Amnesiac Maryland Man Reunited With Family After Police Were Flooded With Social Media Tips

A missing Maryland man who couldn’t recall his name after he was found disoriented and shirtless on a highway outside Baltimore last week has been identified, officials announced.

The 33-year-old man, whose name hasn't been released, was reunited with his family on Friday morning after state police were flooded with tips on social media.

The man, who was found walking shirtless on the I-795 a week ago, was initially “unable to remember his name or contact information for family members.” His family had been searching for him for approximately a week, police said.

“This was a happy ending,” Ron Snyder, a public information officer for the Maryland State Police told Oxygen.com Friday afternoon. “Those tips on social media helped us locate family members who were able to reunite with him.”

According to state police, the man is originally from the Washington D.C. suburb of Rockville in Montgomery County, Maryland, roughly an hour southwest of Baltimore.

Maryland state troopers found the man walking along I-795 near Owings Mills Boulevard in Baltimore County at around 9:00 p.m. on July 22, according to a police press release. The man, of slim build and wearing only black shorts, required medical attention, according to officials. At the time, the 33-year-old didn’t know his name or contact information for any family.

The then-unidentified man was transported to hospital for medical treatment but remained unable to recall his name or any personal information.

The man’s family came forward after state authorities released an image of him on social media this week.

“We got tens of thousands of views and shares on it — it was kind of amazing how much it was shared,” Snyder said. “The family can rest easy tonight thanks to all the public outreach and support that we’ve received over the last 24 hours in this case.”

The family, who is “extremely thankful” for the man’s safe return, is now requesting privacy, officials said. The chain of events, however, that led to him being discovered disoriented on the outskirts of Baltimore remains unclear. 

“I’m sure they’re trying to figure out exactly how he got there,” Snyder added. “But again, at this point, the big thing is that he’s home and that he’s with his family.”

It’s unclear what type of medical treatment the man required or what injuries, if any, he may have sustained. Amnesia and other memory disorders can be triggered by brain damage, neurological diseases, and/or drug or alcohol abuse, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. 

“There were some other issues involved,” Snyder explained. “It wasn’t like he got hit on the head and didn’t know where he was or anything like that, but I don’t want to give anymore details than that.”

The memory loss associated with some types of amnesia is oftentimes reversible but, in certain cases, amnesia can be permanent. There is no specific treatment for amnesia. 

Police weren’t able to specify whether the man remained hospitalized as of Friday afternoon. No further information was immediately available.