Mystery of the 'piano man' in a wet tuxedo

The National Missing Persons Helpline and care workers said they had been inundated with calls following the publication of a picture of the 'piano man'.

He was discovered in a tuxedo, white shirt and tie from which every label had been assiduously cut. Even his shoes had been rubbed clean of identifying marks.

During the five weeks since he was found in Kent, south of London, walking in darkness by the sea in his dripping wet clothes, the slightly-built young man with haunting brown eyes has not uttered a single word. Instead, he produces beautiful music.

He plays the piano for hours at a time, providing constant renditions of his own classical compositions. According to those who have heard him, he is talented - some say exceptionally so.

Piano Man, as he has inevitably become known, also draws, producing sketch after perfect sketch of himself and grand pianos as he sits incommunicado in a locked hospital ward close to the M25 waiting for someone to claim him as their own or offer a clue as to his name or nationality.

Yesterday those caring for Mr X, the 6ft-tall virtuoso in his 20s or 30s who was found soaking, terrified and wordless on a beachside road on the Isle of Sheppey on 7 April, admitted they are flummoxed as they issued a plea for help in solving the mystery of his identity.

Michael Camp, the social worker who was among the first to meet the young piano player after he was found by police in the early hours, said staff were at a loss to help a patient who remained deeply scared and seemed to have gone out of his way to ensure anonymity.

Mr Camp, based at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, said: "At the moment we are ensuring he is safe, comfortable and has everything he needs but there is little more we can do.

"When he was first found he was absolutely terrified. If someone approached him, he would hide his head in his hands and curl up in a ball in the corner.

"Every label had been removed from his clothing so we do not know where might have come from. In 20 years of working in mental health, I have never seen anything as severe."

The National Missing Persons Helpline and care workers said they had been inundated with calls following the publication of a picture of Mr X. But they said claims to have identified the young man, variously placing him in locations from Sussex to concert halls across Europe, were being treated with caution.

Ramanah Venkiah, manager of the mental health unit in Dartford where Mr X is now being cared for, said: "We have had a number of suggestions today but there have been previous identifications which came to nothing. He is a vulnerable young man and we must be careful."

The blond-haired enigma, who never goes anywhere without a sheet of manuscript music, has given no indication as to how he came to be wandering along the seafront at Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in driving rain.

Such is his terror of strangers, a picture taken of him by carers to help publicise his case had to be taken paparazzi-style from a distance.

Although soaking wet when found, he was physically uninjured and is fit and well. Initial theories that he may have been attending a funeral or playing a concert in the area have produced no leads.

Visits from interpreters in Latvian, Polish and Lithuania to see if he was Eastern European also failed to elicit a response. It is not thought he is an asylum seeker who had somehow been dropped into the sea off the Kent coast.

Reports that he had a drawn a Swedish flag were also downplayed yesterday after it emerged that he had in fact drawn a flag with a cross in pencil with no distinguishing colours.

Mr Camp said: "I believe he understands English. He gives slight nods sometimes, I think to show he understands something I've said."

Since his discovery, the young man has recovered enough to provide his own basic needs, rising each day to make himself a lunchtime snack. But he shuns television and radio, choosing instead to produce a highly-detailed pencil drawing every couple of days of a piano casting a deep shadow from its opened lid.

He has also written musical script. Staff at the West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust, which is now caring for Mr X at a mental health unit overlooking the M25 at the Dartford Crossing, say his only solace in his music.

Mr Camp said: "When I first saw him in Gillingham, he was left with a pencil and paper and when we came back he had drawn a perfect piano.

"We took him to the hospital chapel where there is a piano. The first time he played it was for four hours non-stop. He plays beautifully and he sounds professional.

"If you put him in front of a piano, his whole demeanour changes. He completely relaxes and he is oblivious to people around him."

Although his current accommodation does not have a piano, managers said they have provided an electronic keyboard for the man to play. Among the pieces that he has played are extracts from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and longer pieces that appear to be of his own composition.

The plight of Mr X has drawn parallels with David Helfgott, the Australian pianist whose mental breakdown and recovery was the subject of the 1996 film, Shine, starring Geoffrey Rush, who won an Oscar for his performance.

Those in charge of the care of the young man found in Kent are working on the basis that he has suffered amnesia or a breakdown due to a sudden trauma. But they say without an identity it is impossible to offer full treatment.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: "There have been some well known cases of musicians, such as David Helfgott, who have retained their extraordinary gifts for music through serious mental break down.

"It is not uncommon for the language of music to remain intact even when all other mental processes may be shattered by physical, emotional or mental trauma."

Anyone who recognises the young man can contact the National Missing Persons Helpline on 0500 700 700. 

- INDEPENDENT