Spoke with an Amish fellow

DrDMike

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Dig this- he said that a 5-pointed star, like the one that JD had, is an Amish symbol for good fortune. If JD was Amish, then he almost certainly came from PA.
 
Dig this- he said that a 5-pointed star, like the one that JD had, is an Amish symbol for good fortune. If JD was Amish, then he almost certainly came from PA.

There are Amish communities all over the US. Ohio actually has more Amish than Pennsylvania. He could also have been Mennonite. They are even more wide spread. I have considered whether Jason Doe could have been on rumspringa or have left the Amish or Mennonites before he was baptized. That could explain why he was never identified. If he had left during rumspringa or was in the Bann (shunned), his family may not be making an effort to find him.

Amish don't get tattoos, as a rule (they are both worldly, vain and prohibited by the Bible). Someone who was born Amish and left, however, certainly might.

I would be curious to know if they could check his DNA for certain genes that are much more prevalent among the Amish/Old Order Mennonites due to the closed gene pool nature of the communities. See link:

"Amish and Mennonites exhibit certain rare diseases uncommon in other populations. These include Ellis-van Creveld syndrome (a type of dwarfism), glutaric aciduria, Crigler-Najjar syndrome, and maple syrup urine disease. Some illnesses are so uncommon that they are unique to these communities (such as Troyer Syndrome or Amish lethal microcephaly), or rarely seen elsewhere."

http://amishamerica.com/do-amish-have-genetic-disorders/
 
There are Amish communities all over the US. Ohio actually has more Amish than Pennsylvania. He could also have been Mennonite. They are even more wide spread. I have considered whether Jason Doe could have been on rumspringa or have left the Amish or Mennonites before he was baptized. That could explain why he was never identified. If he had left during rumspringa or was in the Bann (shunned), his family may not be making an effort to find him.

Amish don't get tattoos, as a rule (they are both worldly, vain and prohibited by the Bible). Someone who was born Amish and left, however, certainly might.

I would be curious to know if they could check his DNA for certain genes that are much more prevalent among the Amish/Old Order Mennonites due to the closed gene pool nature of the communities. See link:

"Amish and Mennonites exhibit certain rare diseases uncommon in other populations. These include Ellis-van Creveld syndrome (a type of dwarfism), glutaric aciduria, Crigler-Najjar syndrome, and maple syrup urine disease. Some illnesses are so uncommon that they are unique to these communities (such as Troyer Syndrome or Amish lethal microcephaly), or rarely seen elsewhere."

http://amishamerica.com/do-amish-have-genetic-disorders/

The reason why I mentioned PA was because that's where the Amish star originated from and is still used on farm houses. It's more associated with PA Amish than anyone else. Jason did not appear to be 'transient.' He had good teeth and no drugs/alcohol in his system. I'm not sure if this matters but the Grateful Dead were going to play in PA a few days after Jason had died. Until more details about his death are released, we can only speculate.
As far as the tattoo thing goes, they cannot get tattoos after they are baptized which occurs after rumspringa. Interesting enough, rumspringa occurs between the ages of 16-21; the same ages listed for Jason.
 
The reason why I mentioned PA was because that's where the Amish star originated from and is still used on farm houses. It's more associated with PA Amish than anyone else. Jason did not appear to be 'transient.' He had good teeth and no drugs/alcohol in his system. I'm not sure if this matters but the Grateful Dead were going to play in PA a few days after Jason had died. Until more details about his death are released, we can only speculate.
As far as the tattoo thing goes, they cannot get tattoos after they are baptized which occurs after rumspringa. Interesting enough, rumspringa occurs between the ages of 16-21; the same ages listed for Jason.

I definitely think it should be considered, I mentioned a year or two ago that I wondered if he was from an Anabaptist community such as the Amish or the Hutterites. Someone else suggested he could have been a lost boy from a FLDS sect. I think all of these are distinct possibilities, although good teeth makes me lean away from Amish a bit more as he wouldn't have grown up with fluoridated water and Amish dental health is not traditionally stellar. Obviously, there are exceptions to this. He could also be a less strict order of Mennonite or some such.

Just adding what I know from my time in PA. I was always under the impression that stars being lucky were hex sign related. The Amish don't use hex signs. (This is where the whole Pennsylvania Dutch vs Amish vs Mennonite vs They're Really Pennsylvania Duetsch thing kicks in) I'm interested that the Amish you know consider it good luck. Do you know what kind of Amish your friend/contact is? (Beachy, Old Order, etc?)

Not appearing transient would gel with him being on rumspringa, as they often save up for it, so he'd likely have been prepared and possibly moving between various other Amish or former Amish kids he knew if he didn't have his own place.

