ABC News
Mystery Briton Doesn't Speak, Plays Piano
Doctors in England Try to Identify Mystery Man Who Won't Speak but Plays Piano
The unidentified man known as "Piano-man" is picture in the grounds of Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham, England, Friday, April 29, 2005. The man was found wandering aimlessly in a coastal town in southeast England on April 7 and he has refused to communicate ever since, except through music. "I cannot get within a yard of him without him becoming very anxious," said Michael Camp, the social worker assigned to the tall blond man. "Yet at the piano he comes alive." Staff at Medway Maritime Hospital launched a search Monday, May 16, 2005, for anyone who knows the man, who is in his 20s or early 30s. When found his suit and tie were dripping wet and he wouldn't say a word despite his agitation. But when hospital staff showed the mysterious man a piano, he started playing _ and wouldn't stop for two hours. (AP Photo/Mike Gunnill)
By SUE LEEMAN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
LONDON May 17, 2005  Hospital authorities caring for a patient who refuses to talk but willingly plays the piano for hours said Tuesday they were investigating a number of new leads about his identity.
The tall, blond-haired man, who is in his 20s or early 30s, has not said a word since he was found, distressed and dressed in a dripping wet suit, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent county, southeast England, on April 7.
When staff at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham gave him writing materials, he drew detailed pictures of a grand piano and, when shown the piano in the hospital chapel, sat down and played for two hours, causing staff to nickname him "Piano Man."
Baffled staff said their problems have been compounded by the fact that all the labels were cut off the man's clothes.
"That is a real twist and it's enough of a mystery without that," said Adrian Lowther, spokesman for the West Kent National Health Service Trust, which is caring for the man at a psychiatric unit in Dartford in north Kent.
"Apart from mentally, the man is healthy, and he is washing himself. But he does not communicate at all, so he cannot receive counseling."
Lowther said a tabloid newspaper has provided the man with a piano, and playing calms him down noticeably.
Lowther said the National Missing Persons Helpline has received 320 calls and 70 e-mails after releasing a picture of the man and one of his piano drawings Monday. The health trust also has received numerous telephone calls.
"We are wading through those with the police we just hope that in among the calls may be someone who knows him," Lowther said. "But it will take some time."
The British press has likened his case to the Oscar-winning 1996 movie "Shine," about acclaimed pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a nervous breakdown while playing. It also is similar to the movie "Ladies in Lavender," which was recently released in the United States and is about a violinist who washes up ashore in Cornwall after a shipwreck, speaks only Polish and is nursed back to health by elderly sisters portrayed by Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. He goes on to a triumphant concert.
Wikinews reported on May 17 that several weeks earlier British police had picked up an unidentified man wandering the streets of Sheerness, United Kingdom. The man who has thus far refused to talk, has demonstrated himself to be an excellent pianist—earning him the nickname ''Piano Man''.

Since publication of our first article, we have been contacted by a fellow wiki contributor informing us that the ''Piano Man'' may be a British actor named Geoffrey Betts. Although our contact strongly believed he knew the identity of the man and contacted the relevant authorities in regard to his belief, this has turned out to be false. While Betts was not reachable by phone or e-mail, his  website was recently updated to the effect that he is ''not'' the man in question. In the meantime, the search for the identity has been narrowed down to three leads by authorities.

The original interview between Wikinews editor CGorman and contributor Steve Magruder is reproduced below.