Classic amnesia case

This story is bizarrely similar to the premise of Nicole Krause's novel Man Walks Into a Room. It's from today's Desert Dispatch (Barstow, Calif.). Quoted in its entirety:

Thursday, June 3, 2004

Man found wandering in desert adjusting to life at home

By IAN MORRISON/Staff Writer

Michael Dennis Schroeder's memories have been a little more elusive than he expected and he's still dealing with a vicious headache, he said.

Schroeder may not remember much of anything, but at least he feels a sense of association to his wife and son, who scooped him up from Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, and took him home to Alabama last week, he said in a phone interview.

California Highway Patrol officers picked up Schroeder, 38, of Piedmont, Ala., on the evening of May 18 in Barstow wandering around dazed and apparently suffering from amnesia, on Fort Irwin Road.

He was identified by his wife a few days later after Barstow Sheriff's Deputies discovered an abandoned Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup truck in the Rainbow Basin area, east of Hinkley. Deputies ran the license plate and linked it to a missing person's report filed out of Piedmont, Ala.

Schroeder, who spent five days at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, still can't find any reason for his condition. Doctors ran a battery of tests on his body and mind, such as an MRI and a CAT scan, but found nothing wrong with him, he said.

His wife Sally, his sister-in-law, and his son, arrived at the hospital by car on May 23. They met with Schroeder and his doctor twice that day, to make sure he was in the right condition to travel. He was discharged the next day and taken home to Piedmont, Ala, he said.

He may have been back with his family but not much else has improved, he said.

He lost his job at Picture Perfect Lawncare and Maintenance because he could not recall how to do it. He also had to leave his truck in California because he could not pay the $700 to get it out of the police impound, he said.

"Unfortunately, the memories aren't doing so well either," Schroeder said.

CHP Officer Jeff Moran said Schroeder was severely sunburned and dehydrated when police found him. He also said Schroeder had no recollection of who he was or how he got there.

Schroeder said the last thing he can remember is hiking near a peak when he suddenly saw a mountain lion and fell down a steep slop. He said he woke up some time later without any belongings and walked around the desert for two days before he was found.

Since he's been home, he has spent a lot of time meeting old friends, relatives and co-workers. Sometimes he can remember flashes of incidents with people he meets but no memories of their relationships with him ever seem to return, he said.

"It's not exactly a fairy tale ending but I'm working on it," he said.

He also said doctors told him he has an artery in the back of his neck that looks considerably smaller than it should be, which may hold the answer to his problems.

"There's going to be lot more doctor's visits in the future," Schroeder said.

According to his wife, he was last seen three days before he was found on Fort Irwin Road. He left his job in Alabama that afternoon to go cash his paycheck and never returned. His truck was found 10 miles from where he was picked up, with a note pinned to the windshield that read "We have found God."

Piedmont is a small town in the northeast corner of Alabama, more than 2,000 miles from where Schroeder's pickup truck was found.