CANADA Canada - Jayson Nakas, 19, Drayton Valley, AB, 30 June 1995

[TheArtfulDetective]

Jayson Vastilas Nakas



Case Classification: Lost/Injured Missing
Missing Since: June 30, 1995
Location Last Seen: North Saskatchewan River, Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada

Physical Description:
Year of Birth: circa 1976
Age: 19 years old
Race: White/Caucasian
Gender: Male
Height: 173cm / 5 ft 8 in
Weight: 64kg / 141lb
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Stained teeth
Clothing & Personal Items: Blue shorts. Blue & red socks
Identifiers: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Nakas was reported missing to the police in Drayton Valley, Alberta on June 30, 1995. He was last seen when he fell off an inner tube on the North Saskatchewan River. His friends saw him go under water but did not see him come back up. Nakas has never been seen or heard from since.

Investigators:

1. Drayton Valley RCMP: Tel: 780-542-4457 Fax: 780-542-9303
   Reference Case#: 20141580144
   
   
2. Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477) or online at Canadian Crime Stoppers Association
   Crime Stoppers provides anonymous tipping
   
   
3. Send email to the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains at: [email protected]

Canada's Missing | Case details
PorchlightCanada for the Missing and Unidentified-1995 NAKAS, Jayson V.-6/30/1995

 

[JSolt1210]

Do we know how deep or how fast the river runs here?

I can't imagine it would be very fast if they were using inner tubes—which admittedly I had to look up! They don't look like something you'd use to go whitewater rafting or something.

At first I questioned the friend's story (and I still do) until I remembered when someone tried to teach me how to swim: he said I should spread out my arms and legs to increase my surface area, and that this would make me float. Well, that's not what happened at all—I began to sink! So I can believe that Jayson sank as soon as he fell off the inner tube. However, if the river was calm enough that they were all on inner tubes, then why wasn't he found at or near where he sank? Couldn't any of his friends go after him? Did they not know how to swim?

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

Do we know how deep or how fast the river runs here?

I can't imagine it would be very fast if they were using inner tubes—which admittedly I had to look up! They don't look like something you'd use to go whitewater rafting or something.

Agreed. Inner tubes are meant for lakes and slow moving rivers as something to lazily float around on (unless they are being pulled behind a boat). It's popular for people to sit around on them and drink beer all day. Perhaps he and his friends had been drinking, which impaired their ability to swim? That, combined with misjudging the strength of the current, could be why the friends couldn't rescue him. It was too treacherous and/or they were drunk.

I don't know the streamflow of the North Sask either, but since Jayson's body was never recovered, to me it indicates there was a strong undercurrent, which would explain how he went under and never resurfaced. Otherwise, agreed. Why wasn't his body right there where his friends could have accessed him?

On a unrelated note, I wonder why he was wearing socks?!

 

[JSolt1210]

Agreed. Inner tubes are meant for lakes and slow moving rivers as something to lazily float around on (unless they are being pulled behind a boat). It's popular for people to sit around on them and drink beer all day. Perhaps he and his friends had been drinking, which impaired their ability to swim? That, combined with misjudging the strength of the current, could be why the friends couldn't rescue him. It was too treacherous and/or they were drunk.

I don't know the streamflow of the North Sask either, but since Jayson's body was never recovered, to me it indicates there was a strong undercurrent, which would explain how he went under and never resurfaced. Otherwise, agreed. Why wasn't his body right there where his friends could have accessed him?

On a unrelated note, I wonder why he was wearing socks?!

I just found a couple of articles that may answer some of our questions.

When public pools in Edmonton (90 miles away from Drayton Valley) were closed due to COVID-19 in May 2020, this article recommended that "there are other ways Edmontonians can get their fill of water activities: pools in their own backyards, visiting lakes, or letting the North Saskatchewan River currents carry them along in a kayak, canoe or tube."

So riding the North Sask currents on tubes seems to be a thing. Maybe Jayson and his friends were not just sitting in still waters?

However, the same article warns that you should never be in the river by yourself: "because the river flows fast, the current can often take you further than you expect to go." Maybe this is what happened to Jayson after he fell off?

