Robert Lee Rayford (February 3, 1953 – May 15 1969), sometimes identified as Robert R. due to his age, was an American teenager from Missouri who has been suggested to represent the earliest confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America based on evidence published in 1988 in which the authors claimed that medical evidence indicated that he was "infected with a virus closely related or identical to human immunodeficiency virus type 1." Rayford died of pneumonia, but his other symptoms baffled the doctors who treated him. A study published in 1988 reported the detection of antibodies against HIV. Results of testing for HIV genetic material were reported once at a scientific conference in Australia in 1999; however, the data has never been published in a peer-reviewed medical or scientific journal. Background Robert Rayford was born on February 3, 1953, in St. Louis, Missouri to Constance Rayford (September 12, 1931 – April 3, 2011) and Joseph Benny Bell (March 24, 1924 – March 17, 1960). He had an older brother named George L. (November 20, 1951 – December 24, 2007). As a single parent, Constance had to raise both children by herself. The Rayfords lived in the Old North neighborhood of St. Louis, where the 19th-century brick homes provided affordable housing for several working class African-American families such as their own. Not much of Rayford's personal life was disclosed, other than he would be referred to as "Bobbie" and that he was described as being "painfully shy, mentally slow, maybe even intellectually disabled." Illness In early 1968, Rayford, then 15 years old, admitted himself to the City Hospital in St. Louis. His legs and genitals were covered in warts and sores. He also had severe swelling of the testicles and pelvic region, which later spread to his legs, causing a misdiagnosis of lymphedema. He had grown thin and pale and suffered from shortness of breath. Rayford told the doctors that he had experienced these symptoms since at least late 1966. Tests discovered a severe chlamydia infection which had, unusually, spread throughout his body. Rayford declined a rectal examination request from hospital personnel, and was described as uncommunicative and withdrawn. Dr. Memory Elvin-Lewis, who was assigned to his case, would recall of his shy and somewhat hesitant personality: "He was the typical 15-year-old who is not going to talk to adults, especially when I'm white and he's black. He was not a