Caregivers persevere, track down Cowboy’s identity, siblings

After decades of not knowing his name, Willie Jean Caldwell has his identity and “It feels better. A whole lot better.”

Caldwell’s story is one of long-lost identification being recovered through the perseverance of Lisa Hyatt and Christa Reynolds. They are the heroines of the tale in which Caldwell or “Cowboy” is the main character.

Reynolds owns Recovery Ranch in western Horry County and about two years ago accepted a new resident who had no ID, no Social Security card. “… Reynolds couldn’t figure out his name. She couldn’t find a trace of his identity,” Mary Norkol of The Sun News wrote in an article published Nov. 8.

“American cowboy (Black male)” was the description on hospital records from the unidentified man’s arrival. At Recovery Ranch, where he has settled in, he wears a white hat of the type worn by traditional cowboys of movies and television.

OFFERS OF HELP

In August 2020, The Sun News reported Cowboy’s story, including Reynolds’ feeling that she had exhausted the options of confirming Cowboy’s identity. Reynolds thought his name was Jim Willie Caldwell, but could not be certain.

The article “opened up fresh leads. Self-appointed investigators reached out with information on ancestry and genealogy, and people donated money,” Norkol wrote. Still, Reynolds needed a breakthrough.

Then Hyatt, a Family Matters clinical social worker, heard about Reynolds and Recovery Ranch. Hyatt works with rescued horses and began doing therapy with residents, including Cowboy. Hyatt has experience with people recovering from trauma, and she is convinced Caldwell was traumatized from a young age.

TRACKING RECORDS

Hyatt did a remarkable job of tracking Caldwell’s life. She found Caldwell’s mother in a 1940 Census and that led to establishing Cowboy’s birth August 10, 1945, in Hammond, Louisiana. From her work experience, Hyatt knew sources for records. She checked documents in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, enlisted the help of an attorney and a private investigator.

One good lead came from a newspaper obituary; it listed a Caldwell sister who passed in a McComb, Miss. hospital. A Facebook posting lead to a church secretary who knew a brother of Caldwell. A long-shot phone call to a school resulted in a huge break.

Hyatt phoned the school on a Friday afternoon, asking if they had a record of Caldwell. “She called me back 15 minutes later. She said, `I found him.’ I said, `You’re kidding me.’ “

“Finally, relief,” Hyatt said. “I’ve had some difficult cases … but never have I had a case where somebody’s fallen through the system like this. … It tells me we’ve failed as a society when we take advantage of vulnerable people.”

CARE FOR OTHERS

Caldwell and his 10 siblings apparently dispersed following the death of their father. Willie Jean went to Florida and picked oranges for a time, losing his wallet and identification. That apparently started his becoming unidentified. Eventually he came to South Carolina and Green Sea in Horry County.

Identity is largely taken for granted – until we lose a wallet or, unfortunately, our identity is stolen. The Cowboy story serves as a reminder to protect our identification. Other takeaways are the insight the story gives to tracking important family documents such as birth certificates.

Reynolds is accepting donations to pay for a trip to Louisiana for Caldwell, which ultimately may enable him to receive benefits he’s missed for a decade.

This Thanksgiving week, we may all be thankful for what Reynolds calls “a really sweet ending to a precious story” – and especially the empathy and perseverance of Reynolds and Hyatt.

They, and all the folks who helped along the way, wonderfully demonstrated the spirit of helping one another ‑ more needed than ever in this troubled world.