market stalls. He was known by a variety of names at the square, police said, including Lucky, Louis, Lee, John, Ponytail and Sonny.  Authorities were further told stories that the man was extremely wealthy, but also that he had been seen wandering the streets of Amsterdam.  A breakthrough may have finally come when officers learned that the man would occasionally have a drink at the Soupenzo cafe on Waterlooplein, where workers identified him as 'Chris the Canadian.' An employee at the cafe told DutchNews how the mystery man would frequently visit the shop, often looking shabby and seemingly mentally unwell. He always carried a suitcase with him and would ask for very particular variations of soup, which the employees would always accommodate – noting that the man always had money on him despite his appearance. Investigators were also told that he spoke English with an accent they believed to be American or Canadian.  The man is said to use English words to deny or confirm things, but cops said he is unable to communicate much beyond that. Employees at Soupenzo, a cafe in Amsterdam, identified the man as 'Chris the Canadian' Efforts to ascertain the man's identity through DNA databases and with facial recognition technologies have also reached a dead end as strict privacy rules hinder the police's ability to access larger data sources where a match could be found, a spokesperson for the department told DutchNews. It is now believed that the man has spent some time in North America and Nepal, but it remains unclear how long he has been in Amsterdam.  He is now being held at a care facility where police say he spends his days lying in bed as experts involved in his care say he lacks the capacity to make decisions for himself. As authorities continue their investigation into the man's identity, members of the cold case team have been left wondering whether his family members may be worried about him, not knowing where he ended up. 'I simply cannot believe that nobody knows who this man really is,' retired cop Nel said in the news release. Ruud added that: 'Every person has the right to an identity, and that includes this man.' Anyone with any ideas of who the man could be are encouraged to reach out to the Amsterdam police.