Hi my name is Rob. I was very involved in the Grateful Dead culture. I recently just came across this forum quite by chance. I am also a clinical psychologist. In my work especially in graduate school I spent a great deal of time with the Dead's culture. Exploring how and why people seemingly disappear or drop out of society. Quite literally there are countless people whom are like Jason went on tour and vanished. Most living, some not.
Hi Rob, so wonderful to see you here. It is great to have someone here who has experience with the Grateful Dead Culture. While I have been doing research on the Grateful Dead I have been amazed with how many young teenagers/young adults have left their families to join up and follow the Grateful Dead from town to town with only the clothing they have on their backs. One case I read about was where a deck had collapsed at a show and one teenager was severely injured so badly he was unrecognizable. He was brought to the hospital where a "command center" was set up to take phone calls from folks who thought this boy could be their son/loved one, there were literally hundreds of calls that came from those who said they hadn't seen their child for months and that he could have been following the Dead, etc. , so sad to think they hadn't had contact with their child for that long.
I am have been eerily fascinated by this case. And have spent most of the day reading up on it.
That picture while very promising is not Jason. The gentlemen in that picture is not wearing two necklaces. It is highly doubtful especially on dead tour to just find necklaces nd put them on. This picture was just taken days before Jason perished. I find it hard to believe this man would have purchased two necklaces AFTER the show and then hitchhiked to Virgina
I can also maybe offer some other insights...
I would focus on sending out the seat location of Jason. As deadheads we always keep our stubs and remember where we sat. Generally during set break we would talk to our neighbor etc. This may bea lead. My guess is since he had 2 stubs one would have been one of the Carolines.
Actually, the 2 stubs he had were for seperate shows, one stub was for Saturday, June 24, 1995 and the other one was for Sunday, June 25, 1995. We are assuming that he attended both shows and used both tickets for himself??
If this young man was "on tour" he would have met people.
I would suggest perusing these avenues.
In the mid 90's on Dead tour there was a group called the 12 Tribes. They are a transient cult that basically would show up at Dead shows in a large bus and recruit kids. Mostly kids who were on tour to escape problems at home. The Dead were a great band but the transient nature of their tours allowed people to follow them if for no other reason to get away. There is a chance Jason may have been a member of this group. When you joined a group like this you basically called your loved ones (some did some did not) and told them to forget about you. This may be a reason why no one was looking for him?
This is a great theory about the 12 tribes, it should be looked into further for certain, if it has not been already? It was also suggested that Jason may have been part of the Wharf Rat group. What are your thoughts on that?
The fact that Jason had no money, no bags, etc would lead me to believe that he was part of this group of people who followed the band around with no real plan. It seems that he was not with a group of friends. This is obvious by the fact no one seemed to know he was gone. Another interesting fact. Is that amongst Deadheads wearing a shirt of that tour to shows was somewhat looked down upon. I know its strange but the dead lot had their own culture and social more's. The fact that Jason was wearing a shirt from 1995 and that tour to me suggests again, that he just "hopped on tour".
I'm really not sure what to add about the fact that Jason was wearing a tour shirt and that deadheads look down upon that sort of thing. I haven't ran across any mention of that in the research I have done so far.
The note that Jason had to me is very strange. It had been mentioned that it may have been from a hotel room? If two girls left a note on a hotel room door it would stand to reason that Jason was the one who booked the hotel room and in turn was paying for it. Based on his lack of material goods and money I do not think it was a hotel room. I don’t think it could have been left on a car. If memory serves me correctly after the RFK show it had rained pretty heavily. A note left on a car would have been ruined. There is a chance as I see it that Jason may be a "friend" or a traveling partner as opposed to John Does' real name. It was not unusual for large groups of people to stay in hotel rooms or places of lodging all together on tour in a flop house type of arrangement.
The note is of great interest, I suppose they could have stayed in a motor home? Also, as you mention, a flop house, whatever other cheap alternative there may have been. Friend of a friend of a friend? From what I understand, Grateful Dead crowds were known to crash pretty much anywhere, so it could have been under a bridge, I dunno??
One last thing. Are we sure that Jason was picked up hitch hiking? Most times after shows it was no uncommon for people to bum a ride from someone who was at the show. The driver of the van may have been with Jason at the show. They may have met at the show and then Jason was given a ride. It seems like a strange set of events that a dead head was hitch hiking on the side of the road and just happened to get picked up by another dead head in a VW Bus none the less.
We do know that Jason did not attend the concert with the driver of the van. The driver was in NY with his girlfriend and I believe he (the driver) got back to Fairfax, VA on Sunday, June 25th. He had breakfast with his girlfriend early Monday morning and left for his father's to pick up a few items at approximately 7:30AM. It is believed that the driver picked Jason up between Fairfax, VA and Glocester, VA (where his father lived). He reached his father's house at 10:30AM
Based on my several hours of reading and having done a lot of research on situations such as these. I feel that John Doe somehow informed his parents that he was running away or dropped out of society. The fact that someone that young has no friends looking for him, no parents looking for him, no relatives looking for him is shocking. He also at some point had enough $$$ to buy a $35 brand new tour shirt. Yet, he was found with nothing? Strange. Those shirts were sold during the summer on 95 on tour. So to start his journey he must have had at least some disposable income.
I agree he had to have some kind of income before the beginning of his trip. Perhaps he had a job, or his parents gave him money, he robbed his piggy bank, birthday money, etc. Somehow, he had got together enough money for tickets, t-shirt, food??
In my professional estimation. Those who know of John Doe and love him. Have no idea he has perished. If he was say 20 years old. Even if his parents had died, until the age of 18 he would have had a legal custodian. If JD was older the theory of dead parents not knowing his had perished might hold more weight. What is likely is that JD joined some group like the 12 Tribes and was forced to basically renounce his parents and old life. I believe something went wrong as many times it did on tour. He was left with nothing and trying to make it home when he died.
It is possible that Jason Doe was as young as 17, did his classmates miss him? Did his family move around a lot because of his father's work? Is that why friend's didn't miss Jason Doe?
This board is fascinating and addictive!
