In the late summer of 1972, a 15-year-old boy named Earl Anthony 'Jay' Joggerst disappeared from his home in Arnold, Missouri. On August 4th, the day he was last seen, Jay, a white male with brown, wavy, shoulder-length hair and blue eyes, reportedly left his residence with a high school friend, Geraldine Hearst, and an unidentified 30-year-old man. The trio was seen in a red convertible, though specifics about the car's make and model are not widely known. Jay was described as being between 5'7' and 5'9' tall and weighing around 140 pounds. A notable and unique physical characteristic was a hypo-pigmented, triangular-shaped mark on his chest that resembled an arrowhead. At the time of his disappearance, his case was classified as an endangered runaway.
The circumstances surrounding Jay's decision to leave home are not extensively detailed in public records, but the initial belief was that he left voluntarily.
Sometime after their departure from Missouri, his friend, Geraldine Hearst, was located alive in California. However, there was no sign of Jay, and he has not been seen or heard from since. The identity of the 30-year-old man who accompanied the teenagers has never been publicly released, and it is unclear what, if any, information Geraldine was able to provide to investigators about Jay's whereabouts or the man they were with. The lack of information about this individual adds a layer of complexity and concern to the case.
Decades have passed since Earl 'Jay' Joggerst vanished, and his case remains unsolved, leaving his family with unanswered questions. Over the years, law enforcement agencies, including the Missouri State Highway Patrol, have been involved in the investigation. In 2018, Jay's case was reviewed to determine if he could be a potential victim of the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, but he was officially ruled out as a DNA match for any of Gacy's unidentified victims. The case is a collection of fragmented details: a teenage boy, a school friend, an unknown older man, and a red convertible heading west. While his friend was found, Jay's journey ended in a mystery that has endured for over fifty years. His disappearance serves as a somber reminder of the many individuals who go missing, leaving behind a void of information and a lifetime of what-ifs for those who knew and loved them.Last Seen: Aug 4, 1972
