In an early post, someone alluded to the fact the Geraldine Hearst had passed away. In the statement on his missing persons profile, it says Jay left his home with an unknown 30- year old male and a high school friend which was Geraldine Hearst. It does not indicate whether or not he was running away, but I would have to assume that if they thought he ran away that they would have included that information. However it was so long ago, that it could have easily been forgotten or left out. The question of whether or not he was running away is a good one because it helps put his story into some sort of perspective. I wish I could find more info on this Grealdine Hearst and exactly what she said when she was located in CA.
It would also help to know when she was found and returned and whether someone searched and found her in CA or she called or wrote home asking for help. Most definitely, a timeline would be helpful. The most direct route to CA from eastern MO would be via I-44, which was not far from the South County SC and Arnold. It would take them through OK, TX, NM, AZ ending in the Los Angeles area. If that was the overall route, they could have stopped anywhere along the way with Jay disappearing. Assume that's why LE compared his DNA with the unidentified Corll victims.
Yes, a little info would be helpful. It's possible Jay changed his name, adopted a different lifestyle and is still living. LE seems to believe he met with foul play though. JMO