Caroline's phone number

to add to that, I've always wondered if they left without him, and he had no stuff, how did he get the note? Maybe they left the note with someone that they both were acquainted with. Maybe he borrowed the pants he was wearing and the note was to someone else, or maybe he was given the note to give to someone else, and never ended up giving it to that person.
 
I'm struggling with the theory that the Carolines gave a fake number. Although that's something I've done in my youth, the way the letter is written and the information it contains doesn't seem like that's what it is. If a guy asked for my number and I wanted to give him a fake one, I would have written down a fake number - not a note saying "call me." I agree what with others have said - this note was written and left for Jason. Whether he was asleep and the girls had to take off, or whether they were supposed to rendezvous and they left before he made it I'm not sure. Either scenario fits, but it does seem like the girls (or at least one of them) wanted Jason to contact them at some point.

I agree with this post. If I wanted to get rid of a guy I wasn't interested in, I would have just written down a fake number. I wouldn't have written "call me!" and bothered to draw a smiley face at the end of the note. It would be very unfortunate if LE didn't research the phone number angle thoroughly because they assumed it was fake. I think this young man could have been identified if every phone number with an area code and a 914 prefix had been called immediately after the car accident.
 
In one of the other threads here, someone was in direct contact with the Carolines via email many years ago. Will search for a link to post for you to the nature of the interaction.

did you ever find anything regarding this?
 
Originally Posted by runr
In one of the other threads here, someone was in direct contact with the Carolines via email many years ago. Will search for a link to post for you to the nature of the interaction.
did you ever find anything regarding this?
bumping
 
There is a Caroline Thomas in Floyd County Virginia. Is she the same woman that was contacted before as the "Wharf Rat"? if not this should be looked into because Floyd County has a lot of deadheads living there. I know a lot of people that live there and I saw this "Caroline Thomas" on a friend of mines friend list. She seems to have lived in North Carolina before but that's just a guess . Looks like all her friends live on the East Coast.

edit: Seems the other Caroline Thomas "wharf rat" lives in Arizona unless she moved to Virginia. Hope I found a lead.
 
Originally Posted by runr
In one of the other threads here, someone was in direct contact with the Carolines via email many years ago. Will search for a link to post for you to the nature of the interaction.

bumping

from what i've read, that's not true. le tried many permutations of that number and none turned up with anything. without an area code it makes it even harder to pinpoint where to look.
 
I wonder if it was a pager number, not an actual landline....
 
There is a Caroline Thomas in Floyd County Virginia. Is she the same woman that was contacted before as the "Wharf Rat"? if not this should be looked into because Floyd County has a lot of deadheads living there. I know a lot of people that live there and I saw this "Caroline Thomas" on a friend of mines friend list. She seems to have lived in North Carolina before but that's just a guess . Looks like all her friends live on the East Coast.

edit: Seems the other Caroline Thomas "wharf rat" lives in Arizona unless she moved to Virginia. Hope I found a lead.

Do you know what high school Caroline Thomas of Floyd County went to?
 
I have seen Jason Kennedy from Havelock mentioned more than once as a possible match. If Caroline Thomas used to live in North Carolina, would they not have lived in the same area and not need an area code? This might seem a strange question, but I'm not from USA and not sure about the area code issue.
 
Maybe he met the Caroline's at another time (not at the concert) and was on his way to visit them so had the number in his pocket. They could have lived in another part of the country that he was hitch hiking to.
 
Maybe he met the Caroline's at another time (not at the concert) and was on his way to visit them so had the number in his pocket. They could have lived in another part of the country that he was hitch hiking to.

Yes, thats a good idea.
 
There is a Caroline Thomas in Floyd County Virginia. Is she the same woman that was contacted before as the "Wharf Rat"? if not this should be looked into because Floyd County has a lot of deadheads living there. I know a lot of people that live there and I saw this "Caroline Thomas" on a friend of mines friend list. She seems to have lived in North Carolina before but that's just a guess . Looks like all her friends live on the East Coast.

edit: Seems the other Caroline Thomas "wharf rat" lives in Arizona unless she moved to Virginia. Hope I found a lead.

Have you been able to follow this up?
 
I've been lurking at this case for awhile and here are just some of my observations and theories as a person who has been around college/university environments for many years:

1) In many college towns, a few prefixes are known throughout the community as a "university number." For instance, in my town, almost everyone associates the 475- prefix to the University.

