The Butler County Coroner’s office this week received a mystery man, and it desperately is looking for his actual identity and any relative.

“I’ve never had one like this,” said Coroner William Young III.

The man died Monday at the VNA Inpatient Hospice in Butler, but he is not originally from this area.

The office identified the man as Lawrence Jones, but officials are not sure if that is his real name. He is believed to be 77 with a birth date of Jan. 1, 1938, but the office is not sure if that is the man’s real birthday.

Jones was a black man who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Little is known about the man’s past except that he spent more than 20 years at Mayview State Hospital in Allegheny County. He was discharged in 2008 when it closed.

After that, he went to a group home in Allegheny County. Following that, he was at Mercy Behavioral Health in Pittsburgh, where he eventually was sent to UPMC.

In June, he ended up at Sugarcreek Rest in Armstrong County. After a while, Jones was sent to Butler Memorial Hospital and then to the VNA, where he died.

The coroner’s office tried to run what information it had on the man through the county sheriff’s office and discovered that the man’s assumed Social Security number did not match his name.

“There’s a lot of questions there,” Young said.

Jones had an appointed power of attorney from Allegheny County Mental Health Services, but officials there did not have any more information.

The office learned many people who ended up at Mayview and did not know their names or other information often were given fake names and birthdays.

The coroner’s office regularly handles cases of indigent people who die with little information, but Young said this is likely the hardest case he ever has found.

“Nothing really matches up,” he said.

The office gets roughly a dozen indigent cases per year.

The coroner will hold Jones for 30 days. If the office cannot find any relatives, Jones will be cremated or buried at the office’s expense.

Anyone with any information that could help identify the man or his next-of-kin should contact the coroner’s office at 724-477-3137.