No luck: Mysterious Amsterdam man named Lucky is not the missing Vancouver man

A photo of Lucky, an unidentified man in an Amsterdam care home on the left, beside a photo of John Russell Kenny, missing since 1993 from Vancouver. Photo by Vancouver Police /PNG

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They said they had received more than 500 tips about Lucky, including that he might be Kenny, but confirmed with Canadian authorities that it’s not the same person.

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“This lead was investigated together with the Canadian police, and it has now been definitively established that Lucky and Mr. Kenny are not the same person,” said Marijke Stor, senior spokesperson for the Amsterdam police.

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“Tipsters have also provided several more specific names of people Lucky may be. Detectives are currently investigating at least nine of these leads.”

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The case captivated the country after a video posted by the Amsterdam police went viral. They’d posted it with the hope of reigniting a cold case of a man who has been in a care home outside Amsterdam for the past three years and is unable to communicate.

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He had no ID or bank cards. The only clue was his accent, which sounded Canadian or American. He was known in the local Buddhist community that he frequented only using the name Lucky. At a nearby market, or local restaurants, he was known by several other names: Louis, Lee, Ponytail, Sonny, Chris the Canadian, and John.

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He bore a striking resemblance to Kenny, who would be 67 today, but police cautioned early on there were no definitive links beyond that.

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The search to identify the man, and the fate of Kenny, continues.

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“We are positively surprised by the number of responses and tips coming in. We continue to encourage people to share relevant information with us,” Stor said.

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“At the same time, we ask people to exercise restraint when sharing their own findings on social media or elsewhere. As this case clearly demonstrates, it is not possible to identify Lucky based on photographs alone. Sharing conclusions too quickly and on a large scale can have a significant impact on people who may be involved, and the police would like to prevent this.”

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