Mystery patient with distinctive tattoos dies just days after family finds him

Highland Hospital patient with distinctive tattoos dies after family identifies him

The man's daughter told KTVU that her father, Jose Ramos, 46, died Friday afternoon after his heart gave out.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Less than two weeks after he appeared as a mystery patient at Oakland's Highland Hospital, a man whose distinctive tattoos finally helped reunite him with his family has died.

The man's daughter, Tamika Rivera of Concord, told KTVU on Friday that her father, Jose Ramos, 46, died Friday afternoon after his heart gave out. He never woke up after arriving at the hospital on Feb. 7.

Doctors had told her that it seems Ramos had either been hit by a car or possibly beaten up, but they'll never know for sure.

One of Rivera's sister was by his side when he died.

Rivera said she was glad the family connected with him before his death.

"I don't know what I would have done if we didn't know what had happened to him," Rivera said.

Rivera said she had talked to her father two days before he showed up at the hospital but hadn't known where he was until she spotted his story on KTVU's Facebook page on Tuesday. She called the hospital and went to visit her father in the ICU at 9 p.m. that night.

Rivera had been trying to find her father to tell him that she is now pregnant with her second child and that he will be a grandfather again for the 11th time.

Her father had battled addiction his whole life and had been homeless since October. She had no idea where he was until she learned that the hospital was trying to identify him. When she saw him, he was unconscious and had tubes down his throat.

"It was a lot," she said.

In a statement earlier this week, Alameda Health System spokeswoman Eleanor Ajala confirmed that the family has come forward to identify the patient, though she did not specify the patient's name citing privacy laws.

But she added that the hospital was grateful to the public and the "power of social media... to solve this case. We are grateful for the strong ties that bind our community and have reunited the family."

Rivera wants to remember the good about her father. A man who used to work in food production, had a loving family and was a great grandfather. He taught his grandkids to ride bikes and he used to cook for them.

"He did everything for them," she said.