They call him King Murray, the name the elderly man gave the ambulance crew on a cold February night when he was found on the streets of the Baltimore suffering from frostbite. With no identification, Murray was unable to tell authorities where he was from.
Now University of Maryland Hospital officials are faced with a dilemma: how to find a man?s identity with almost no clues.
Murray said he?s from either Grand Haven, Mich., or Detroit, but attempts to locate relatives in either city haven?t netted results.
“We tried calling all the Murrays in the phone book,” said Murray?s social worker, Ella Morecroft.
The brutal winter cold forced doctors to amputate Murray?s frostbitten fingers, so he has no fingerprints either. Murray is toothless, so dental records cannot be used to identify him either.
He is found, in a sense, but still lost.
The address book he was carrying belonged to a person who had a layover at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. The bus transfer passes from Philadelphia found in his pockets did not help, either. Murray told authorities he was staying somewhere on Lexington Avenue in Baltimore, but doesn?t remember the exact address.
The biggest problem: No one has reported him missing.
“Part of the problem is he is not a missing person, he is a found person,” said Bruce Dull, a private investigator hired by the hospital to track down Murray?s identity.
“There is no procedure for this type of case; he?s been found, so he?s not missing,” Dull said.
Dull said he has spent time with Murray, asking him questions.
“One day he?s a prince, the next day he?s got five daughters ? it?s always different,” he said.
And there is more at stake, Dull said, than Murray?s identity. Without a Social Security number, he can?t qualify for Medicare. Murray, who currently resides at a nursing home in northeast Baltimore, said he was born in 1923.
Despite being in limbo, Murray said he is content. “I?m a happy person,” he said. “I have lots of friends here.”
REWARD
A reward is being offered for any information resulting in the identification of Murray. Anyone with information should contact Bruce Dull at 410-685-3737.
