Cycle Auction Clues Family to Man in Coma

The family of a man injured in a motorcycle accident that left him comatose spent a week searching for him, and only located him when a sheriff’s office advised them that it planned to auction his motorcycle, relatives said today.

Larry Starlin, 44, of Ethridge, Tenn., was listed in fair condition and in a coma at Humana Hospital-University here.

He was injured Oct. 4 south of Louisville as he was driving from Indianapolis to his home.

Starlin had 13 identification cards with him, including a card with his wife’s and sister’s phone numbers, but no one called the family, relatives said.

“We were having nightmares,” said his sister, Paula Norris, of Indianapolis. “I was afraid he’d run off the road.”

Hospital spokeswoman Denise Damron said the hospital will investigate.

Starlin was in Indianapolis learning to drive an auto-hauling truck when he decided to take a few days off and visit his wife, Gedda, and his four children.

When he did not arrive, Gedda Starlin called relatives and authorities in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, but without success.

Then the Starlins received a letter from Jefferson County police here saying the motorcycle had been towed from the accident scene and would be auctioned off if it was not claimed.

“You are being notified of the above by this department purely as a public service,” the letter said.

The family arrived in Louisville Sunday night.

Hospital officials said “ ‘We’re glad we finally found you,’ ” Norris said. “We said ‘You didn’t find us. We found Larry.’ ”