I tend to think that we are reading too much into the “loss of digital footprint” and “missing 67 minutes”. My own theory is that Jason succumbed to injury following the accident and is just outside the search area. I also think that the most likely explanation is that he dropped his phone at the intersection and thus “ended his digital footprint”.
Those two points have been discussed at length. What I haven’t seen is a layout of the timing. Given what we know from the police report linked earlier let’s assume the following:
1. Jason was at the Magnolia Avenue intersection at 11:24pm
2. Jason’s crashed car was identified by the passerby at 12:31am. The intervening time is the 67 minutes referenced
3. We know that the drive from the intersection to the crash site is approx 13-15 minutes per Google Maps
4. The oil worker drove by the crash site 30-45 minutes before it was discovered and did not report seeing the car. This would be estimated at 11:45pm -12:00am per the timeline
Given these inputs, my view is:
+ Earliest Jason could have reached the crash site is 11:41 (13 minute drive beginning at 11:24)
+ By my logic, the “missing time” is actually pretty short - as little as 4 min or as much as about 20 min
+ Quite likely that Jason drove a bit slower than Google maps estimated, but did drive directly to the crash site and did not arrive until after the oil worker drove past the spot
+ Also possible he made a short stop (pee? smoke?) that accounts for these missing minutes
My own theory of the whole situation is very simple:
1. At the magnolia intersection Jason inadvertently turned off Waze when he checked Snapchat. He then dropped the phone between the console and seat, where it was later found by his dad.
2. Jason continued onto Salt Flat Road, assuming he would be instructed by Waze which he thought was still running (assuming he would hear the directions even though the phone had fallen). —15 min pass
3. Road conditions / animal etc cause him to swerve, overcorrect, crash
4. Jason briefly tried to retrieve his phone but in confusion / adrenaline post accident he could not
5. Head injury / confusion causes paradoxical undressing
6. Jason wanders, naked, farther than the search parameters and sadly succumbs to the elements.
The only part of my theory I struggle with is the paradoxical undressing. But I find it more likely than the other theories (foul play, meeting someone on salt flat road, baptism, etc). I think it’s possible he smoked and perhaps that contributed to the post crash confusion.
I was just wondering if someone else had.
