An amnesiac dubbed “John Smith” after he turned up in a snowdrift four months ago has finally been identified.
The "man did not possess any form of identification, and did not remember his name, origin, how he ended up in Norway or any other details of his life" when he was discovered in mid-December, Oslo Police said in a release.
While he could think clearly, spoke good English and understood four other languages, the mystery man told investigators he had no idea about what had happened.
However, "John Smith" said he had been sexually assaulted and had "very bloody traces" on his wrists that suggested he may have been tied up with plastic strips, according to Agence France Presse.
Investigators turned to international police organization Interpol and more than a dozen nations to compare fingerprints and DNA with their databases but were unable to unravel the mystery.
Repeated attempts to jog the man’s memory also failed. With his permission, police released a picture of "John Smith" on Tuesday.
A day later, they received a message from counterparts in the Czech Republic -- about 1,000 miles away from Norway -- that a couple had recognized him and said he was their son.
Oslo Police spokesman Sturla Henrkisbo told NBC News on Thursday that the force's violent and sexual crime unit was leading the investigation.
The man does not want his identity revealed, he added.
