This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A good Samaritan helped a man with amnesia figure out who he is and start him on his way home from Utah back to California.
Matthew Abraham, 20, suffered a head injury earlier this month in a mountain biking accident — and has had some memory loss ever since.
"I did fall about 50 to 60 feet on Friday morning off that trestle at Henry Cowell on the sand," Abraham says in a YouTube video. "I don't really remember much of Friday or any of last week, really. I was out for about 24 hours, probably."
On Thursday morning, his family in Santa Cruz County reported him missing, and a search began in California and Nevada. At some point — police aren't sure how or when — he got on a bus from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. At some point a fellow passenger started talking to Abraham, who admitted he didn't know who he was, said Salt Lake City police Lt. Josh Scharman on Saturday
"He had several names, and he thought he might be one of those people. But he was not sure which of those [he was]," Scharman said.
The passenger took Abraham to the downtown Salt Lake City library on Friday evening to look up missing people out of California and solve the mystery. They eventually found a news story about Abraham.
The passenger called California law enforcement about finding Abraham, who in turn called Salt Lake City police about 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Abraham was taken to a local hospital, where arrangements were made for his family to travel to Utah and reunite with him.
Scharman did not have information on who the passenger was, or if he was a local. But they're "very appreciative to him to take the time" to help, Scharman said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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