Metro News Release

For immediate release: May 6, 2003

Metro Transit Police return missing man to Montgomery County family

A man discovered by Metro Transit Police wandering around the Vienna-Fairfax Metrorail station parking lot at 3 a.m. on April 28 turned out to be an individual with Down syndrome with limited speech capabilities who was missing from his Gaithersburg, MD-area home for several days and was reunited safely with his family. Lucot Jean was discovered by Metro Transit Police in the middle of the night and taken to a local Fairfax County hospital where he remained for several days while police ran his fingerprints to try to find a match. Transit Police Department’s investigators also contacted local jurisdictions and local and state agencies in an attempt to identify the man, and the hospital social worker connected with area social service agencies in an effort to help the man, who briefly became known as " John Doe." Mr. Jean was discovered in the early morning hours of April 28th. The following day, he was fingerprinted and photographed in an attempt to identify him, but no fingerprint match was identified. By April 30, Metro Transit Police designed a flyer with his photo to distribute in the region to help get out the word that police were seeking his identity. " During our investigative process, we discovered that the Montgomery County Police Department was seeking to locate a missing person who met the description of our John Doe," said MTPD Chief Polly Hanson. " At that point, it didn" t take long for his family to identify him and take him back home. We" re extremely glad that Mr. Jean was able to return safely. Our officers worked very hard to reunite him with his family, and we" re glad that we were able to resolve the case with Montgomery County Police."

News release issued on May 6, 2003.