What are your theories

I don't know, I think it's a slim chance anyone can completely, accurately theorize about Grateful doe.

I've been looking at UID cases for almost ten years, and from watching here at WS when people have been identified or murderers have been caught, there were so many bizarre theories floating around the boards that a lot of it is wild speculation. Not all the time, but certainly many cases come to mind where posters were guessing things that were just way off. And I've done it too.

I think he could be anyone. And here in Canada, it's very rare to have a man over the age of 25 who is not circumcised. It used to be done regularly before people realized it isn't medically necessary by any means.

I wish this young man would be identified but I tend to think that whoever called the police station or morgue and inquired about him, was probably the guardian and didn't have the resources to claim him or didn't want to be identified for whatever reason.

Is it possible he was Amish? Maybe he was participating in Rumspringa.That would certainly explain the lack of money and why no family member has attempted to contact the police.

The age seems right for this as well. I wonder if theres a way to show this photo in the Amish communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania?

Still nothing from the band H.I.M

If the driver stopped to see his dad and girlfriend, those people would be able to identify an American accent. They would have said if he had an accent unfamiliar to them. It's probably a more reliable indicator than circumcision. I'm not sure what the population of the US was at that point in time, but it doesn't really narrow the field much to know if a male who died in the US was officially an American male. Just moo.

My theory is that the family knows, but for whatever reason hasn't spoken out about it.

just to be clear - i believe the driver stopped at his father's house but no one was home. i think he was picking something up or dropping something off. i remember reading that le talked to neighbors to see if they saw our doe with him and no one saw anything. correct me if i'm wrong but i think that's how it went.

This is my first post, but I've been a lurker on Websleuths for awhile. I've also been aware of this case for a few years too. Forgive me if these things have been said or I present this poorly or non-SOP!

Here are a couple of my thoughts for random theories:

I think the Anabaptist angle has some plausibility, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Amish/Hutterite/Mennonite, etc. He could have come from an Evangelical or Southern Baptist or Jewish upbringing (or a number of religious backgrounds) that are less accepting of certain lifestyles. Maybe he got into drugs for awhile or just experimented and his deeply southern baptist family disapproved and disowned him; maybe he left of his own accord because of their strict rules and they didn't think he was necessarily "missing", just transient/living a new life. The estimated age of 16-21 puts him at an average of 18 and a half, which is legally an adult, and the perfect age of someone who left home or was kicked out legally (no CPS/LE/school officials to notice his absence) and has been on his own for long enough to know how to get around hitchhiking, but not to have lost markers of his middle class upbringing (good dental hygiene, etc.).

If it is true that a sister called the ME with specific non-public descriptions of him, then it's possible someone from his family heard about the Doe on the news and thought it might be him, but the rest of the family did not approve of them looking for him. Maybe she was too young (a minor) to collect the body, much less have the resources for a proper burial.

He might even have been gay or had some other reason that a family of certain beliefs disapproved of him and wasn't looking for him (if it wasn't drugs, since his tox results came back clean). I realize the note from the Carolines looked somewhat flirtatious, so that would rule out being gay, but I think I read on here somewhere that the letter was found outside of the vehicle and not in his pocket as originally thought, and LE said it was a dead end.

I also do not think that he was a deadhead in the typical sense. He might have loved the band as much as any other deadhead, but I don't think he was following the tour and was in with that crowd as a regular. I have never been into the GD, but as with most types of die hard fans, it is pretty unusual to buy a T-shirt from a tour/concert/show and wear it either to the band's concert or immediately after. With non pop music it is usually unfashionable to even buy the "corporate" shirt. If he was from a stricter upbringing, it would make sense that he didn't know those scene faux pas or didn't care because he wasn't part of the crowd. I also think if he was a deadhead, he's have gone North to the next show, which I believe was in PA?

I definitely don't think HIM was popular here at that time (in reference to the possible heartagram or star tattoo), or even known really. He'd have to have really known about them very, very early, which IMO means he would have to have known about them from being in Finland at some point, which seems implausible. This was also not the age of huge internet use of social media. Livejournal would have been an early social media avenue, but I don't think that was even launched for a few years yet. And not to say that people can't be fans of multiple genres of music, but HIM and GD are not too similar. Based on those facts I don't think the tattoo was from HIM. Probably a poorly homemade star. Stars have always been popular tattoos (homemade or professional).

I think the foster kid aged out scenario is also possible. He would have either entered the system later in childhood/teen years or had a "good" group home/foster parent situation to keep up with his dental health.