Do you know if they can look for genetic markers for diseases in the results of a DNA test? If he carried some rare alleles that could be linked to a certain group, that would definitely narrow down things.
 
I definitely think it should be considered, I mentioned a year or two ago that I wondered if he was from an Anabaptist community such as the Amish or the Hutterites. Someone else suggested he could have been a lost boy from a FLDS sect. I think all of these are distinct possibilities, although good teeth makes me lean away from Amish a bit more as he wouldn't have grown up with fluoridated water and Amish dental health is not traditionally stellar. Obviously, there are exceptions to this. He could also be a less strict order of Mennonite or some such.

Just adding what I know from my time in PA. I was always under the impression that stars being lucky were hex sign related. The Amish don't use hex signs. (This is where the whole Pennsylvania Dutch vs Amish vs Mennonite vs They're Really Pennsylvania Duetsch thing kicks in) I'm interested that the Amish you know consider it good luck. Do you know what kind of Amish your friend/contact is? (Beachy, Old Order, etc?)

Not appearing transient would gel with him being on rumspringa, as they often save up for it, so he'd likely have been prepared and possibly moving between various other Amish or former Amish kids he knew if he didn't have his own place.

Do you know if they can look for genetic markers for diseases in the results of a DNA test? If he carried some rare alleles that could be linked to a certain group, that would definitely narrow down things.

The ME could do a lot more but when I spoke to him, he played the 'confidentiality' card. I had stated that they should release more information like what was in Jason's stomach when he died and pictures of his hands to see how clean his nails were.
I did call another office and suggested my theory and they said they'll make a note of it. It's all I could do.
 
Another piece of information that might help, at the risk of being indelicate, is whether or not Jason had been circumcised. Amish do not circumcise. (Also, if he wasn't circumcised, we could eliminate any Jewish missing persons from the potential match list.)
 
That is very interesting. It would also make more sense about no one reporting him missing. Lots of young Amish males leave their families or worse, are forced out. And nobody would go to LE and make any kind of report, imo.
 
never even saw this thread! i have posted before about my feeling on this and think its a possibility. i was recently watching some tv documentary about amish people and a lot of the people they showed seemed to look similar to Jason...

one thing to consider though is that he apparently had a second and severely faded tattoo. how long would it have taken for tat #2 to get to that state? would it fit with the rumspringa timeline or would it have to be way older?
 
Dig this- he said that a 5-pointed star, like the one that JD had, is an Amish symbol for good fortune. If JD was Amish, then he almost certainly came from PA.

There are Amish all over the US and Canada.
 
Are tattoos common in Amish youth?

I am no expert but I enjoy the Amish America blog which is linked to. According to the information there an Amish person who decides to join would have to have a tattoo removed so I don't think they are common at all. In fact, I assume that very few Amish youth who leave and have even a tiny bit of thought of returning would not have a tattoo.
 
Are tattoos common in Amish youth?

No, not at all. In fact, the Bible talks about how it is a sin to mark your skin (I can't recall where), so they would definitely not get a tattoo -- unless they planned on not staying Amish.
 
thank you-I wasnt sure but would have been very surprised if it was common.
 
There are Amish all over the US and Canada.

Yes but the Amish star tattoo originates from the Amish communities in PA. Plus, Jason was traveling from the North. Another interesting factoid is that the scalper who sold Jason his tickets had bought them from PA. There are a number of PA connections.
 
I just saw this thread and it caught my attention. I am Mennonite with many ties to other Anabaptist groups, including Amish. One suggestion I had was to contact The Budget, the Amish newspaper. They might know how to get the word out to the communities. LE could put out an ad asking if anyone had a son missing and give the relevant info. there may be a family just heartbroken out there, whose son never came back. There could be a mother or father who wonders at why their child never contacted them in all these years.
 
I just saw this thread and it caught my attention. I am Mennonite with many ties to other Anabaptist groups, including Amish. One suggestion I had was to contact The Budget, the Amish newspaper. They might know how to get the word out to the communities. LE could put out an ad asking if anyone had a son missing and give the relevant info. there may be a family just heartbroken out there, whose son never came back. There could be a mother or father who wonders at why their child never contacted them in all these years.

I attempted to contact someone in the Lancaster area but they referred me to the Lancaster Sheriff.
 
DrDMike, thank you for bringing energy back to this forum!! Maybe some of the threads you have started can be combined by topic. General discussion stuff can go into the general discussion thread, for example. You probably dont need to start a thread for each item.
 
If he was from PA why was he travelling south after the show?
 
I don't think he was Amish.
The hex sign wasn't an Amish thing, it was Pennsylvania Dutch. The barn star looks kinda like a nautical star, to me, his tattoo doesn't look close.
 

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