He looks just like me. He has my taste in women. And he lives in Chicago. He must be found.

March 7, 2011 11:00 AM

How would I find my Chicago doppleganger?

Back in 2001 I was working in Chicago in politics and dating a lovely girl named Dorothy. I was working late on the campaign and she was at some bar downtown. When we met back at home she was shell shocked. Someone had come up to her and hit on her. Someone who looked exactly like me. And who was about two inches taller. When he introduced himself he said his name was Ray - which is my middle name - and she thought it was me doing some sort of seduction bit. It took her about 15 minutes to figure out we weren't the same guy. I asked her if she got any more info about him. She said he worked in advertising (I currently work in TV production in LA) and after that it was all a blur. She said he looked so much like me she wasn't sure if she was having a stroke. So unfortunately she didn't get much info past that.

Fast forward six years. I rekindle a friendship with an ex-girlfriend of mine from college. She lives in Chicago. One day she calls me and says this guy at the gym came up to her and hit on her. And he looked EXACTLY like me. It wasn't her normal gym. And she was wearing headphones so she lost out on some of the details. He left not long after. I told her to get details the next time she saw him but she told me it wasn't her normal gym and she doesn't usually go there.

I told this story the other night and people told me I must find him. For one thing, there's a lot I don't know about my dad and - though this is entirely improbable - maybe there's some sort of connection.

So my question is A) why does my double hit on the same women as me? and B) How do I find this guy with just a first name, his gym and a rough idea of his job ten years ago in the city of Chicago?

posted by rileyray3000 to grab bag (19 answers total)

This sounds like a job for a private investigator.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:11 AM on March 7, 2011

Be careful what you wish for or look for, you may find it.

Your double hits on the same women as you because it sounds like to me that he uses the numbers theory and hits on a lot of women. To find the guy, ask old gf what time of day she was at gym and day of week and wait outside to see if he was a creature of habit.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:12 AM on March 7, 2011

Be careful, one of you has to be evil.

I would ask your ex to go back to the gym, most people work out at a given time and day. Ask her to give him your card.
posted by Felex at 11:19 AM on March 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

I would print up a sign with your picture on it, with a headline that says "Have you seen me? Or someone who looks like me?" Add some more info and cut little tags at the bottom with your contact info. Include a smaller picture on the tags so friends of Evil rileyray3000 can bring it to his attention. Most people, when told by friends they look like someone else, will disagree.

Get someone to post the fliers around the area of the gym.
posted by bondcliff at 11:28 AM on March 7, 2011

Your best bet might be to go hang out in Chicago for a few weeks, just walking around places in the vicinity of the gym in question and hope someone yells out "Billy Ray! Oh, sorry, I thought you were my friend Billy Ray."

I also wonder if you could throw a picture of yourself into one of those image recognition searchy things and see if you turn up a flickr profile or something?
posted by doublehappy at 11:52 AM on March 7, 2011

Misread the question - "Ray Billy!"*
posted by doublehappy at 11:53 AM on March 7, 2011

Get the name of the gym and send them a picture of yourself. Tell them that you're looking for the man because you think he may be a long lost relative and ask them to give him your photo and contact information.
posted by mareli at 11:53 AM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I would print up a sign with your picture on it, with a headline that says "Have you seen me? Or someone who looks like me?" Add some more info and cut little tags at the bottom with your contact info. Include a smaller picture on the tags so friends of Evil rileyray3000 can bring it to his attention. Most people, when told by friends they look like someone else, will disagree. Get someone to post the fliers around the area of the gym.

If I went to my gym and saw fliers like this with a picture of someone who looked like me - or if I heard about such fliers from a friend - I would find it super creepy and there is no way in hell I would have any contact with the person responsible for the fliers. Maybe your evil twin is not like me, though.
posted by medusa at 11:58 AM on March 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

I would say you would be kind of out of luck through official channels (privacy laws would likely prevent anyone at the gym from telling you anything) and as medusa suggests, just postering the area would be creepy. If you're really curious, try having friends in Chicago show your picture around... maybe you will luck out with a six-degrees connection and he will turn out to be known to a friend of a friend.

I told this story the other night and people told me I must find him. For one thing, there's a lot I don't know about my dad and - though this is entirely improbable - maybe there's some sort of connection.

There could be other family connections as well. When I lived in Toronto fifteen years ago, I heard from several people variations on "I saw this guy on the subway yesterday who looked just like you, except he had dark hair" (I have sandy blond hair). At least half a dozen people told me this over the years, but I never saw an angle of investigation.

Many years later, I learrned that my aunt had had a son when she was a teenager and given him up for adoption. He is now in touch with his birth family (i.e. my family) again -- he grew up in Toronto, and he does indeed look a lot like me with dark hair.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:03 PM on March 7, 2011

If I were you, I'd get on Facebook, go to the gym's page, and check the list of people who like it. Maybe you'll find a guy named Ray with your last name -- perfect way to start a FB conversation if you're the family-tree-mapping type. Maybe you'll find a guy named Ray with a different last name -- a good place to start if you decide to go the serious way and hire a PI.
posted by motsque at 12:34 PM on March 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Super spooky. And I know where you are coming from.

Random approach: post a profile on a site like okcupid or whatevs. This might not work if you are in a relationship, or don't want to meet new people, but it would be interesting if you where there for the perusal of thousands of other strangers.

If anyone messages you with "Skippy? I didn't know you were on here, too! omg, text me so we can get drinks sometime," you might have the chance to meet one of your doppelganger's offline bffs.

I have heard of such things happening...
posted by vivid postcard at 12:50 PM on March 7, 2011

And by Skippy, I meant Ray...
posted by vivid postcard at 12:51 PM on March 7, 2011

Post to Chicago craigslist
posted by bravowhiskey at 1:14 PM on March 7, 2011

Guys, the ex-girlfriend went to the gym in 2007; it is unlikely the EvilTwin still goes there. Not impossible; and it is a good idea to see who likes the gym on facebook, or to plea to this on craigslist, but certainly unlikely.

I think you should show the mefites your picture. After all, a bunch of us live in Chicago, and perhaps we can help. There are only eight million people (ish) in Chicago, and six degrees and all that.
posted by jenlovesponies at 1:24 PM on March 7, 2011

Having a doppelganger isn't that out of the ordinary, especially in a big city. I've heard friends mention them before. And I'm not sure he has your taste in women - he sounds like a player who's hit on just about every cute girl in the city by now. It's fun to think about, but is this really bizarre enough to track the guy down?
posted by naju at 1:37 PM on March 7, 2011

Search for 'Ray's in the LA area that work in film production on LinkedIn. Cross-check potentials' pictures with Facebook open in a separate tab. I've searched for people with similarly sketchy details multiple times and would eventually find them.
posted by lovelygirl at 2:02 PM on March 7, 2011

*advertising industry on LinkedIn

(It may be tedious but it works, I promise!)
posted by lovelygirl at 2:10 PM on March 7, 2011

*in the Chicago area

Aaah!!! I hate typos!
posted by lovelygirl at 2:14 PM on March 7, 2011

If you find him, please come back and tell us what happened!
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:18 PM on March 8, 2011