Mystery amnesiac puzzles Norway ~Zim Matrix660

Mystery amnesiac puzzles Norway

OSLO (Reuters) - A man suffering from amnesia has caused a headache for Norwegian police, prompting them to enlist media help to identify the well-dressed, educated man after two months of fruitless investigations. Speaking what police called "sophisticated and very polite" English and understanding some Japanese but no Norwegian, the man they have nicknamed "Dodo" showed up in the centre of Oslo in mid-May and was first taken for a psychiatric patient.

Through hypnosis doctors determined that the man, who speaks good English and looks in his early 20s, was not intentionally holding back information but simply cannot remember anything about his past. Interpol could not trace his fingerprints.

"It is a very bizarre case. I have never heard of anything like it," Oslo police superintendent Sindre Flaate told Reuters on Friday.

"Police thought he was a psychiatric patient and took him to hospital. He has an incredible vocabulary, is unable to tell us anything about himself but is very polite," Flaate said.

Under hypnosis, he recalled waking up in the cold and dark in Switzerland and mentioned Marseille and London. Carrying dollars, euros and Norwegian crowns when found, he referred to weight in pounds and temperatures in Fahrenheit, indicating a link to Britain or the United States.

He told doctors he remembered staying in hotels on his trip through Europe and his clothes were clean and neat.

"He has probably travelled by bus or train through Europe without needing any documentation," Flaate said.

But it is a mystery how he would have got into Switzerland, not a member of Europe's Schengen Agreement which lets citizens pass through 15 countries, including Norway, without a passport.

Names that came up in conversations with doctors are Roy Lee and Juaniu Lee. The latter could be his father and there may be a link to the leather trade, Flaate said.