Benjaman Kyle - Search For Identity

Search For Identity

There have been major efforts to identify Kyle, but as of June 2009, none of them have been completely successful. These efforts have included:

• Fingerprint comparison to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database of offenders
• Fingerprint comparison to databases of military personnel and government workers
• A Y-DNA test through the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
• A Y-DNA test for genetic genealogy through Family Tree DNA in Houston, Texas
• Autosomal DNA tests through 23andMe in Mountain View, California
• Searches on Y-DNA online databases such as Ybase.org, Ysearch.org, usystrdatabase.org, smgf.org, and DNAAncestry.com
• Searches on mtDNA online databases such as mitosearch.org, EMPOP.org, and smgf.org
• An appearance on the Dr. Phil television program, October 16, 2008
• An interview on NPR's All Things Considered radio broadcast September 5, 2010
• Feature articles in the Augusta Chronicle (September 25, 2007), the Indianapolis Indy Star (April 27, 2009), the Boulder, Colorado Daily Camera (5 July 2009 and July 9, 2009), the Denver Post (July 7, 2009), the Wichita Eagle (August 1, 2009), The Orange County Register (October 4, 2009 and October 7, 2009), the Idaho Statesman (March 27, 2010), the Medford, Oregon Mail Tribune (May 3, 2010), The Guardian in the UK (July 10, 2010), Transylvania County Times (March 3, 2011)
• Television, radio and internet interviews: Channel 9 NEWS, the NBC television network affiliate in Denver, Colorado (July 6, 2009), Channel 7 News, the ABC television network affiliate in Denver, Colorado (September 2, 2009), the BBC World Service (August 6, 2010), National Public Radio's All Things Considered radio program (September 5, 2010), and AOL News on September 13, 2010
• Facial recognition comparison by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles with individuals who have obtained an Indiana driver's license since 1998
• Hypnosis
• Research of the birth announcements published in Indianapolis newspapers around the time of Benjaman's remembered birthdate
• Postings with missing person's networks
• Leads from individuals who seem to recognize Kyle from newspaper articles or online postings

As of July 2009, a search is being made by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Kyle's Vietnam draft registration, based on his birth date and his physical characteristics. When the draft was first implemented on December 1, 1969, Kyle's possible birth date of August 29, 1948 would have given him a priority number of 61. Because the highest draft number used that year was 195, were that his birthday, he would have been very likely called, though interviews with military investigators indicate that he almost certainly had never served. A search through lists of men who had draft exemptions is now underway.

Newspaper articles were published in the Boulder Daily Camera on July 5, 2009, and in the Denver Post on July 7, 2009. Based on Kyle's memories of the University of Colorado at Boulder campus, it was hoped that someone would respond to the articles to identify him. As of September 2010, this has not happened.

Kyle has taken several DNA tests that offer clues to his origins. A genetic genealogy DNA test by Family Tree DNA produced a distant match with members of the Powell DNA Study. Based on these results, in March 2010 an almost perfect DNA match was discovered in the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation database with a Davidson of Scottish ancestry, a grandson of Robert Holden Davidson (b. 1885 Logan, Utah, d. 1946 Chico, California). This Davidson's results are very different from other Davidsons who have been tested by the Davidson/Davison/Davisson Research DNA Study Project. The fact that Kyle has several weak matches to Powells, with a single strong match to a Davidson, indicates a possible non-paternity event in the male line of his family — that is, an adoption, a name change, or an illegitimacy. It is surmised that his legal name might be Davidson, but that in past generations, the family name was originally Powell. A comparison of the whereabouts of the Powell and Davidson families revealed that members of both families were living in close proximity in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s.

A geographical comparison between Kyle's Y-DNA results and the YHRD Y Users Group database shows a somewhat close match in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, but the US coverage in this database is sparse and only includes Y-DNA haplotypes. A more comprehensive autosomal DNA test by 23andMe relating to mixed-gender family lines reveals a large number of matches with ancestry in the western Carolinas, eastern Tennessee, northern Alabama, and northern Georgia.

A major challenge exists in discovering who Kyle is because most records are keyed on an individual's name and Social Security number, which in Kyle's case are unknown. Many records are kept in hard copy format, making searching difficult. Many others that could be searched electronically on his birthdate are protected by privacy laws. The hope of identifying him rests on finding a DNA match, or on attracting the attention of someone who recognizes him by his photograph.

As of November 2012 noted forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick is collaborating with DNA testing company 23andMe for pro bono autosomal testing. By compiling an extensive family tree based on his DNA matches, she has identified a set of second cousins from the Western Carolinas who are collaborating with her to determine Benjaman's identity.

In March 2011, Benjaman was the subject of a student documentary from Florida State University's Film School by filmmaker John Wikstrom. The film, entitled "Finding Benjaman" was in part a description about Benjaman's curious circumstances, and in part an appeal to action for local media groups and politicians. Through the outreach involved with the film, Kent Justice of News4Jax ran a series on Benjaman with the help of Florida Senator Mike Weinstein. Through Weinstein, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Benjaman was able to obtain a Legacy Identification Card to supplement the identity card he received when he was in Georgia. No new leads were developed by the story.

The news series also got the attention of a local business owner, who offered him a job washing dishes. Benjaman still works that job today, sleeping no longer in the woods, but in an air-conditioned shed through the good will of someone else who saw the story.

www.findingbenjaman.com is a website set up by Wikstrom to supplement ongoing identification efforts by Fitzpatrick. In addition to the film itself, the website is an online resource, containing Benjaman's list of memories, in an effort to someday be able to connect all of the dots, or find someone who can.