Police in Amsterdam are trying to identify a man who has been unable to communicate his name or address for three years after suffering a brain injury in 2023. The officers released a video with some new information, hoping there is someone who might help shed the light on his identity. The man is believed to have quite a bit of involvement with Buddhist communities, and various Amsterdammers from different walks of life knew him casually by a variety of nicknames.

These include “Lucky,” “Louis,” “Lee,” “John,” “Ponytail,” “Sonny,” and “Chris the Canadian,” or “Chris de Canadees,” the latter giving a possible clue about his background. Investigators think the man may be from the United States or Canada because he consistently spoke English, and had an accent associated with those countries, according to people who knew him.

The man collapsed on a street in Amsterdam on May 10, 2023, and was taken to the OLVG hospital. Doctors determined that he had suffered either a brain hemorrhage or a stroke.

He subsequently developed aphasia and has remained largely unable to communicate information about his identity or address. He was later transferred to a care facility in Amsterdam-Zuidoost. “Aphasia is a disorder that affects how you communicate. It can impact your speech, as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

“To this day, Lucky still uses words like ‘nonsense’ and ‘definitely’ to confirm or deny something. Unfortunately, much more communication than that is not possible,” police said.

“Aphasia usually happens suddenly after a stroke or a head injury. But it can also come on gradually from a slow-growing brain tumor or a disease that causes progressive, permanent damage,” which can also be described as “degenerative,” the Mayo Clinic states on its website.

“He was said to be extremely wealthy, but at the same time he was seen wandering the streets of Amsterdam,” a police officer said in a video about the case. He was a regular visitor to the Waterlooplein flea market in the city center, a branch of the eatery, Soupenzo, located nearby on Jodenbreestraat, and a Buddhist group based on Middenweg in Amsterdam-Oost.

Anyone who knows the man was asked to contact police in the Amsterdam-West district. “I can’t accept that no one knows who this man really is,” said Nel, one of the police officers who has been working on the cold case.

“It is strange, isn’t it, that you can live under the radar in the Netherlands for perhaps 20 years.”