NY NY - Vernon 'Cameron' Jones, 23, Manhattan, 2 Jan 1993

[theforgotten]

I searched but couldn't find a thread on this young man. If there is one and I missed it, I'm sorry. I guess this could just be deleted.


Vernon Kent Jones ** New York City, NY
.

Vernon Kent Jones

Missing since January 2, 1993 from New York City, New York
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: May 2, 1969
Age at Time of Disappearance: 23 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'11; 170 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; green eyes. He wears glasses or contact lenses. He has a dimple on the chin.
Marks, Scars: Jones has surgical scars on both hips from metal rods inserted into both of his femurs. He has a discoloration on the buttocks, a scar on the right thigh, a scar on left thigh, a scar on the right knee and a scar on the left ankle. He has a previously fractured left ankle, lower right arm, upper left leg and upper right leg.
Clothing: He was wearing a tan jacket, a red and gray sweater, white t-shirt, jeans and brown hiking boots at the time of his disappearance.
AKA: Cameron Jones.
DNA: Available
Circumstances of Disappearance
Jones attended a New Year's party at a friend's apartment on East 7th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan on January 2, 1993. He was last seen leaving the party to return to his residence on Amsterdam Avenue. Jones never arrived at his home and has not been seen again.
Jones is originally from North Carolina. He moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Investigators
If you have any information on this case, please contact:
New York City Police Department
1-212-694-7781
You may remain anonymous if you wish.

Agency Case Number: 93-293

NCIC Number: M-615400522
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
New York City Police Department
NCMA
Management Resources LTD of NY

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/case_report_html/686

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/45dmny.html

 

[theforgotten]

Very informative news report!

http://http://youtu.be/5bXJCR8IOSY

 

[theforgotten]

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Link doesn't work for me unfortunately.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

What a handsome young man. Never heard of his case before. Maybe foul play was involved in his disappearance.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

http://footprintsattheriversedge.blogspot.de/2009/10/010193-vernon-cameron-kent-jones-23-new.html

Cameron [Vern] spent New Year's Eve 1993 partying with friend Mark Zimmerman and a couple, Margaret Miller and Paul Williams, in an apartment in Manhattan's Lower East Side (East Village). At around 12:30 a.m., while Cameron and Paul remained at the apartment, Margaret and Mark walked across the street to the grocery store to buy paper towels. They were gone approximately 5 minutes. When they returned, Cameron was gone. Mark speculated that Cameron must have put on his coat and left, probably to go home.

Shortly after Cameron disappeared, his family came to New York to search for him and discovered the name "Vern" spray painted around the East Village. It is unclear who put it there. It is the only potential clue that has ever been found in the case.

It has been reported that Margaret Miller and Paul Williams left town within weeks of Cameron's' disappearance.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Bumping.

 

[thatonechickyouknow]

Have y'all heard of the Smiley Face murders? Over on that thread they think Vernon might be a victim. The vast majority of victims are college age males in Wisconsin, but he is thought to travel across state lines. Besides the timing victim profile the graffiti aspect is an intriguing link. http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ts-General-Discussion-6&p=4326139#post4326139

 

[thatonechickyouknow]

Here is another resource I found: https://donnagore.com/tag/vernon-kent-jones/

 

[theforgotten]

………………..Bumping for Vernon!!!

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Vernon Kent Jones – The Charley Project

If still alive Vernon would have turned 50 years old on 5/2.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bumping for Vernon as we approach the 29th anniversary of his disappearance...

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[chaddylex]

Vernon's NamUs profile was updated today 2/10/22 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
He currently has 15 rule outs.
UP14360 08/14/2015 Bland VA
UP6639 07/28/2007 Fairfax VA
UP6149 01/22/1996 Halifax VA
UP2667 08/18/2008 Dinwiddie VA
UP6637 10/07/2006 Fairfax VA
UP11248 08/20/2012 Fairfax VA
UP14518 04/03/2010 Shenandoah VA
UP6278 07/05/2007 Botetourt VA
UP2560 03/05/2003 Norfolk VA
UP6304 08/01/1993 Clarke VA
UP7605 07/21/2010 Mecklenburg VA
UP10908 08/29/2012 Fairfax VA
UP6171 12/26/2005 Pittsylvania VA
UP676210/08/1995 Richmond VA
UP2300 10/05/1999 Pinellas FL

I hope his family gets answers.

