I wasn't going to post anything but I've been following this thread since he went missing, checking for updates. I made an account just to comment since I knew Jake through his cousin, albeit not extremely well I wanted to share my memories of him. If I'm breaking any rules let me know, after seeing the concern for him here I thought some of the people reading might like to know more about him.
When I met him I was 21, I had just broken up with my first long term boyfriend who was abusive and I was a mess, I had a really hard time trusting people. The first time I met Jake he showed me a backpack of bracelets he carried to hand out to new friends he made. He asked me what my favorite colors were and the next time I saw him he had made me one with them. He was just so disarmingly sweet and friendly.
One night I went to my one and only rave ever with him and his cousin. I'm not really into partying and I was starting to feel bad so Jake walked me to the car. I don't remember how we started talking but I told him about my ex abusing me and why I had to leave, my eating disorder and every other horrible thing I hadn't ever been able to tell anyone. In return he told me about how he overcame a drug addiction that almost killed him and it was the first time I felt like someone really understood how I felt. We spent three or so hours like that, just opening up about everything terrible that happened in our lives. I was ready to close myself off to everyone but having someone to open up to and share my darkness with, while taking some of theirs in return was what I needed. He talked a lot about how people need to have more universal love for one another and how it's okay to love each other, non romantically because we're all in this together. That's the lesson I try to keep and carry on the most.
When we got back that morning he came inside, so excited to show me the pictures he had taken of the sun rising. He kept telling me he just couldn't believe how beautiful the sunrise was. At the time I thought he was crazy but he was right, we live in such an incredible, beautiful world.
I regret never telling him how much that night just talking and unloading darkness meant to me, I think I'll remember it for the rest of my life. When I want to shut people out or stop caring I remind myself of how open he was to share his pain with me and how much it meant. I try to remember what he said about loving people more and I really try to live that. He was more than a victim of an accident, he was a very kind person with a very pure and loving spirit. Even though we never became particularly close I'm eternally grateful that he was in my life when I needed him to be. I pray he's found a beautiful place in paradise.
I'll probably delete this at some point because I'm not sure if it's against the rules but I just wanted to share that story.