Benjaman Kyle | This Man Forgot His Own Name For 11 Years

What if the only way to escape a mob hit was to erase yourself completely — no name, no memory, no identity — and hope the government would hand you a fresh start? For one man, that gamble became a decade-long nightmare.

In 2004, a Burger King employee in Richmond Hill, Georgia, showed up for the 5 a.m. shift and found a naked man behind the dumpster — no ID, severe cataracts, and no memory of who he was. He couldn't even give a name, so the hospital started calling him BK Doe, and eventually he became "Benjaman Kyle" (yes, spelled with that weird extra N). For over a decade, this guy lived as a legal ghost: no Social Security number, no job, no home, bouncing through shelters, Reddit threads, Dr. Phil, and even Jeff Probst's daytime talk show, all while begging anyone to recognize him. But when a team of real documentary filmmakers dug in, the story cracked wide open — a birth name (William Burgess Powell), a horrifically abusive childhood in Lafayette, Indiana, a red station wagon ditched in the woods in 1976, a Chicago-connected crime family, and a chilling comment at the edge of a Colorado cliff about the perfect place to hide a body. Jaron and Tim spiral through Bruce Willis bits, John Madden impressions, and wacky inflatable arm guys before landing on a genuinely mind-bending question: did this man fake amnesia to escape the mob — and where did he vanish to this time?

Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning, and laughing a whole lot while you do, then you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode today!

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