In fact, that's exactly what happened in July 2021, in Drayton Valley, the same area where Jayson disappeared 26 years earlier.

According to this article, "A man is still missing after being swept into the North Saskatchewan River near Drayton Valley... They searched the river with boats and drones, as well as RCMP Air Services, but the man has not been found."

So maybe summer currents are especially fast?

As for the socks—which, you're right, is such a curious detail and one I'd missed—the first article may provide a reason:

"[Jason Britton, an avid river swimmer,] also recommends wearing shoes while swimming in the river.

'Because there is so much sediment in the river water … you can't see the bottom and you don't know what's down there,' he said."

All in all, I think these two articles make the friends' story sound more plausible to me. Maybe alcohol had been involved, and that impaired their ability to go after him. But it seems like this river can take you sober if you're not careful!

 

[Jinjergurl]

I just found a couple of articles that may answer some of our questions.

When public pools in Edmonton (90 miles away from Drayton Valley) were closed due to COVID-19 in May 2020, this article recommended that "there are other ways Edmontonians can get their fill of water activities: pools in their own backyards, visiting lakes, or letting the North Saskatchewan River currents carry them along in a kayak, canoe or tube."

So riding the North Sask currents on tubes seems to be a thing. Maybe Jayson and his friends were not just sitting in still waters?

However, the same article warns that you should never be in the river by yourself: "because the river flows fast, the current can often take you further than you expect to go." Maybe this is what happened to Jayson after he fell off?

In fact, that's exactly what happened in July 2021, in Drayton Valley, the same area where Jayson disappeared 26 years earlier.

According to this article, "A man is still missing after being swept into the North Saskatchewan River near Drayton Valley... They searched the river with boats and drones, as well as RCMP Air Services, but the man has not been found."

So maybe summer currents are especially fast?

As for the socks—which, you're right, is such a curious detail and one I'd missed—the first article may provide a reason:

"[Jason Britton, an avid river swimmer,] also recommends wearing shoes while swimming in the river.

'Because there is so much sediment in the river water … you can't see the bottom and you don't know what's down there,' he said."

All in all, I think these two articles make the friends' story sound more plausible to me. Maybe alcohol had been involved, and that impaired their ability to go after him. But it seems like this river can take you sober if you're not careful!

I am from Drayton Valley, Jayson was beloved in our school. This happened while most of us were at graduation. I look him up once a year to see if he has been found. Sadly, the location where they were tubing has had a number of drownings due to a strong undercurrent.

Last year Canada Police Report

Over the years the odd person falls out of a canoe or kayak in that area and generally they surface down river and are found days later. I have always thought that he was likely trapped in debris in the under cut spaces on the outside of one of the many bends in the river... I know some of my friends cling to the idea that he surfaced somewhere and had amnesia and is living a new life. But someone would have recognized him by now. I think of him every time I am at the river, which I go to with my dogs. I wasn't all that close to him but knew him to say hello. My heart aches for his family and friends. I wish they could get the closure they deserve.

 

[JSolt1210]

I am from Drayton Valley, Jayson was beloved in our school. This happened while most of us were at graduation. I look him up once a year to see if he has been found. Sadly, the location where they were tubing has had a number of drownings due to a strong undercurrent.

Last year Canada Police Report

Over the years the odd person falls out of a canoe or kayak in that area and generally they surface down river and are found days later. I have always thought that he was likely trapped in debris in the under cut spaces on the outside of one of the many bends in the river... I know some of my friends cling to the idea that he surfaced somewhere and had amnesia and is living a new life. But someone would have recognized him by now. I think of him every time I am at the river, which I go to with my dogs. I wasn't all that close to him but knew him to say hello. My heart aches for his family and friends. I wish they could get the closure they deserve.

My heart goes out to you as well as to all of Jayson's family and friends that remember him and still wonder what happened.

I think you bring up a really good possibility—that he could be trapped in debris under the river. I hadn't considered that, but it would definitely explain why he hasn't been found yet. I'm not sure how extensively he was searched for, but depending on what the terrain is like under the river, he could've easily still been missed.

I'm sure the area is a fun place to relax, but from the info I've seen, it sounds like that can change in an instant.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.