Mar. 22, 1963 - A missing persons report was filed with the police today on singer Johnny Mathis, 27, who reportedly hasn’t been seen since shortly after he was knocked out in a one-punch fight in Las Vegas. Mrs. Helen Noga, the singer’s manager, expressed fear that Mathis may have suffered a head injury or might be an amnesia case. Charles Walsh, 29, a card dealer at the Riviera Hotel, told newsmen he knocked out Mathis in the hotel lobby after the singer allegedly used abusive language to Mr. Walsh’s wife, Helen, a cocktail waitress. Walsh said he invited Mathis outside, but Mathis stalled. “He continued to use filthy language and became very belligerent,” said Walsh. “Then he pushed me. I hit him and knocked him out in the lobby.” A hotel spokesman said Mathis was unconscious about three minutes. He later canceled his scheduled shows and checked out of the hotel. Mrs. Noga said Mathis was last seen arriving aboard an airplane in Los Angeles Thursday morning. She said private detectives have been hired to help find him.
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