WASHINGTON — Authorities say that online sleuths helped crack a 25-year-old mystery involving an unidentified man known as “Grateful Doe” for the concert tickets found on his body.
Police say that Jason Callahan, 19, from Myrtle Beach, S.C., was reportedly following the Grateful Dead when he was involved in a fiery car crash and was killed instantly. He was burnt beyond recognition, and because his family never reported him missing, no one claimed his remains. All he left behind were the tickets, and a letter addressed to “Jason.” The only identifying information: a star tattoo, according to a New York Times account.
The paper lists a number of amateur investigators on Reddit, Websleuths and Facebook, who, armed with these few clues, sketches and a composite image of the victim, were able to piece together enough to build a profile over the years and spread the word. The last breakthrough came when an old roommate of Callahan saw the photo. After Callahan’s mother, Margaretta Evans, saw the story online, she contacted the operator of one of the sites dedicated to “Grateful Doe.” She identified her son and the news soon went viral. Condolences have been pouring in for the family, who told reporters that Callahan was a frequent runaway and that is why he was never officially reported “missing.”
“No one ever thought to report him missing because they thought he wanted to be missing,” his half-sister, Shannon Michelson, told The Associated Press.
the Grateful Doe case has come to an end 20 years later. RIP Jason Callahan gone to soon brother ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/FtW2ZsMNl5
— QB (@_myhippy) December 9, 2015
