Oakland police investigate death of mystery patient with distinctive tattoos
Jose Ramos and his daughter Tamika Rivera.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland police are investigating the death of a man with distinctive tattoos who showed up at Highland Hospital earlier this year with unexplained trauma.
On Tuesday, police said they want to find out how Jose Eduardo Colon Ramos died on Feb. 18. He had been found unconscious on Feb. 7 about 10 p.m. at the intersection of 23rd Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland.
Police said Ramos’ injuries and loss of consciousness remain unclear.
In the months preceding his death, Ramos moved between various West Oakland shelters.
When he showed up at Highland Hospital, the doctors and nurses there did not know who he was, and they put out an urgent plea to identify him, which was first reported by KTVU.
His daughter, Tamika Rivera of Concord, saw KTVU's Facebook post about the unidentified man and came forward to say that was her father. She hadn't seen him in a while and was relieved to know where he was.
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He ended up dying with one of his other daughter's at his side.
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.
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.
Anyone with information is asked to contact OPD’s Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821, or the TIP LINE at (510) 238-7950.
Unidentified patient at Highland Hospital with distinctive tattoos.
