VA - Grateful Dead Fan - Unidentified male, 26 June 1995 - #2

[CallMeTres]

The claim that someone from his family *may* have called was reported by the case officer who spoke to user Marylandsmissing. Very early on someone called and asked questions regarding some unreleased identifying information. They hung up without giving their identity. The officer believed that the person on the other end of the phone was probably part of JD's family.

 

[PamA]

The accident was on rt 58 near Emporia, VA. If you look at a map. Emporia is hours by car from RFK. The accident occurred at approx. 1:30 pm on Monday...one day after the concert. Eric was coming from Fairfax, VA which is relatively close to RFK. I'm thinking logic would say that Jason was picked up on 95 near Fairfax/RFK. Explaining how he would have made it all the way to Emporia in such a short tIme frame. It just seems improbable that Jason was picked up by someone else and dropped off away from a major highway in the path of Eric who was traveling from the same area. Not trying to be argumentative. Just saying that logically speaking, it makes more sense that they traveled together down 95 and detoured to Hager's and we're headed back towards 95 when the accident occurred. Let Me know your thoughts.

 

[DrDMike]

The claim that someone from his family *may* have called was reported by the case officer who spoke to user Marylandsmissing. Very early on someone called and asked questions regarding some unreleased identifying information. They hung up without giving their identity. The officer believed that the person on the other end of the phone was probably part of JD's family.

That is basically hearsay.

 

[DrDMike]

The accident was on rt 58 near Emporia, VA. If you look at a map. Emporia is hours by car from RFK. The accident occurred at approx. 1:30 pm on Monday...one day after the concert. Eric was coming from Fairfax, VA which is relatively close to RFK. I'm thinking logic would say that Jason was picked up on 95 near Fairfax/RFK. Explaining how he would have made it all the way to Emporia in such a short tIme frame. It just seems improbable that Jason was picked up by someone else and dropped off away from a major highway in the path of Eric who was traveling from the same area. Not trying to be argumentative. Just saying that logically speaking, it makes more sense that they traveled together down 95 and detoured to Hager's and we're headed back towards 95 when the accident occurred. Let Me know your thoughts.

I agree a lot doesn't make sense.

 

[PamA]

I agree a lot doesn't make sense.

That's for sure. It would be nice to get all the facts, weed out rumor and theory and start from scratch. I've read so much it's mind boggling. It just seems to me that someone knows something and simply isn't admitting it. There's been an awful lot of publicity and no-one knows anything...not a family member, a teacher, a friend, a store clerk, etc that wonders where this kid disappeared to???

 

[LucyOso]

Do we know what the driver looked like? Any chance both were so disfigured they claimed the wrong person and have the wrong image for Jason? Any chance Jason's personal possessions got lumped in with the drivers?

 

[DrDMike]

That's for sure. It would be nice to get all the facts, weed out rumor and theory and start from scratch. I've read so much it's mind boggling. It just seems to me that someone knows something and simply isn't admitting it. There's been an awful lot of publicity and no-one knows anything...not a family member, a teacher, a friend, a store clerk, etc that wonders where this kid disappeared to???

That is why they are certain that he was not from the state. The story was never broadcasted nationwide and never got the attention it fully deserved. They think he was reported missing but not all missing person reports end up in NAMUS and some get lost or destroyed. I spoke to a woman who worked with the Grateful Dead back in 1995 and asked her about Grateful Doe. She had no idea who I was talking about.

 

[DrDMike]

Do we know what the driver looked like? Any chance both were so disfigured they claimed the wrong person and have the wrong image for Jason? Any chance Jason's personal possessions got lumped in with the drivers?

Investigators checked both of their fingerprints so it's very unlikely they got the bodies mixed up. It's my understanding that there were no possessions to be found in the car.

 

[CallMeTres]

Dr. Mike, no offense, but what Marylandsmissing stated is no more hearsay to other readers than what you are stating. In both cases, a poster is informing other posters about conversations with parties not present.

There are basic flaws in most peoples' understanding of this case:

"Officer reports that he thinks a family member may have called" somehow becomes "Officer stated the aunt/mother/sister called."

"JD's teeth had no restoration" somehow becomes "JD had perfect teeth."

"A note was found at the scene" becomes "A note was found in JD's pocket."

Etc etc etc

 

[Classito]

Investigators checked both of their fingerprints so it's very unlikely they got the bodies mixed up. It's my understanding that there were no possessions to be found in the car.

What did they compare the fingerprints with..? Strange that both were traveling without any possessions..

 

[DrDMike]

What did they compare the fingerprints with..? Strange that both were traveling without any possessions..

Well the driver was going from his dad's to his mom's house so maybe his stuff was there. With GD, that's a little more uncertain. He could have had his stuff stolen, lost or whatever. I lean more towards having his stuff stolen because if he had lost his stuff, odds are more likely that it would have been turned into the police.

