'Amnesia Al' Still Has No Memory, Says He's Going by Intuition

Nov. 2, 2006 — -- Jeffrey Ingram, the man who became known as "Amnesia Al," still has no memory of his past.

Ingram woke up on a sidewalk in downtown Denver more than a month ago with no idea who he was.

In the week and a half since Ingram's been home, his family, friends and fiancee, Penny Hansen, have told him stories and showed him pictures, hoping to spark some recollections.

But he remembers nothing before Sept. 10.

"I haven't had anything come back yet," Ingram said today in an exclusive interview on "Good Morning America."

Ingram says he has seen "lots and lots of pictures," but "nothing has jogged my memory -- anything -- yet."

Doctors say that Ingram suddenly went into a dissociative fugue state, a rare type of amnesia that can be triggered by stress.

The same thing happened to him in 1995.

After he woke up in Denver, Ingram appeared on "Good Morning America," hoping that someone might recognize him.

His parents saw him on TV, and his fiancee called Denver police.

Now Ingram, Hansen and his family are trying to piece together memories of his past life. It's been a difficult journey, Hansen said.

"It's been very difficult. It will be one step at a time," she said today. "But we're here for each other and we'll do what it takes."

Hansen says that Ingram is still the same man she fell in love with.

"He's always been a kind, gentle person, a person that will give anything help that needs help," she said. "He has a great sense of humor, and even throughout all this adversity, he still has a good sense of humor."

The ordeal has been most difficult for Ingram, who has struggled to recover his identity and sense of who he is.

In a Tuesday news conference, Ingram often spoke of himself in the third person.

"He seems like a nice man, like I'm polite. He seems like an outdoorsy type," he said. "But I'm concentrating on the person I am today, and I try not to get overstimulated by looking at photos and friends telling me, 'We did this and that.'"