Medical professionals in San Diego County are hopeful, yet cautious, about a new glimmer of hope in a case involving an anonymous patient who has been on life support for more than 15 years.
He’s known as “Garage 66” because “garage” and “66” are both details in a high-speed crash that landed the young man first at UCSD Medical Center and then at Villa Coronado Skilled Nursing Facility.
“I’m sure there is a mother or a father, or brother or sister, who are wondering whatever happened to him,” said Ed Kirkpatrick, the Director of Long-term Care at Villa Coronado.
Care for Garage, about $700 a day, is paid for by Medi-Cal, a state program for the sick and poor.
Kirkpatrick said his team is very compassionate with Garage.
“We have a birthday that we use. He has a birthday party every year,” he told NBC 7.
No one knows for sure, but Garage is believed to be from south of the US-Mexico border. Human rights advocacy group Border Angels has teamed up with the medical staff at Villa Coronado to help identify this mystery man.
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Enrique Morones is the founder of Border Angels. Together, they’ve formed a team. The team also includes representatives from the Border Patrol Union, Senator Ben Hueso’s office, Congressman’s Juan Vargas’ office, the University of San Diego and the Mexican Consulate.
“There are a lot of people who cross borders around the world, and people don’t know what happened to them,” he said.
Friday, Morones told NBC 7 about a new hope in the case.
He said Border Patrol officials have found a possible connection.
“There was some sort of traffic violation [from 15 years ago] where we think this man, Garage 66, was that man,” he said. “There’s a DNA process that’s taking place right now.”
“The only method [of proof] we are accepting right now is DNA analysis, so the family closest like the mother or father would supply a sample and that would go to a lab in Virginia,” Kirkpatrick explained.
Kirkpatrick said, in the last 15 years, there have been 30 to 40 leads in this mysterious case. None of them have been validated.
“It’s easy to jump the gun on this,” he said.
If you think you have information on the real identity of Garage 66, you are urged not to go to the hospital. Rather, reach out to Border Angels at (619) 269-7865.
