Real Name: Unknown, possibly Jason
Nicknames: Jason Doe
Location: Greensville County, Virginia
Date: June 26, 1995
Bio[]
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Birth: Unknown
Height: 5'7"-5'9"
Weight: 169 pounds
Marital Status: Unknown
Characteristics: Caucasian male. He had blond or light brown hair and hazel eyes. His estimated age was 16-25 years old. He had a homeade tattoo of a star. He had a Grateful Dead Summer 1995 t-shirt on and a macrame bead necklace. His hair had recently been dyed red.
Case[]
Details: On June 26, 1995, twenty-one-year-old Michael Hager picked up an unidentified hitchhiker; at some point during the drive, he fell asleep at the wheel. At 1:30PM, Michael's van crashed into a pair of trees on U.S. Route 58 West in Greensville County, Virginia. Tragically, both men were killed in the accident. The unknown man carried no identification, but did have ticket stubs for a Grateful Dead concert at R.F.K. Stadium in Washington D.C. The concert took place the weekend before the accident. Another clue found near the accident scene (not in his pocket, as previously reported) was a note that read, "To Jason, sorry we had to go. See you around. Call me. Caroline O. and Caroline T." The note had a phone number with a 914 prefix, but no area code. The man has never been identified.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired as a Special Bulletin on the February 7, 1997 episode.
- It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the series.
Jason Callahan
Results: Solved. In 2015, photographs surfaced of a man wearing similar clothes to the one worn by Jason Doe. The man looked quite similar to his reconstruction photographs as well. The man was also named Jason and was known to be a fan of the Grateful Dead. His roommates recalled that he had lived in Illinois and South Carolina. However, they could not recall his last name.
Shortly after the photographs were released, a South Carolina woman came forward, believing that the man in the photographs was her son, Jason Patrick Callahan. Jason had disappeared in June of 1995, after he left home to follow the Grateful Dead. His mother did not report him missing until 2015 because she believed that he had left voluntarily. She also was not sure where to report him missing at the time.
Initial DNA tests were inconclusive. However, on December 9, 2015, it was announced that DNA testing confirmed that "Jason Doe" was Jason Callahan.
Links:
- Jason Callahan on Wikipedia
- Jason Callahan on the Doe Network
- Grateful Doe Facebook Page
- Jason Callahan on Unidentified Wikia
- Grateful Dead Fan Remains Nameless, 18 Years After Fatal Crash - April 25, 2014
- Imgur, you may have helped identify 'The Grateful Doe' - January 2, 2015
- Mom reports son missing 20 years after he left to follow Grateful Dead - January 15, 2015
- After many years, an unidentified traffic accident victim known as "Grateful Doe" has reportedly been identified - December 9, 2015
- DNA positively identifies 'Grateful Doe' as man missing from Myrtle Beach - December 9, 2015
- 'Grateful Doe' Mystery Solved Thanks To Internet Sleuths - December 11, 2015
- 'Grateful Doe' is identified 20 years after road trip death - December 12, 2015
- Jason Callahan at Find a Grave