*content warning - suicide discussion*
I just want to discuss,
if this was intentional self-harm, what JJ's thought process would have had to be (i understand suicide is often done irrationally and he could have been driving for another purpose beforehand, but I'm writing this as if this possibility was planned beforehand)
-right off the bat, jumping off a bridge is not a common suicide method choice for males in Canada. I've linked it before but
here's some stats on method % in the 2000s. Hanging/firearms encompasses the majority. Jumping in general would be included in the ~13% 'other' category, which also includes death by self-injury, intentional car accident, etc. Wish I had some stats for the 2010s but I'm guessing they'd be more or less the same.
-if he had set out from Peru with the intention being to find a bridge to jump off of, it would have been easier to go west and access the river in Peoria. Didn't want to look up all the little bridges here but I know for sure that one bridge, the Shade-Lohmann bridge south of Peoria, is the same height as the bridge near where his car was found.
-if for whatever reason he wanted to travel in the direction of Peru, there's no way to get to that portion of town (to park the car) WITHOUT crossing the river over a bridge. If that's the goal, why not park the car on the side you are entering the bridge from? If you are driving over it to visualize the drop to the water, why not park immediately once youre on the other side? Doing my Google walkthrough, when youre on the distal half of the bridge you can easily see some quiet commercial/construction roads right below the bridge. This would be a good place to park as any. I think if I was planning to end my life I'd take the first opportunity to park somewhere quiet and secluded, rather than drive into the center of town.
-as his
wallet was allegedly found a few blocks away from his car(technically in the town of LaSalle), he could have taken a less direct path and crossed the river over near LaSalle. The bridge over the 39 is not very high (only 20feet), and I can't find the clearance height of the 351 bridge, but it LOOKS pretty high to me. If his goal was to commit suicide via bridge and he had entered LaSalle, I do not understand why he needed to go further west.
-and this one's maybe a reach because I don't know if the general public is aware of....minimal suicide height and all that (but JJ was a really smart guy! so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt) but the bridge closest to where his car was found/where his body was found has a clearance height of
64feet, and a fall from that height would not kill most people. I think when walking up to that bridge, and looking over the side...you'd realize that this fall might break some ribs or hurt you bad but is not a guaranteed death. I just can't see someone who knows this info, and is clearly being discrete here, taking that chance.
