On August 31, 2004, he was found naked and injured, without any possessions or identification, next to a dumpster behind a Burger King restaurant in Richmond Hill, Georgia.
In late 2015, genetic detective work, which had gone on for years, led to the discovery of his identity as William Burgess Powell (born August 29, 1948).
[1] On August 31, 2004, at 5:00 a.m., a Burger King employee in Richmond Hill, Georgia, found Powell unconscious, naked, and sunburned behind a dumpster of the restaurant.
There were no reports of stolen vehicles in the area and local restaurants and hotels did not encounter any individuals matching Powell's description.
To help with Powell's identification, Kingston's office sent DNA samples to the FBI's National Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia.
In March 2011, Powell was approached by Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts graduate student John Wikstrom.
[8] For many years after his amnesia, Powell was homeless; further, he had been unable to obtain employment as he could not remember his full Social Security number.
In February 2015, forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick reported that Powell had cut off all contact with her just as she felt she was nearing a breakthrough.
[1] On September 16, 2015, Powell announced that his real identity had been found, including identifying his name and close family members.
These efforts included: In July 2009, a search was being made by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Powell's Vietnam draft registration, based on his birthdate and his physical characteristics.
[18] Colleen Fitzpatrick attempted to create a family tree for Powell, and based on DNA tests, cousins were identified from the western Carolinas who collaborated with her to try to determine his identity.
[6][7] Powell had memories of Indianapolis as a child, including the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, the Woolworth's on the Circle, and the Indiana Theater showing movies in Cinerama.
[citation needed] He also remembered grilled cheese sandwiches for a quarter and glasses of milk for a nickel at the Indiana State Fair.
[15] Powell reported having memories of the controversy surrounding the construction of mass transit in Denver, at a time when the city still had no financing to proceed.
[6] The earlier date was based on his memory that he arrived during the construction of the Pearl Street Mall in the downtown area, and shortly after the Big Thompson Canyon flood[30] that occurred on July 31 – August 1, 1976.
Powell had detailed knowledge of restaurant management and food preparation equipment, leading to the theory that he may have once worked in these industries.
[7] On September 16, 2015, Powell announced on his Facebook page that his identity had been established by a team of adoption researchers led by CeCe Moore.
His family filed a missing persons report at the time, and police found he had moved to Boulder, Colorado on a whim with a coworker.
[24] Dr. Phil McGraw paid for Powell to seek a professional hypnotist in an effort to help him recover lost memories.
[6] In March 2011, Powell was the subject of a student documentary from Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts by filmmaker John Wikstrom.
Through the outreach involved with the film, Kent Justice of News4Jax (WJXT) ran a series on Powell with the help of Florida Senator Mike Weinstein.