 

[Classito]

Well the driver was going from his dad's to his mom's house so maybe his stuff was there. With GD, that's a little more uncertain. He could have had his stuff stolen, lost or whatever. I lean more towards having his stuff stolen because if he had lost his stuff, odds are more likely that it would have been turned into the police.

I thought the driver was visiting his girlfriend..seemed he would have some personal possessions for an overnight visit..

Chances are Jason had no possessions...Grateful dead fans for the most part travel light...If anything, he simply left the stuff behind..not unusual at festivals...Easier to leave it behind than haul it back...Speaking from experience...

Classito

 

[Jerri Blank]

Wonder what happens in cases where the missing person was adopted and DNA cannot be compared to the parents?

i remember this happening in the clark rockefeller case... a couple he was connected to disappeared and remains were found that they circumstantially believed to be the man, but he was adopted and there was no way to get the bio family's DNA, so there wasn't anyway to rule anything conclusive...

ETA: i am lazy so here is the wikipedia link about it.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ...istopher_Chichester:_Jonathan_and_Linda_Sohus

 

[carbuff]

The lack of possessions in the car has always bothered me. Even serious neat freaks usually have something -- toll booth receipts, maps, a handkerchief. Something.

 

[LucyOso]

The lack of possessions in the car has always bothered me. Even serious neat freaks usually have something -- toll booth receipts, maps, a handkerchief. Something.

I totally agree. I would imagine the car got cleaned out when it was towed or in the junk yard. I have witnessed vehicles getting stripped of the contents after bad accidents. People wander off with stuff, rifle through things. I have even witnessed stuff get tossed rather than subject family to carnage (blood, glass, etc) caused by an accident. Or even junk yards underplaying to family (who really do not want to see a smashed vehicle their child died in) the contents and getting semi-permission to dispose of something. If someone took a few things, not knowing it was crucial to another's identity, chances are they kept quiet rather than fess up later. I think Jason might have had some possessions. Even when I did dead tour, back in the day, people at least had a bed roll or something. Not even a jacket or sweatshirt? I don't believe that for a minute. The only way that would be believable is if he 1) just got out of jail or prison and only had those clothes, or 2) stole someone else's clothes/outfit to get out of town fast...That is even more far fetched then not having anything.

 

[masootz]

The lack of possessions in the car has always bothered me. Even serious neat freaks usually have something -- toll booth receipts, maps, a handkerchief. Something.

i don't remember reading about a lack of possessions in the car, but rather a lack of jason doe's possessions. am i missing something?

 

[Roselvr]

i remember this happening in the clark rockefeller case... a couple he was connected to disappeared and remains were found that they circumstantially believed to be the man, but he was adopted and there was no way to get the bio family's DNA, so there wasn't anyway to rule anything conclusive...

ETA: i am lazy so here is the wikipedia link about it.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ...istopher_Chichester:_Jonathan_and_Linda_Sohus

Surprised they didn't try to get his adoption records. I guess they never found his wife's body

 

[iamnotagolem]

I keep coming back to this case, not sure if I've ever posted but I got to thinking, I wonder if he had planned on being gone for a while and his family (parent or grandparents) were killed in a car accident or something while he was out traveling. Maybe a parent or both parents in prison?

 

[Kraki]

It's time to publish autopsy photos if they really want to solve this case. I don't care how bad it looks, if the brain matter is spilling out, someone will probably recognize him. This reconstruction is just a wild guessing, he probably looks completely different. Seriously, that has to be done. Forget about that note, which wasn't found in his pocket but in close proximity of the vehicle, that also has to be said! Forget about that too regular star tatoo on his arm. All we know about him after all these years is that he was maybe on Grateful Dead concert, we cannot even say that he was a fan and we know that apparently no one cares about him, except us? How tragical is that? Give us that photos in a last ditch effort to solve this case.

 

[LkjAndersen]

It's time to publish autopsy photos if they really want to solve this case. I don't care how bad it looks, if the brain matter is spilling out, someone will probably recognize him. This reconstruction is just a wild guessing, he probably looks completely different. Seriously, that has to be done. Forget about that note, which wasn't found in his pocket but in close proximity of the vehicle, that also has to be said! Forget about that too regular star tatoo on his arm. All we know about him after all these years is that he was maybe on Grateful Dead concert, we cannot even say that he was a fan and we know that apparently no one cares about him, except us? How tragical is that? Give us that photos in a last ditch effort to solve this case.

The problem is, as I understand it, his face was completely mangled. NamUS lists the condition of the body as "Not Recognisable", so it must have been a really bad crash. It could have been a complete mess, more like a gory jigsaw puzzle than anything we would recognise as a face. I am certain that the ME are not being wilfully obstructive, and if they could do anything further, they would, but from what I have read, there is nothing to recognise.