2) In the case of the 914- prefix on the note, I think that it is likely one of the "university numbers" which serve the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. A University departmental staff manual from the 1998-1999 school year shows that 914-, 962-, and 966- prefixes belong to UNC (Source).

3) The Carolines' 914- number is likely a UNC campus landline, and I think both they and Jason, are students. The University contracted BellSouth Telecom for its three "University numbers" (Source).

4) An area code was not listed on the note because it was not needed if one dialed on campus. From the departmental staff manual: "For local, off-campus calls, dial 9 and then the number. For on-campus calls (914, 962 or 966 prefix) dial the last five digits only. The staff phone will not complete long-distance calls. If you need to make a long-distance phone call for business reasons, please see Linda Horne." The university where I work at has a similar dial procedure--last four digits only for a "university number", 9+number for a local call, and approval from a department head for long-distance (you can't dial long-distance from the dorms without using a phone card).

5) Most colleges/university housing departments run a bare-bones operation during the summertime, requiring all students who live on-campus and are taking summer classes to be "consolidated" into one residence hall for economic reasons. Students also have the option of choosing roommates and going back to the same room that they had the prior semester--many schools allow this practice so students can save on storage costs (otherwise they'd have to pack up and take their possessions home or put everything into a Public Storage). This is significant taking into consideration the time of Jason's demise.

So here's my theory:
On June 24 or 25, 1995, Jason met Caroline O. and T., who were dorm roomies, at one of the Grateful Dead shows, where they talked, realized that they all attend UNC-Chapel Hill, and had a super-happy-fun-time together. Since it was the summertime, they had no classes, but the Carolines needed to get back home to family/other summer activity. One of the Carolines gave Jason her dorm number--a known "university number", so they can meet up the following fall semester simply by him dialing the last 5 digits from his residence hall telephone. Unfortunately when fall came, Jason had met his fate, and the two Carolines assumed he dropped out--which many students do after the spring semester--and carried on.

Meanwhile, after the accident which took Jason's life, investigators found the note and could not reach the Carolines because 1) they were not familiar with the Chapel Hill "university number" and could not call it without an area code or 2) they were able to dial the number but being the summertime, the Carolines were not in their dormitory, so the call went unanswered.
 
i agree with everything you said up to the point of jason being a unc student. imo there's no way a college student would die and the university/students wouldn't realize what happened. even if the university assumed he dropped out (they wouldn't) he'd have dormmates, friends, classmates, etc who would be looking for him. i am very familiar with unc during that time period and there's just no way a student would die or go missing without raising a lot of questions.

imo the reason jason doe's identity hasn't been determined is precisely because he is someone who fell through the societal cracks - someone who was likely a drifter, without close family connections, someone who doesn't have close work or school connections, and someone who could disappear without friends becoming alarmed. in that crowd (gd fans as a generalization) there is an inherent acceptance of exactly this type of person - the lone wolf drifter who lives on a whim.

that said, i think your theory about the carolines is definitely worth investigating further and i for one appreciate that you were able to find old documentation to back up your theory. i think that's rad.
 
i agree with everything you said up to the point of jason being a unc student. imo there's no way a college student would die and the university/students wouldn't realize what happened. even if the university assumed he dropped out (they wouldn't) he'd have dormmates, friends, classmates, etc who would be looking for him. i am very familiar with unc during that time period and there's just no way a student would die or go missing without raising a lot of questions.

If Jason is not a student, I think he is at least a "townie" in the Chapel Hill area, since there is no area code on the note.

that said, i think your theory about the carolines is definitely worth investigating further and i for one appreciate that you were able to find old documentation to back up your theory. i think that's rad.

Assuming the 914- number is actually a "university number" for the UNC campus, and that the Carolines were students, we may be able to track them down. The UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries have copies of their school yearbook, Yackety Yack, but unfortunately they are not available for interlibrary loan.

Since many students do not take a yearbook photo, I think a better resource is the Campus Directory for the 1994-1995 school year. One can go down the list of every student named Caroline whose last name begins with "T." and "O." (assuming they do represent a surname and the student did not request to have their number unlisted). Again, in-campus use only.

Finally, if Carolines T. and O. are found in the above sources, one can find the latest contact information, as well as any married surname, from the UNC Alumni Directory. The most recent edition appears to be from 2007. Once again, in-campus use only and not available for checkout or interlibrary loan.

Since all these sources are "in-campus use only", anyone living in the Chapel Hill-area interested in going to the library?
 
