The Many Lives of Benjaman Kyle

automated voice At the tone, please record your message.

beep

So the detective who's coming over,

she's got all connections in the schools,

because they'll go over to the schools,

talk to the school, too, alert them of the situation.

And how does she know I have twins?

Like, my social media is blocked.

I can't go back.

Because if I could, I would never have done this show.

Like, ever. Because she said my children.

Like, kill me, fine, but...

Donald I don't have an answer for that, because we all know...

-I literally can't even talk about it without crying. -...there's so much information.

I get that.

I mean, I stopped being a prosecutor in part,

like, I left the DA's office because I didn't want bleep

like this in my life.

Obviously, they don't want the story out.

-Eric No. -Now, who is-- who is "they"?

That's the dilemma here.

Shannon Eleven years ago, I came across

this completely insane story.

It was about a man that had amnesia.

And I was obsessed.

I was gonna do anything that I needed to do to find out

who this man was.

It's pretty pathetic if no one's actually looking

for someone that disappeared.

reporter No one recognized this man with no name.

Benjaman You don't know who I am, and quite frankly, neither do I.

Josh Come on in, man.

He gained my trust.

-Give me a hug. -All right.

I thought, "Let's get this guy on his feet."

man AB marker, mark.

Benjaman Nothing right now seems familiar to me.

I don't remember anything.

Josh Come here, buddy.

-I thought he was dead. -Why did he leave?

man He could have got mixed up with the wrong crowd.

In Lafayette, we had criminal organizations.

Statute of limitations would be up

unless there was somebody killed.

Benjaman It'd be a nice place to get rid of a body.

It'd be a while before they found it.

dramatic chord strike

You and Dad made that in Cub Scouts.

I don't feel like talking.

woman Maybe he claimed amnesia because he didn't want

the mafia coming after him.

If he was running from something,

why would you want your picture all over the place?

Who the hell was he for 30 years

when he was living off the grid?

There's no paper trail on this guy.

I'm not an axe murderer

because they can't find my fingerprints

anywhere on any crime scenes.

raspy laugh

Maybe you killed somebody. I don't know.

It's almost like a game, like "You can't catch me."

No, shut up!

This is my life you're bleep with.

Nothing here makes sense.

He's an anomaly of anomalies.

Shannon One weird thing after the next.

What are you hiding?

That is the million-dollar question.

man It really is a quest for truth.

Do you have a definition of truth?

laughs

theme music playing

Sue In August of 2004, the tones went out dispatching us

to a Burger King for a man that was unconscious and lying

behind the dumpsters.

I was one of the first people on scene.

My name is Sue Usry.

I'm the paramedic that responded to the call.

When we got on scene, he was totally nude,

no wallet, no ID.

Who is this guy? How did he get here?

What happened to him?

siren wailing

Benjaman I don't know how I got there,

and I don't have no memories of who I am.

I was also blind with cataracts.

I was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Savannah.

In the emergency room, I remember hearing the doctors

talking about that they already had a John Doe,

and I was found behind a Burger King,

so they just started calling me BK Doe.

And I remember they were all laughing

about that and making a joke

that if I'd have been found behind a McDonald's,

I'd be McDonald Doe.

Everyone just assumed I was a homeless bum,

and they didn't know what to do with me.

They kept asking me what my name was,

and I told them Benjaman.

For some reason, that stuck in my mind.

I thought that was it, with the odd spelling ending

in M-A-N.

And then everyone kept coming in and asking me

what the hell my last name was.

And I finally, to shut them up, I just told them it was Kyle,

because they were calling me BK Doe.

And Kyle was the only thing I could think of at the time

that began with a K.

They fixed my eyes, got the operations

for cataract surgery.

Right after the surgery, after it cleared up,

I was in the bathroom shaving, and I looked

in the mirror and I could not recognize myself.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

My hair is all gone gray.

I looked so old.

It was just shock. It was just shock.

I was thinking I was still, like, 40 years old.

But I'm not 40 years old. I'm 60 years old.

It just-- just did not look right.

I didn't know who I was.

The FBI did one run of fingerprints.

They did it both electronically and with the ink.

I never heard a thing from them.

-I finally walked over to the office... -doorbell rings

...and rang their doorbell.

You can't just get into the FBI, I mean,

but anyway, they came down and said,

"Oh, yeah, yeah, you weren't in our files.

"You weren't on the most wanted list."

So, no, I'm not the type of person to be an axe murderer.

John I read about Benjaman's story online,

and it was an unsolved mystery.

clapboard clicks

My name is John Wikstrom, and in 2011,

I was a student at the FSU Film School.

I had to do a documentary.

I thought, "This is a good subject."

I said, "Sure, why not?" And we made a documentary,

which has gotten pretty famous.

Hello, my name is Benjaman Kyle.

You don't know who I am, and quite frankly, neither do I.

If this were a game of Clue and I had to give my best guess

on what I think went down, I think Benjaman was homeless.

I don't think he'd got in any crimes

and wouldn't have any fingerprints anywhere,

but I think there had to have been some kind of accident.

woman I think he passed out.

People were saying that I was beaten to a bloody pulp.

reporter Bleeding and possibly dead man.

reporter #2 Head trauma from a brutal beating.

reporter #3 Left him with a form of amnesia.

Without memories, without identity,

there's not a lot he can hold on to.

In a field behind the police department.

because none of the homeless shelters will take me in

because I don't have any ID.

Without a social security number, you can't get a job,

you cannot get a bank account,

you cannot get a lease, you can't do anything.

The documentary is an SOS message. It was a cry for help.

Nobody has recognized me, but I still have a past.

It's been almost five years that I've been working with Benjaman.

We've spent so much time together.

I like walking in the streets of the big city.

Harry Potter's got his footprints out here somewhere.

He is a friend to me.

He was a guest of honor at my wedding.

I know him in the way that you know a friend

or a family member.

bicycle bell rings

It's amazing, the outpouring of generosity

people have given to Benjaman.

Friends hooked him up with a place to stay

and with some cash.

I guess I'm emotionally attached to Benjaman.

sniffles

You know, in some ways, I love the guy like a father

or sometimes like a brother.

Benjaman is quick to be friendly with people all around.

Benjaman Hey, man. How you doing?

-Josh He's charming. -It was good seeing you.

Josh You know, he can crack jokes.

You're not going to find an apple fritter like that

at Dunkin' Donuts.

Josh He's smart as a fox.

Benjaman This computer someone gave me, Windows XP.

Josh He liked going to the hardware store.

He loves tools.

I'd really like to have one of these. laughs

You know, he could fix anything.

This is a radial arm saw.

Very knowledgeable about history and movies.

Benjaman "Kill Bill," that was really funny-- I liked that.

And really knows a lot about restaurants.

One time I went to a restaurant,

and I went in and ordered French fries,

because I love French fries.

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