American Wakes Up Speaking Only Swedish

When Michael Boatwright, 61, awoke at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, Calif. in February, doctors and nurses found themselves trying to convince their patient of his identify, according to the Desert Sun.

Discovered unconscious in a Motel 6, Boatwright had four forms of ID - a Social Security card, a veteran's medical card, a passport and a California identification card - all with the name Michael Thomas Boatwright.

None of it, he tried to tell them, were his. This proved difficult, however, due to the fact that the soft-spoken man with graying hair was and is convinced that he only speaks Swedish, refusing to answer to any other name than Johan Ek.

And while talk of government conspiracy or the "Bourne Identity" come true may be tempting, the Desert Sun reported Tuesday that a woman who appears to be his sister has been located.

Michelle Brewer of Louisiana said Boatwright's family didn't know if he was dead or alive.

"I haven't talked to him in years," she told the paper. "He just disappeared."

All told, Michelle explained that it had been roughly a decade since she and her brother talked, and that she couldn't even find a way to get a hold of him when their mother died a year ago.

"He's always been just a wanderer," she said. "Then he'd come back when he needed some money or something from somebody. Then he'd take off again."

While Boatwright appears to have spent some time in Sweden over the last several decades, it's not clear what has caused his amnesia, which doctors say could be the result of physical or emotional trauma.

Specifically, the Desert Sun reported that a psychologist and psychiatrist diagnosed Boatwright with transient global amnesia (TGA), a sudden though temporary episode of memory loss that can' t be attributed to a more common neurological condition, such as epilepsy or stroke.

However, typically when individuals suffer from TGA, according to the Mayo Clinic, they remember who they are and are able to recognize others close to them. Furthermore, episodes tend to be short-lived, lasting in some cases just 24 hours or less rather than months, as in Boatwright's case. Fortunately for those who experience it, though, TGA is usually a solitary event with no lasting effects.