Jeremy Bright

[Latka Gravas]

I'm a new watcher of the original UM, and saw this JB episode earlier this week. Very disturbing, and a case which has really stayed with me for a long time after seeing the episode.

As to what actually happened to JB, the spiked drink possibility; a vehicle hit & run; etc. are all plausible. But, JB has never been found - so, there is no real way to know for sure what happened. I don't buy the swimming hole theory (at least not the way it was presented in UM) because it makes no sense that JB would have gotten shot during the day in front of multiple witnesses & no one has come forward.

The interview in UM of the sister?! of one of JB's friends - who saw the guy in the apartment building (w/blood allegedly all over his shirt) is interesting, but IMHO just anecdotal.

Also, I was only a couple of years older than JB was in '86, and I do remember hearing stories of kids getting kidnapped during that era. Though I'm sure it happened in previous decades as well, the '80's was the first time a lot of attention started being paid to these crimes. So, I definitely believe that JB may have been kidnapped by someone & then never seen again (in that area) because the person who did it left town & took JB with them, etc. Is JB still alive?! Unfortunately, probably not.

Originally Posted by Ostaro1977

I do agree with some of the earlier posts that there are some potentially similar characteristics to the Kurt Sova case. A bunch of teenagers go to a party, things get out of hand, and Jeremy sadly dies from it. In the panic that ensues, teenagers figure that disposing of the body is the quick and easy solution to the problem. I'm sure that some sort of bullying has been what has kept people quiet for so long, but you would think that anyone who knew what happened would, by now, have the decency to finally put the mystery, as well as Jeremy's family's questions, to rest once and for all. I really sympathize with his mother and sister, both very strong women who, IIRC, have made posts on this board in the past. All in all, though, I do suspect that Jeremy's death was an accident, covered up by people being too afraid to tell the truth, due to retribution. However, I also wonder if possibly something Jeremy saw or heard at the party could have made him silenced for whatever reason(maybe that's why his friend wouldn't say anything, and was in such a state of shock, fear of the same thing happening to him)...not a real strong theory, but you never know...a very sad case indeed, that is more than past due for closure...

The possible similarity to the KS case is something I thought of as well, if the spiked drink theory is to be believed.

[kane7474]

The main similarity with the Sova case is that both were botched by LE in the beginning which hindered a positive outcome

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by kane7474

The main similarity with the Sova case is that both were botched by LE in the beginning which hindered a positive outcome

And both appear to have been accidental deaths the result of hooligan behavior by local boogeymen teens or young men where those responsible may have made an unsuccessful attempt to nurse them back to health.

But I do emphasize appear to have been, cause we don't know for sure. I don't think you can totally rule out homicide in either case. More Jeremy Bright than Kurt Sova though. In fact I'd be surprised if Jeremy's disappearance and likely death was not manslaughter at the very least.

[kane7474]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

And both appear to have been accidental deaths the result of hooligan behavior by local boogeymen teens or young men where those responsible may have made an unsuccessful attempt to nurse them back to health.

But I do emphasize appear to have been, cause we don't know for sure. I don't think you can totally rule out homicide in either case. More Jeremy Bright than Kurt Sova though. In fact I'd be surprised if Jeremy's disappearance and likely death was not manslaughter at the very least.

Right well with Sova you have a body and we know he was not murdered. I think that case of fairly cut and dry. With both cases though, if LE had aggressively pursued these cases as crimes right off the bat, both would have been solved within weeks

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by kane7474

Right well with Sova you have a body and we know he was not murdered. I think that case of fairly cut and dry. With both cases though, if LE had aggressively pursued these cases as crimes right off the bat, both would have been solved within weeks

I thought they were unable to determine Kurt's cause of death. In which case not sure how you can rule out murder completely.

Plus you had the guy at the record store seeming to brag about how they would find him dead in a few days and no one would know how. In my opinion the only way he knew this was he knew that Kurt had been exposed to some sort of drug that would dissolve in his system in a few days and that's why they didn't plant his body. Of course the story about him could have been bogus or overexaggerated by the record store owner. But I think its enough to raise some doubts.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

Plus you had the guy at the record store seeming to brag about how they would find him dead in a few days and no one would know how. In my opinion the only way he knew this was he knew that Kurt had been exposed to some sort of drug that would dissolve in his system in a few days and that's why they didn't plant his body. Of course the story about him could have been bogus or overexaggerated by the record store owner. But I think its enough to raise some doubts.

