Seattle 'Jon Doe' shows up in New Mexico with amnesia

Edward Lighthart, who walked out of Discovery Park in July with apparent amnesia, has reappeared in Las Vegas, N.M., again with no apparent memory of who he is.

Dr. Merritt Ayad said Lighthart was found by local police wandering the streets, carrying a passport and old European identification.

Ayad said the man didn't know his identity but warmed to the name Lighthart. "He's distressed he can't remember," Ayad said, adding that Lighthart appeared healthy.

Ayad, a psychologist, searched the Internet and found local stories about Lighthart's history in Seattle and hoped to use it to jog his memory.

"When we get someone like this we have to see if there's any way we can trigger memories," Ayad said. "We can't let him wander around here. We're still left with what to do with him. Part of him is willing to accept this is who he is, but he doesn't remember much."

He was known in Seattle as Jon Doe, and his true identity was discovered when his picture was published. A reader in China recognized him as Lighthart, an educated business consultant who had taught English in Shanghai.

Shortly before Lighthart, 53, ended up in Seattle, he had a falling-out with a sister in Las Vegas, Nev., at whose home he had been staying for the past year and a half. The sister said Lighthart had a history of emotional problems. In May, she told him he needed to leave because he hadn't been paying rent or working.

He left all of his belongings behind. It's not clear how he came to Seattle. "He just disappeared," said his sister, who asked not to be identified for personal reasons. "We never got along very well. He would disappear for eight or 10 years at a time and then pop back up. It's obvious he's got issues."

Contacted today, the sister said she was skeptical at first about Lighthart's amnesia story but now believes he might have had a breakdown.

"Just when you think things are settling down," she sighed, adding that Lighthart might have thought he was returning home. But she said she can't help him.

"I'm at a point financially where I can't do anything for him," his sister said, adding she was looking for a second job.

On July 30, Lighthart flagged down a bus driver outside Discovery Park in Seattle. He was dehydrated and had no identification, but was carrying $600 in his sock. He was admitted to Swedish Medical Center's Cherry Hill campus, where he tried to organize the snippets of memories into clues.

He said he knew he went to college in Wisconsin, Chicago and New York, and had lived in Paris, Vienna and Shanghai. He seemed to remember being married in the mid-1980s to a woman named Tina, who died. And he had an encyclopedic knowledge of European cultural history.

After he was identified, Seattle police requested identification documents from his sister, including his passport, which were given to Lighthart and found on him when he was picked up Monday night in New Mexico.

He left Cherry Hill on Aug. 24, but it isn't clear when he left Seattle.

He is now being held at the New Mexico State Hospital in Las Vegas until officials there can decide what to do with him.

"If he miraculously resolves, we'd all be happy," Ayad said.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com