a cautionary tale for Grateful Dead fans

[chair jockey]

In 1995, a single-vehicle accident in rural Virginia, USA, killed the driver and lone passenger. The driver was identified quickly, but identifying the passenger proved more difficult. He was determined to be a hitchhiker unknown to the driver who had been picked up because both wore similar clothes and Grateful Dead T-shirts. A stub from a scalped ticket to a recent Grateful Dead concert turned out to be a dead end. So did a handwritten note addressed to "Jason" and bearing a phone number with no area code and signed by two women named "Caroline." His face was too damaged in the accident to be recognizable, although a facial reconstruction based on a skull MRI was done many years later when the technology became available. Checks of fingerprint databases produced no matches. Because of the nomadic nature of Grateful Dead fans, police didn't know which jurisdiction to search, but they still tried, and 221 missing persons were eventually ruled out. He was dubbed Jason Doe and Grateful Doe.

 

In 2015, about 20 years after Grateful Doe's death, some people began posting photos on Facebook of a man named Jason, who wore clothes highly similar to the clothes worn by Grateful Doe at death, and whose face was highly similar to the reconstruction. He had been a friend or roommate in both Florida and North Carolina, but they hadn't seen or heard from him since 1995 and couldn't remember his last name. That Jason was traced to Jason Callahan of Florida, who had left his mother's home in 1995 to follow the Grateful Dead. His mother had tried to report him missing, but hadn't been able to find the right jurisdiction to file the report. Family had always assumed that Callahan was off somewhere "being a free spirit." A missing person report was filed in 2015 in order to enable police to take further steps in their investigation.

 

In late 2015, after some inconclusive results, DNA from the remains of Grateful Doe was matched with DNA from the Callahan family, and he was officially identified as Jason Callahan. He had gone unidentified, and not reported missing, for more than 20 years.

[AspieAngel]

Kind of sad. But at least they have closure. No one would miss me if I disappeared. 

[chair jockey]

2 hours ago, AspieAngel said:

Kind of sad. But at least they have closure. No one would miss me if I disappeared. 

 

I doubt anyone would miss me, either. So should I start following the Grateful Dead the way Callahan did?

[AspieAngel]

I'd personally choose a different band if I went that route. 

[Guest Jetsun Milarepa]

Your comment made me laugh out loud @AspieAngel! Mind you, how sad for that man and his family. Reminds me of 'into the wild', which was a fantastic film.