Of course, Jason could have lied while flirting with the Carolines and told them he went there...or maybe he had gone there and dropped out prior. That way his disappearance would not have raised any eybrows with UNC BUT he would have known about the phone number.
 
carrboro is a small town that butts up to the west side of chapel hill. it's very (like extremely) bohemian/hippy and one of the first places i'd look if we're working through the theory that he's a local to the 914 prefix.
 
My theory is that "Jason" is someone other than Jason Doe. The "Jason" whom the Carolines wrote the note to probably made contact with them after the show, which explains why no one came forward.
 
If Jason is not a student, I think he is at least a "townie" in the Chapel Hill area, since there is no area code on the note.



Assuming the 914- number is actually a "university number" for the UNC campus, and that the Carolines were students, we may be able to track them down. The UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries have copies of their school yearbook, Yackety Yack, but unfortunately they are not available for interlibrary loan.

Since many students do not take a yearbook photo, I think a better resource is the Campus Directory for the 1994-1995 school year. One can go down the list of every student named Caroline whose last name begins with "T." and "O." (assuming they do represent a surname and the student did not request to have their number unlisted). Again, in-campus use only.

Finally, if Carolines T. and O. are found in the above sources, one can find the latest contact information, as well as any married surname, from the UNC Alumni Directory. The most recent edition appears to be from 2007. Once again, in-campus use only and not available for checkout or interlibrary loan.

Since all these sources are "in-campus use only", anyone living in the Chapel Hill-area interested in going to the library?

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have access to UNC libraries and can go look things up in person :) I have never done anything like this before though so I need someone to let me know exactly what I should do then I can photocopy/scan as needed any pertinent information!
 
The Caroline note is an interesting tip in determining this young man's identity.

My theories:

1.) Carolines were friends, possibly roommates at college
2.) The lack of an area code seems to indicate that perhaps Jason knew one or both of the girls lived in the same area, or that he was familiar enough with the area where they came from that they didn't feel a need to include an area code (ex: they all went to UNC in Chapel Hill, just put apartment phone numberetc.)
3.) The concert was in late June, and most colleges and universities had let out in Mid-May. I don't think this was a dorm phone as the Carolines would have moved out for the summer already by the time Jason ran into them at the concert.

I also think that perhaps Jason may have met up with the girls and hung out, maybe slept over at their house/apt. and the girls left a note when they left early in AM next day etc. I wouldn't leave a note for a friend unless they were sleeping in the morning after a concert or a party, assuming they would call me later OR if I had waited around at a meeting point and that person never shower-I'd leave a note like this on my front door, car windshield etc. Maybe the girls stayed at Jason's place that night, perhaps they were all from DC or NOVA area and snuck out early in the morning the next day leaving the note so as not to wake him. Another idea is that the Carolines were tailgating with him before show, went to show, and in the area before cells and texting, left a note at a prearranged site (maybe a third party car they had been hanging out around) to indicate they had left show already and to get in touch later?

ALSO as a side note...Grateful Dead tickets, a Dead shirt from the tour, FILA shoes, perfect teeth-- indicates to me that Jason was probably from an upper/upper middle class socio-economic group. I also think the name Caroline is often associated with girls that would have Jason's peer age who would come from a similar socio-economic background. The fact that he didn't have a wallet or any other luggage seems to suggest to me that other items he was traveling with did not find their way to him after the concert. Most teens and 20 somethings would have had at least some cash, maybe a velcro wallet with Learner's Permit, license etc. inside. I find it strange that a kid who appears to have clothing that indicates perhaps a middle/upper class socio-economic background has NOTHING on them.

I've recently started following this UID, and have to agree with this post, that the boy must have came from a background with some money. After all, he had a "new" shirt on, and had just attended a concert which cost money.

One thing that bugs me is the fact that he had 2 ticket stubs in his pocket. He must have been there with someone. Where is this someone? Is this someone holding his wallet for safe keeping?.....again, he must have had money to buy the tshirt.

Another thought that crossed my mind was that I wondered if the driver of the van actually knew him. Perhaps if the UID was a college student, the parents of the driver of van might not know him while the driver did. I just can't imagine him taking a stranger to his parents houses.

I also wondered about the note. It seems odd that both girls would sign the note with last initials UNLESS the boy actually knew them both and their last names well. College friends?, high school friends? Etc.
. I also wondered if all that was on the note was not directly for the boy. You know, like the girls managed to find a scrap of paper that had an old phone number on it and left him a note on it
 

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