The Football Star Who Wandered Off and Forgot His Own Name
James Joy Miller disappeared on January 5. He turned up near Walla Walla on a fruit ranch, with no memory of his former life or his Michigan football fame.
WALLA WALLA—After wandering about the country since January 5, not knowing who he was or anything about his former life, as he says, James Joy Miller, football star at the University of Michigan, has been found. He is at present at work on the Blalack fruit ranch, near this city. He has no recollection, according to his story, of his former surroundings.
“He has no recollection, according to his story, of his former surroundings.”
Today a missing star would be tracked by phone pings and social media within hours; in 1910 Miller's case was solved only when he surfaced at a rural ranch. The story is a reminder that amnesia and identity loss were once newspaper staples in an era before reliable records and rapid communication.
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