 

[JSolt1210]

This link adds the reason behind the purchase of the paper towels:

"Prior to his disappearance, Vernon celebrated New Year’s Eve with several of his friends at an East Village apartment. Sometime around 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 1, 1993 [sic], Vernon vanished, after supposedly drinking too much and making a mess of the apartment.

While his friends hurried out to purchase paper towels from a nearby bodega, Vernon supposedly wandered off. He hasn’t been seen since."

However, another website I found, which I'm not sure if I can post here because it's not MSM, claims that "We learned the story told by the 3 individuals with Vernon on the night of January 2, 1993, was a fabricated tale told out of fear."

Not sure if that's been confirmed, but a made-up story would explain the inconsistencies.

First he was "last seen leaving the party to return to his residence," according to the Doe Network.

Then his friends speculated that Vernon left because he wasn't there when they returned from being out. If this is true, then they clearly didn't see him leave.

Then it's revealed that Vernon is the reason the friends were out in the first place, to clean up the drunken mess he'd made of their apartment—which itself is a shady detail because there were three other people at the party. Does it really take three people to buy paper towels? Also, if Vernon was that sick and drunk, why leave him alone in that condition? Even if they didn't care about Vernon himself, they clearly cared about their apartment, so why leave him alone to possibly do more damage?

Factor in the claim that two of the trio "left town within weeks of Cameron's' disappearance," and I'm thinking something else went down that night.

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

Anniversary of disappearance this week.

 

[methodwriter85]

Was Cameron in some kind of accident? That's a lot of surgical scars.

 

[DD Byrd]

Was Cameron in some kind of accident? That's a lot of surgical scars.

Sure sounds it. On an otherwise healthy young person, you'd need a significant impact to fracture femurs. So either a car accident or a fall, possibly a high-speed skiing accident. Based on right knee and left ankle, I'd say car.

 

[DD Byrd]

My first question is when the 'party' started? A late afternoon soiree comes off differetly than a New Year's multi-day rager, so had he been partying for days, or got there at 4pm and was last seen at 6pm? I suppose he could have died at the party, but not necessarily via foul play. He might have OD'd or aspirated after passing out. The friend panics, and if also inebriated and not thinking clearly, or if the supplier of any drugs, picked the wrong answer. If Vern was throwing up and/or knocking over drinks/bottles I can see needing paper towels. The couple leaves with an undercurrent of "he's your friend, you get him better while we're out." I'd imagine the paper towel excusion was confirmed by whatever bodega they went to?

In a darker version, if Vern is now lying dead (or appears beyond help) in the living room, how close to a garbage chute was the apartment? If that's not applicable, I can see the friend dragging his body to a bedroom closet before the couple got back and telling them "Vern took off, I'm going to look for him." That would effectively end the party and at that point at least, not seem suspicious. The couple might join the search or just leave...they wouldn't be thinking "Vern will still be missing in a few decades if we don't search asap!" The friend would've had to have reason to not call for help though, as this isn't the same young teen panic about 'parents finding out'. Did he have priors or was he on probation? Or land a new job or fiance and see life-changing consequences on the horizon?

IMO, all of that would only work if the couple never saw Vern after they went for the towels. Otherwise, 3 people not cracking would be unusual unless they were versed in law from background/family or it wasn't their first rodeo being interviewed or interrogated by NYPD. Further, without knowing more, I don't make much of the couple leaving town. Were they from out of town in the first place and in NYC on vacation? The most sensical is that Vern left (or was encouraged to leave) and then was attacked and disposed of, succumbed to the elements, or got himself into the East River. A random knifing during a robbery is quick, no hiding the body, same for a belligerent drunk Vern starting in with the wrong stranger. If it really was around 6pm, yes, it was dark, but there would be a lot more people out than say 3am in a blizzard. He also may have had enough money to cab out of Manhattan altogether, who knows. Cabbies in NY see a lot of everybody, especially around holiday season. One more drunk or not drunk white guy in the East Village is not going to be memorable.

I don't buy into 95% of the smiley killer possibles. And in this case, you can find a lot of names thrown up somewhere in NYC (separate from gang writers, which not only don't use Joe Citizen victim names, as it's territorial or retaliation, but also aren't a major factor in the East Village). It sounds to me like "Vern" was a tagger in that area, but it would be interesting to know how old the ink was.