Having followed this case for years, my theory is that he was the child of older parents who may not be living now. The parents may not have been internet savvy & simply wrote off their son as being a runaway. I do believe that a family member (possibly a sibling) placed that call to the authorities & for whatever reason, Jason's family has opted to allow him to rest in peace. We may never know who he was...which amazes me when you think of all the classmates and coworkers he would have had in his young life.

I agree Snarky. And I think that this case may be solved if it was given air time. It deserves it...HE deserves it. Why hasn't this been on the news much? This is a case that could be solved by someone simply seeing his photo. So sad. I have contacted so many news stations-- they no interest whatsoever.

Snarky, you just made me think of another reason why someone wouldn't claim the body of a loved one - greed.

Callmetres, do you mean greed as in not wanting to pay for funeral? Because yes that is so common...there are so many unclaimed bodies w known identifies.

I recently have been wondering if some sort of religious practice kept them from claiming the body-like the person had to be buried within 24 hours of death or something like that....or there are some religions that do not bury, they hold a memorial service instead of a funeral.

while the discussions of whether his family didn't claim his body are worthwhile, it doesn't change the fact that many many people had to know this kid (classmates, coworkers, friends, townspeople, etc) and not one person has come forward to say they recognize him.

to me this means one of two things - 1) the situation never made the news where he is from, 2) the reconstruction "photos" don't resemble what he really looked like.

Masootz, I agree. They need a better drawing. And I'm sure he had peers. I think what this comes down to is that we need to push this case for the news. Maybe with multiple people trying it'll increase chances.

Needtoid - I was thinking about inheritances and Social Security benefits. When I was growing up, one of my friends' dad died. Her mom got benefits from Social Security until my friend turned 18.

Callmetres, wow! Yes I've heard on the news of people doing this. That could be the case!

Callmetres, this site shows a couple of those cases. And then I stumbled on the last story which is very disturbing. http://listverse.com/2013/09/02/10-people-who-weren39t-reported-missing-for-years/

My $.02 - at the moment......

I've been thinking that he may have been reported missing many months after Jerry died because of the dead head culture. If this was a different band it would have been more immediately alarming to family & police that the person did not return. I'm also thinking he is out of high school because it would seem to me there would be more of an effort for a missing high school student.

I also wonder about the Sunday ticket that did not appear to be used. Why not? Maybe he spent time in the parking lot, maybe there was some police contact, spent time in the ER with another fan......why go and not go in the second day?

Anyway, he seems like he came from somewhere and was going back to somewhere given all the info we have. If he was reported it may never have been pushed real hard because he was over 18 so ......he could be a name on a small little state or county list somewhere. The reconstruction is probably off but there is enough info without it IMHO.

i think his pack was stolen/lost and that's why he had a new t-shirt on and no belongings.
maybe he was catching rides here and there, not really traveling with 'family'. it's possible that his crew left him with his pack in the car.
maybe he was helping someone hustle and sell the T-shirts and that's why he had a brand new one, possibly in payment for a days worth or work.
you could always find 'work' on grateful dead lot, have it be legal or not.

was there really an used ticket for the next show? if he was short on $$$ he could have sold that unused ticket for cash on lot- a day, a week, an hour before the showtime.

there were some unsavory characters on dead lot- it wasnt all rainbows and glitter.

Apearn I agree too with all you said. And there's also a chance he could have been a hs drop out too , 16-18 yrs old, or maybe a person whose parents withdrew him from one school to go to another but somehow slipped through the cracks. If he dropped out, maybe that's why the schools didn't search too hard.

was there really an used ticket for the next show?

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I am assuming you meant 'unused'. Here is a link with a pic of the tickets.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/25/grateful-doe_n_5208512.html

They came from the same 'ticket seller' so I would assume he paid at or close to face value. For some reason it bugs me that the Sunday ticket appears unused and he has 4 quarters. I have random change in my pockets but rarely is it only 4 quarters. Especially since we can assume he started out with somewhere around $85.00 for tickets and the shirt. It's almost like someone said "here are some quarters so you can make phone calls and get home".

And there's also a chance he could have been a hs drop out too

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Good point.

where is his backpack? his belongings?
when you travel solo, you pack is your everything.
unless it was thrown in a dumpster at RFK somebody had his bag.
i was at this show- it was a weird vibe. hot, we were on lot until 5 in the morning b/c of car trouble, not a great area.