VA - Grateful Dead Fan - Unidentified male, 26 June 1995 - #1

[grievousangel]

Are there any other photograhs of the young man? Even a retouched morgue photo might be helpful...often when I look at some of the artist's rendition of a photo it always seems so different than the actual photograph. I realize some photos may not be acceptable to view, but many are and have been posted on publically accessed sites.

Quite by accident one summer we were travelling in the midwest and kept running into caravans of Deadheads who were following the band on it's concert schedule....not sure of the date exactly but I believe it was in 1995...there were hundreds of such kids...we would see them at rest stops and restaurants along the way...they all seemed very transient and I wondered just how they got involved in that lifestyle.

 

[marylandmissing]

On his way south, the driver stopped briefly at his father's Northern Virginia home, and was seen there with the hitchhiker. Not finding his father at home, the driver left a note stating that he was continuing south to his Mother's home in Inman, SC.

Nobody in the driver's family knew the hitchhiker, although they were very helpful in the investigation into his identity and hope for a resolution in the case.

Thanks Richard. I couldn't remember how I had heard that the driver was seen with Jason at one point, but with that I recall what a childfind worker told me...She said the mother of the driver contacts them pretty regularly to see if they have found anything new on the unidentified...

Spoke w/ a ME once who told me that shortly after this death, they received a call they believe may have been the family of this boy.

 

[*~Kashmir~*]

You have a lot of info on this case Richard!! WOW! How did you obtain all those details? I've been serching and searching....:sigh: The reason I thought J Doe may have hooked up with the driver at the show is because I emailed the person who is maintaining the myspace page. I asked if there was any clue if the driver was attending the show or just randomly picked the boy up. The response I received was that friend of the driver said he had gone to the show.
Is it possible that J Doe was not from Virginia? I mean the crash happened just west of Emporia and it was so close to the NC border. In looking for towns in neighboring states, we found Chapel Hill, NC and Bristol, Tn.

I would be very interested in talking to you further about this case, Richard, if you would be so kind. Perhaps through email? Doc and I had heard the detail of the driver stopping at his father's and leaving a note, but we couldn't remember where.

Peace

 

[reb]

<Spoke w/ a ME once who told me that shortly after this death, they received a call they believe may have been the family of this boy.>

so, what did they say? were they able to confirm anything from this?

 

[marylandmissing]

<Spoke w/ a ME once who told me that shortly after this death, they received a call they believe may have been the family of this boy.>

so, what did they say? were they able to confirm anything from this?

When this first happened, some physical characteristics weren't released to the public, as there was no need to initially. After the first media release occurred, they received a call from someone inquiring if the young man had these characteristics...

 

[grievousangel]

Have the Grateful Dead themselves been contacted about this young man's death? My thought is that the fans of the band may not be in tune to watching TV news, reading mainstream newpapers etc....so anyone who may have had contact with him quite possibly doesn't even know of his death and status as an unidentified person. If the GD have a website/blog etc. where the fans regularly check ...it might be a long shot but someone might recognize the John Doe if his picture and story were posted on a GD website. Just a thought.

 

[mjak]

When this first happened, some physical characteristics weren't released to the public, as there was no need to initially. After the first media release occurred, they received a call from someone inquiring if the young man had these characteristics...

IF this is correct and your statement that the family of this young man does know where he is and as chosen not to claim him then I think maybe its time
society does for him what he deserves. Prehaps its time funds me raised to give him a proper burial. I suppose ( as awful as this is) a family can choose to abandon their love one in death but that does not mean the rest of society has to . Maybe its time we calim him back as a fellow human being.

mjak

 

[marylandmissing]

Have the Grateful Dead themselves been contacted about this young man's death? My thought is that the fans of the band may not be in tune to watching TV news, reading mainstream newpapers etc....so anyone who may have had contact with him quite possibly doesn't even know of his death and status as an unidentified person. If the GD have a website/blog etc. where the fans regularly check ...it might be a long shot but someone might recognize the John Doe if his picture and story were posted on a GD website. Just a thought.

Just because John Doe went to a concert, doesn't mean he was following the Dead...The case has been posted on countless Grateful Dead sites...

 

[marylandmissing]

IF this is correct and your statement that the family of this young man does know where he is and as chosen not to claim him then I think maybe its time
society does for him what he deserves. Prehaps its time funds me raised to give him a proper burial. I suppose ( as awful as this is) a family can choose to abandon their love one in death but that does not mean the rest of society has to . Maybe its time we calim him back as a fellow human being.

mjak

He's either buried already, or has been cremated. Forget what the disposal method was on this one.

 

[Richard]

He's either buried already, or has been cremated. Forget what the disposal method was on this one.

In late 1996 or early 1997, this young man's body was being held in a frozen state at the State Medical Examiner's Office in Richmond, Virginia.