I don't think the guy "knew" Kurt was going to be found dead. He saw the missing persons poster and correctly deduced that they would eventually find his body. What is overlooked in the UM segment is that this guy left the creepy note the day prior to Kurt's body being found with the line, "they found him dead, and they'll find you too". But they didn't find him dead yet. And the police had to have questioned this guy immediately, because according to UM, when Kurt's body was discovered he "disappeared". Since the note was left the day prior to Kurt's body being discovered, this means the cops questioned him that same day that the note was left.

[JohnUM]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

I don't think the guy "knew" Kurt was going to be found dead. He saw the missing persons poster and correctly deduced that they would eventually find his body. What is overlooked in the UM segment is that this guy left the creepy note the day prior to Kurt's body being found with the line, "they found him dead, and they'll find you too". But they didn't find him dead yet. And the police had to have questioned this guy immediately, because according to UM, when Kurt's body was discovered he "disappeared". Since the note was left the day prior to Kurt's body being discovered, this means the cops questioned him that same day that the note was left.

This. I think the guy said some BS trying to be funny and it ended up coming true...or it was a sensationalized/ red herring.

[ghosthouse]

Then authorities talked to Johnny's sister, Cecilia. She said that on the day after Jeremy vanished, between midnight and 1am, she and a friend were leaving her sister's apartment when they ran into a neighborhood teen with blood all over his clothes. Shocked, they asked what happened, and he responded "This happened hours ago". He laughed and then went into another apartment.
A half hour later, Johnny arrived at his other sister's apartment; he was shaking and terrified of something, but refused to say what had happened.

Uhh...did they thoroughly interrogate Johnny??

[TheCars1986]

Here's what I don't understand about this case.

-Jeremy called his mother on Thursday, August 14th at approximately 5:00 p.m. and told her how much fun he was having at the fair. She told him she would be by to pick him and his sister, S'te, up on Saturday the 16th.

-UM says the last time "Jeremy was ever seen by his family" was at 9:45 p.m., on August 14th, when he went to borrow money from his stepfather.

-Various articles, like this one, or this one state that Jeremy and S'te were attending the fair together on the 14th, and that they had planned to meet back up at the ferris wheel at 5:00 p.m. When Jeremy never showed up, S'te reported him missing to a police officer at the fair.

-Jeremy's Wikipedia page makes it seem like the events that UM reported happened on the 14th had actually occurred the day prior, on Wednesday the 13th. The 14th is when he and S'te returned to the fair and planned to meet up at the ferris wheel at 5:00 p.m.

-The UM version with Stack says that Jeremy's stepfather:

On Friday August 15th, Olie went to work before dawn and didn't see Jeremy leave for the fair. But that day a handful of people saw Jeremy and Johnny enjoying the festivities.

-The very next line in the Stack version:

Around 4:45 on that same Thursday, Jeremy placed a long distance call to his mother, Diane.

So UM says that Jeremy was seen at the fair on the 15th, which would have been a Friday. I'm willing to say that maybe this was the day that he and S'te went to the fair and agreed to meet back up at the ferris wheel at 5. But Jeremy's mother, when arriving at their stepfather's house on Saturday, found Jeremy's wallet and keys sitting on the TV stand. So at some point after seeing his stepfather at the bar, he made it back to his house. His mother also said that he "wouldn't leave without them". So once he made it back to his stepdad's house, where did he go from there?

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Here's what I don't understand about this case.

-Jeremy called his mother on Thursday, August 14th at approximately 5:00 p.m. and told her how much fun he was having at the fair. She told him she would be by to pick him and his sister, S'te, up on Saturday the 16th.

-UM says the last time "Jeremy was ever seen by his family" was at 9:45 p.m., on August 14th, when he went to borrow money from his stepfather.

-Various articles, like this one, or this one state that Jeremy and S'te were attending the fair together on the 14th, and that they had planned to meet back up at the ferris wheel at 5:00 p.m. When Jeremy never showed up, S'te reported him missing to a police officer at the fair.

-Jeremy's Wikipedia page makes it seem like the events that UM reported happened on the 14th had actually occurred the day prior, on Wednesday the 13th. The 14th is when he and S'te returned to the fair and planned to meet up at the ferris wheel at 5:00 p.m.

-The UM version with Stack says that Jeremy's stepfather:



-The very next line in the Stack version:



So UM says that Jeremy was seen at the fair on the 15th, which would have been a Friday. I'm willing to say that maybe this was the day that he and S'te went to the fair and agreed to meet back up at the ferris wheel at 5. But Jeremy's mother, when arriving at their stepfather's house on Saturday, found Jeremy's wallet and keys sitting on the TV stand. So at some point after seeing his stepfather at the bar, he made it back to his house. His mother also said that he "wouldn't leave without them". So once he made it back to his stepdad's house, where did he go from there?

