The bizarre story of one young boy’s 100-mile journey from home became a record-breaking moment back in the 1980s – because he was fast asleep at the time.
On 6 April 1987, a boy named Michael Dixon (b. 1976) was found wandering barefoot along a railway track in Peru, Indiana, USA, dressed only in his pyjamas.
He’s said to have sleepwalked out of his bed in Danville, Illinois and made the 160 km (100 mi) journey after boarding a freight train, completely unaware of what he was doing.
The story got a lot of attention, and even made it into Guinness World Records 1989 on a page titled Physiology.
His story appeared alongside tales of the longest sneezing fit, a 15-year-old girl who yawned continuously for five weeks, and the story of a man who had the hiccups for 68 years.
And while this sleepwalking record isn’t something we monitor today – as our records team point out, there is no way to verify whether a person is actually in a state of sleep – it’s one that fascinated the world at the time.
A story appeared in newspaper The Ball State Daily News on 29 April 1987 under the headline “Sleepwalking Illinois youth takes 100-mile train journey”.
The article stated that young Michael’s mother said he was prone to sleepwalking and that he remembered nothing of his very long journey.
Police Chief Bill Page was quoted saying: “Supposedly, he hopped a freight and wound up here in Peru. He woke up, got off and thought he was still in Danville.”
His mother, Dorothea Dixon, told the publication: “He was having a nightmare and he went sleepwalking. He sleepwalks, but he has never gone outside before.”
Michael had last been seen at 10 p.m. the previous evening, and as far as his mother knew, he was still tucked up in bed when she received a phone call from police in Peru in the early hours of the morning to say they’d found her son.
Dorothea declared she was taking her son to see a doctor, as before then, she had never been concerned that her son’s sleepwalking could be dangerous.
Michael had been spotted by a railway crew member whose train was pulling out of Peru.
Police were notified and Michael was found just east of the city at around 2:45 a.m.
Michael told the patrolman his address, but the officer didn’t recognize it. It was only when questioning him further that they realized his address was in Danville - 100 miles away.
A caseworker from the Miami County Welfare Department interviewed Michael, who told her he didn’t remember getting on or off the train. He said all he remembered of the night before was feeling dizzy before going to bed, and then dreaming about being chased and running into a closet.
And as his home in Danville was near railroad tracks, Michael believed he was still in his own town when he finally came to.
Michael was barefoot so his feet were dirty and covered in cuts which were tended to by a nurse, but he was otherwise unharmed.
But it was pointed out that Michael was lucky his journey happened in April rather than the winter months when he could have “frozen to death”.
People working at the courthouse where Michael was taken gave him some clothes and kept him company while he waited for his mother to come and take him home.
The caseworker, Pamela Smith, said she had never seen a case like this before where the person did not remember anything about how they got from point A to point B, but that there was no evidence to suggest Michael wasn’t being well looked after at home.
Craig Glenday, Editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, said: "Over the years, we've recorded extremes for sleeplessness, snoring, dreaming, yawning, sleepwalking and even comas. Records relating to sleep are fascinating because sleeping is something we all do... well, apart from those unfortunate enough to suffer from the very rare condition of fatal insomnia. Who knows? You might go to bed tonight and wake up in the morning as a record-breaker!"
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