I was interested into what other examples I could come up with (other than Richard and Barbara who come to my mind first) of people who were later found in an area that received an adequate search, in order to learn from these cases and apply them to Jason's case.
Here are a few examples; please let me know if you know of any more!
Richard Morris -
search included police officers, volunteers, Hampshire S&R, police dogs, search of the river, CCTV searches, and drone searches. Nearly 4 months later, he was
found in his usual running spot, Alice Holt Forest, which is just over 2000 acres (8+ square kilometers).
Barbara Thomas - I'm sure most of us remember her disappearance. The
search was extensive and involved SARs, canines, helicopters, park rangers, and vehicles. Year and a half later, she was found in roughly the same area (I don't think exact parameters have ever been released).
Matthew Lang - went missing after a one-car accident. Jackson County SAR had '
scoured' the area for 3 weeks until they finally found his body in the lake, several hundred yards away from the site. It was suggested that they found him once putrefaction released enough gases to allow him to float, but it is still strange that they missed him initially as I'm sure him being in the lake was a possibility which was investigated.
Adre'Anna Jackson - was murdered/abducted when walking to school, 500 people were
searching within the first day. 4 months later, her skeleton was found in an empty lot that was overrun with brambles. The lot was under 2 miles from her house, and about a mile away from the school she was trying to reach. We DO have answers of how she was missed - the police admitted they didn't search there because they would have had to cut through the brambles
. She could have been placed there later but we will never know for sure, because it wasn't searched. This is a good example of why SAR should search EVERYWHERE within a search parameter, despite how unlikely it is that the person would be there.
Lynn Messer - went missing from her rural farm property. The search was extensive, involving
dogs, and covered around
5000 acres. 2 years later, about a mile from her house, near the border of a cow pasture (which did have heavy foliage), her remains were
found. Regardless of how she got there (suicide vs foul play), ME does
believe her body had not been moved.
Justin Evans - this is a Canadian case that is still breaking/releasing new info. While professional SAR was never brought on, police
claim they searched the area surrounding the RV park (and presumably inside the park itself), used a canine, and took aerial footage. About 5 months later, his body was
found in a swampy area that borders the RV park, about a 1000 feet away.
Holly Courtier - I'm sure many of this remember this one as well lol.
Searches used LE, canines, helicopters, and drones. It's known to have cost 60k$. 12 days later, found close by to where she had gone missing from. I'm not CONFIDENT about her inclusion on my list as I don't think they could ever prove that Holly had not left the area (and many think she must have to get supplies).
Lisa Prescott - When initially went missing, had
multi-agency searches done. 2 years later, an additional search for Lisa by Equusearch Midwest found her remains, only 1300 feet from her house. This is also a bit of an ~eh on the list, as it's possible family was involved and thus Lisa might not have been there the whole time.