At that time, an attempt to match the body to a missing man was made, and for that examination, the body was thawed and many tests were run, x-rays were taken, more photos made, and DNA extracted. Although many physical similarities existed between the two, a positive match was ruled out.

I do not know the present disposition of the body, but the ME Office in Richmond, VA would.

 

[*~Kashmir~*]

I read somewhere that the body has been cremated.
There was talk on GratefulDeadnet of Heads trying to do something to 'adopt' him or something, just to get him a proper burial. Regardless if he was a die-hard deadhead or or, his story has sparked a lot of empathy in the deadhead community. Many of us have been in situation where a ride was hitched, going to shows without ID, etc.... The general feeling is "If it happened to me, I'd want to be ID'd so my loved ones knew...."

 

[grievousangel]

I love the GD but never became a ''follower'' ...glad to hear this case was well publicised amongst the fan base...still hard to fathom someone somewhere hasn't come forward ...it could still happen, never give up hope.

 

[christine2448]

I wish there were 'real' pictures to look at. Someone asked about this earlier, Richard, do you know of any actual photo's we could view?

I am getting ready to put this fellow up on my MySpace, I have his page as a friend, but I'm going to put his picture on my profile (which has rotating pictures of uid's), add him to the slide show and do a post about him on my blog.

Some one some where knows something!


http://www.myspace.com/do_u_recognize_me

 

[*~Kashmir~*]

I don't know if there were pictures but the reports I read state that he was in pretty bad shape after the accident. Apparrently he went through the windshield and hit a pine tree :~(

 

[*~Kashmir~*]

bump.......

 

[Mr. E]

Has anybody thought of Dustin Mansell? He was abducted at age 5, but there is a picture of him at age 12 (1990). He would have been about the same age as this John Doe. He had natural red hair. He might have gone by the name "Jason." As an abducted child (parental abduction), maybe that would explain why nobody has come forward to claim the remains.

Only problem: Dustin had blue eyes, while the John Doe had brown eyes.

Here's his link:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/183dmca.html

 

[christine2448]

Has anybody thought of Dustin Mansell? He was abducted at age 5, but there is a picture of him at age 12 (1990). He would have been about the same age as this John Doe. He had natural red hair. He might have gone by the name "Jason." As an abducted child (parental abduction), maybe that would explain why nobody has come forward to claim the remains.

Only problem: Dustin had blue eyes, while the John Doe had brown eyes.

Here's his link:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/183dmca.html

Wow. the younger picture does have some resemblance.

NOTE...I am working on more than one case where the Doe network has had incorrect info.....one inparticular DOE said there were dentals available, and there were NOT. They may have the eye color wrong...look at the pic of the boy, the 1st pic, the eyes DO NOT LOOK BLUE to me.....just a thought...maybe this needs to be looked into???

 

[LisainWV]

Has anybody thought of Dustin Mansell? He was abducted at age 5, but there is a picture of him at age 12 (1990). He would have been about the same age as this John Doe. He had natural red hair. He might have gone by the name "Jason." As an abducted child (parental abduction), maybe that would explain why nobody has come forward to claim the remains.

Only problem: Dustin had blue eyes, while the John Doe had brown eyes.

Here's his link:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/183dmca.html

Mr. E, this does seem possible. anyone made contact with anyone to check it out?

 

[kygal]

That last one could be -- I could see it. I am new here, but I have tried to keep up with things. However, I have to think that this was NOT a follower of the Grateful Dead. I am about the same age as he would be (15 in 1995), and that music was not all that popular with too many kids -- at least not enough to follow too much. Probably one concert, but not to follow. The style kinda reminds me of the "grunge" style that was popular at the time. The shoes, shirt and other things were all a part of the look. If he was only in the 16 to 18 year age range, the tatoo would have either had to have been homemade or done by someone without a lisence (sp?) because it is illegal to give a tattoo without a parent's permission. I know several people who went to the concert from this area -- but we live over 6 hours away.

Also, I would like to know if anyone knows if the note was written by one or two people. My reason for this is that "See you around" was used as a kind of blow-off, or an indication that you did not intend to see the person again for some time. Perhaps one of the girls meant it as a blowoff, but the other might have wanted him to call her. Maybe this has not come to their attention, especially if they were also not followers of the band and only went to one concert. They could have went in a completely opposite direction and never though another thing about a young man they met at the concert. Maybe they DID know him and perhaps he was going south from a northern area, while they were heading back north. Thus, they may not think about him being gone for a very long time.

This is just a theory, I'm not sure if it leads anywhere.

 

[christine2448]

anyone made contact with anyone to check it out?

I just emailed Trying2ID, the person who initially brought this case here to see if this has ever been looked into...if I don't get a response I will contact LE on both cases to give the tip (unless one of you all have already done it?), crediting Mr E and you all here of course!