Identified! SC - Jason Patrick Callahan, Myrtle Beach, missing since 1995

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wintermute said:
I agree, it would be nice to see an article in the media documenting how Jason's former room mate saw Greymetal's post on Imgur and the resulting Reddit discussions. I know people do this for the families instead of personal recognition, but I'm slightly bothered how the people who run the Grateful Doe Facebook page seem to be getting the majority of the credit. If it weren't for Greymetal's post and the room mates unearthing photos of Jason Callahan, his photos wouldn't have wound up on the Grateful Doe Facebook page where his mother recognized him.
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I'll be 110% honest with you - I don't follow all the minutiae with this case. Is there a "guide to grateful doe for idiots" kind of explanation?

So greymetal knew Jason? Or how did she get the pix? Anyway, she put them on imgur and then his old roommates saw him and were like "whoa, whatever happened to *that* dude?!" and then everyone just kind of pieced it together that he might've been involved in a car crash or...??
 
astridxx said:
I'll be 110% honest with you - I don't follow all the minutiae with this case. Is there a "guide to grateful doe for idiots" kind of explanation?

So greymetal knew Jason? Or how did she get the pix? Anyway, she put them on imgur and then his old roommates saw him and were like "whoa, whatever happened to *that* dude?!" and then everyone just kind of pieced it together that he might've been involved in a car crash or...??
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Grey didn't know Jason. She started a social media push with the Grateful Doe info (an unidentified male who died in a car crash in 1995). One of Jason's old roommates saw it and thought the sketch looked like Jason. He and Grey started talking and he provided pictures of Jason. Then those were posted and recognized by Jason's brother and mom. They contacted LE and did DNA testing. That's it in a nutshell (which does not do justice to the amount of work people have put in, but I guess it does sum it up).
 
I am glad that this case has finally been resolved. I first posted it on the internet back in 1996 in a Grateful Dead Forum which resided on America On Line. I later posted it here on Websleuths in the Cold Cases section, and it has been copied and re-issued a number of times since then.

Thanks for all the folks who read and posted and researched this case and who kept it alive and active over the years.

May Jason finally rest in peace.
 
wintermute said:
I agree, it would be nice to see an article in the media documenting how Jason's former room mate saw Greymetal's post on Imgur and the resulting Reddit discussions. I know people do this for the families instead of personal recognition, but I'm slightly bothered how the people who run the Grateful Doe Facebook page seem to be getting the majority of the credit. If it weren't for Greymetal's post and the room mates unearthing photos of Jason Callahan, his photos wouldn't have wound up on the Grateful Doe Facebook page where his mother recognized him.
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Aside from the points wintermute brought up, I do think this ought to be documented simply because it is such a fine example of how sleuthing on the web has come to the point where it is seeing firm results in cases like these. The process that worked in this case can be applied to other cases.

astridxx said:
I'll be 110% honest with you - I don't follow all the minutiae with this case. Is there a "guide to grateful doe for idiots" kind of explanation?

So greymetal knew Jason? Or how did she get the pix? Anyway, she put them on imgur and then his old roommates saw him and were like "whoa, whatever happened to *that* dude?!" and then everyone just kind of pieced it together that he might've been involved in a car crash or...??
Click to expand...

Something for posterity definitely needs to be written. "There was a man who died in a car crash and this is how he was identified decades later..."
 
I knew it was him that Jason Callahan came up and was so disappointed when it was inconclusive at first. Thank Goodness that he has his name back for sure. I have been following this case since I first discovered WS and was still a lurker. So glad they know now what happened even though it's a sad loss. Never give up on a case there is almost always someone, somewhere who knows something. Awesome how they got the word out and someone saw it on FB and put two and two together. I was so glad to see this on my FB feed from WS this morning. RIP Jason and prayers for his family who have had to wait so long and now deal with this again.
 
I saw this yesterday but wasn't sure what to say; in shock that it finally came through I guess!

I'm sure the family is grieving, but hopefully they can take some solace in the fact that his death must have been instantaneous and that it was an accident. I can't imagine what Suzanne Marie Sevakis' family went through. I'm glad Jason was having fun and there was no foul play.

I think greymetal and all others have proved that social media can play such a huge factor in getting some of these older cases solved.
 
Richard said:
I am glad that this case has finally been resolved. I first posted it on the internet back in 1996 in a Grateful Dead Forum which resided on America On Line. I later posted it here on Websleuths in the Cold Cases section, and it has been copied and re-issued a number of times since then.

Thanks for all the folks who read and posted and researched this case and who kept it alive and active over the years.

May Jason finally rest in peace.
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This must be a bittersweet moment for you too, Richard. 19 years of wondering!!
 
Wow, I was only thinking of GD yesterday. His poor family. I really hope this will lead to more does being identified.
 
He probably would never have been identified if they had not provided a new composite sketch. The first one was terrible!
 
Message posted on GratefulDoe FB page from Jason's sister, Shannon, thanking everyone who worked so hard to help ID her brother. She says reddit, websleuths were instrumental in connecting the dots and causing her to submit DNA which is what ultimately helped resolve this case.

https://www.facebook.com/GratefulDoe/posts/989420864464867
 
Vabrownid1 said:
He probably would never have been identified if they had not provided a new composite sketch. The first one was terrible!
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They worked with what they had at the time, as their soft, unrestrained flesh was no match for 50 years old tree trunks and a tinned sardine can of a compact Volkswagen van.
 
Vabrownid1 said:
He probably would never have been identified if they had not provided a new composite sketch. The first one was terrible!
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The original composite is still the first image that comes to mind when I hear "Grateful Doe'. Thinking back on it now, I can't even picture any human looking like that, but I can only imagine how destroyed the bodies in the car must have been, and it must not haven been easy for 1995 technology to try and reconstruct it.

Look at the Baby doe case from this year, reconstructions have come a long way. The potential for so many more of these types of cases to become solved has grown exponentially.
 
I thought that old hand drawn sketch looked the most similar to Jason Callahan. Amazing that the artist was able to do such a good job with what appears to be soft leaded pencil, especially considering how much Jason's face was damaged in the accident.
 
The FBI is about to get involved in the case of the Long Island Serial Killer. Not all of the victims have been identified. They can be found in the unidentified forum. You would have to register to view the forum for the Long Island Serial killer. You can watch the documentary on youtube. Theres a couple of them. A mother and child are also victims of this killer. Strange thing though. The mothers info was never put into NAMUS. LE wont sign off on it. It would be great if you helped with this case. The timing is right.
 
I haven't been on WS much lately due to my busy life with now one-year old baby and work, etc but when I saw this news today I had to log on. I didn't think he'd ever be IDed although I hoped he would. I know how many WS members devoted so much time, energy, and care to this case. I am so grateful he has his name back & grateful there are people like WS members out there!
 
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