While reading the Arthur Paul Beal thread, another related came to mind. Does anyone remember the segment about the unidentified man in a hospital, who was in a deep coma? It wasn't that long of a segment, as I recall. They did present an update, with a voice-over showing the shot of the man in a hospital bed. The update stated that he had been identified, but that his family had requested that UM not reveal his identity. They never said why the request was made. I wonder if this man was in danger if he were to be identified by name, or if he was involved in a crime. Any thoughts?

I have this segment recorded off of NBC. I can't add much just that I agree with you and was always curious why they didn't want his name revealed. It does make you wonder if his family feared for his safety although UM had already shown a photo of him when they aired the Special Alert. Maybe his family didn't want the attention. I did think it was sweet that although he was in a light coma (I think) his vitals jumped when his family came into the room and he heard their voice.

Privacy. The family didn't want the entire world to know that he was "Don Smith from Lincoln, Nebraska".

Not that anyone would persue finding out about him, but if the same thing happened to YOUR family, would you want the whole country to know?