Hmm, I was always under the impression Jeremy was not seen at all after he left his uncle's tavern when he asked for money. And that whatever happened to him must have happened that night.

So if that was Thursday night, is there any verifiable sighting of Jeremy after that night? Has it been verified that he was with his friend on Friday? And did his family verify that he was home at all at some point on Thursday night? If no one saw him leave Friday morning, it makes you wonder if he even made it home Thursday night. Or that it can be verified if he was even still alive Friday.

I hate to be one of those people, but this kid was only in 8th grade going into 9th grade. Seems to me they didn't have to much supervision over his movements at this time. he was old enough to have some freedom but the lack of knowledge of where he was most of the week is not the best look in the world for sure and it certainly didn't pay off in this situation. I won't say much because I'm sure they regret it like hell but still. His mom may very well have trusted someone with his supervision that dropped the ball.

Also, Jeremy's friend who was with him it seems to me would be the star witness since Steinhoff and the others believed to be involved are either dead or unlikely to talk. But I have seen nothing over the years indicating he has been interviewed or given any further information, or what his story is now. Makes you mad really, he is an adult now probably in his 50's. You would think at some point someone would grow up and come clean. Of course its possible he doesn't know what happened, but why was he so traumatized that day if he doesn't?

[TheCars1986]

Jeremy's friend Johnny died back in 2011.

[Jediknight1823]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

I hate to be one of those people, but this kid was only in 8th grade going into 9th grade. Seems to me they didn't have to much supervision over his movements at this time. he was old enough to have some freedom but the lack of knowledge of where he was most of the week is not the best look in the world for sure and it certainly didn't pay off in this situation. I won't say much because I'm sure they regret it like hell but still. His mom may very well have trusted someone with his supervision that dropped the ball.

It was the 80s, and that was the norm. Me and my friends were pretty much told by our parents to be back in time for dinner, and afterwards don't be out too late. And that's when I was 8 to 10. Of course my friends' dad gave them pocket knives, and gave me one after asking my dad if it was okay for protection.

We were stupidly naive at that time.

[ghosthouse]

Originally Posted by Jediknight1823

It was the 80s, and that was the norm. Me and my friends were pretty much told by our parents to be back in time for dinner, and afterwards don't be out too late. And that's when I was 8 to 10. Of course my friends' dad gave them pocket knives, and gave me one after asking my dad if it was okay for protection.

We were stupidly naive at that time.

IDK about no knowledge for most of the week...but when I was 7/8/9 years old in the mid to late 80s...we'd take off in our neighborhood and our parents would have zero idea where we were.

I remember weekend days when my mom was working my dad would take a nap and we might just take off and be out for hours til dark and he would have zero idea where we were with no worry. Just different times.

Today, I won't let my kids go to the park across the street unless I am sitting in our driveway to keep an eye on them.

[dynoguy88]

The Lore Lodge Youtube channel did a 48-minute recap on Jeremy's story, including the mention of our discussion about the case here on sitcomsonline with posts by Jeremy's mother and sister....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kqcIxCqMfA

[Allierain]

Originally Posted by ghosthouse

IDK about no knowledge for most of the week...but when I was 7/8/9 years old in the mid to late 80s...we'd take off in our neighborhood and our parents would have zero idea where we were.

I remember weekend days when my mom was working my dad would take a nap and we might just take off and be out for hours til dark and he would have zero idea where we were with no worry. Just different times.

Today, I won't let my kids go to the park across the street unless I am sitting in our driveway to keep an eye on them.

Early 80s kid here. It’s true, in those days we were out riding bikes all over the place, playing at multiple houses, in driveways, with no supervision. We were gone for hours sometimes and nobody worried. I’m not sure if that era was safer or if we were just stupid. Those days marked the birth of the kids on the milk cartons. I think some of it goes back to the early 70s and the beginning of the modern latchkey kids. I know people hate terms like that’s how it was done, but that’s how it was done.

I know I left posts (probably in this thread) back in the very early 2000’s criticizing Jeremy’s mom for not keeping a closer eye on his activities during the fair, but now as an older adult and a parent I feel differently. I sincerely apologize to her for those posts. I was wrong. She was doing what every parent did, it was normal for that era.