Jeremy Donland Bright’s 1986 Disappearance


Jeremy Doland Bright is an American teenager who went missing under mysterious circumstances at the Coos County Fair in Myrtle Point, Oregon, on August 14, 1986.

At the time of his disappearance, Bright lived in Grants Pass and was in Myrtle Point visiting family.

On August 14, 1986, he went to the Coos County Fair with his younger sister.

During the day, the siblings parted ways, but Bright did not show up at the ferris wheel as planned that afternoon.

Several witnesses reported seeing Bright being forcibly taken away by an unknown man

However these sightings were not confirmed, and Bright has not been seen since that day.


Background 

Jeremy Doland Bright, born on May 25, 1972, in Baltimore, Maryland, was raised in Myrtle Point.

He lived in Oregon with his parents and sister, and it was reported that Jeremy loved sports.

In August 1986, fourteen-year-old Jeremy Bright was visiting Myrtle Point with his stepfather and younger sister.

On Wednesday, August 13, Jeremy Bright went to the Coos County Fair with his friend Johnny Fish.

That day, he called his mother, Diane, from a payphone.

During the call, they agreed that she would pick up him and his 10-year-old sister, S'te (pronounced es-tee), in Myrtle Point on August 15.

Later that day, Bright met his stepfather at a tavern owned by his grandmother and was given money to go to the fair the next day.

This was the last time his stepfather or grandmother saw him.



Disappearance

On Thursday, August 14, Bright went to the fair again, this time with his sister S'te.

The two separated around 2 p.m., and planned to meet again at 5 p.m. near the Ferris wheel on the fairgrounds.

Bright never reappeared by 5 p.m.

The next day, August 15, Bright's mother went to his stepfather's house in Myrtle Point to pick up Jeremy and S'te. 

Inside, she found Bright's wallet, watch, and the keys to their Grants Pass apartment.

When Bright didn’t show up that day, she contacted the authorities and reported him missing.



Investigation

Initially, local law enforcement suspected foul play in Bright's disappearance.

However, within the week after his disappearance, there were several reports of him being seen in the area.

This led detectives to temporarily classify Bright as a runaway.

Law enforcement believed that Bright may have run away with the traveling carnival. 

Also, several people, including S'te, had reported seeing Bright being "forcibly removed" by a man near the Ferris wheel at the fairgrounds between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m.

However, investigators didn't confirm this information.



Anonymous Tips

The police received a lot of tips about Bright's disappearance. 

Here are some of the tips authorities received:

1) One person claimed that Bright, who had a heart murmur, had attended a party where he drank a beer mixed with an illegal drug, leading to a fatal overdose.

2) Another anonymous tip from a prison inmate claimed that Bright had accidentally been shot to death by a group of quarrelsome men.

The tipster claimed the shooting happened while he was with his friends at a local swimming hole along the Coquille River.

3) Another tip claimed that Bright had been shot during target practice. 

This tipster alleged that those responsible tried to help him at a remote cabin, but he eventually died from his wound.

The tipster claimed his body had been buried in the woods in a shallow grave. 

Police searched the mentioned cabin and the surrounding area but found nothing.

4) Another unhelpful tip suggested that law enforcement "follow a road to a concrete bridge in western Nebraska."

5) Another tip led investigators to a young man named Jeremy Bright.

Jeremy was working for a circus company in Florida, where many traveling carnivals and circuses go during the winter months.

However, the man was found to be someone else from Colorado with the same name.



Theories 

Following the boy's disappearance, numerous theories and rumors circulated in Myrtle Point.

These theories were detailed in a 1989 segment on NBC's Unsolved Mysteries.

1) Drug Overdose -  One theory claimed that Bright had overdosed on a drug at a party, and those present had disposed of his body.

2) Foul Play - Another theory suggested that he had been shot by local men while swimming in the Coquille River. 

The men allegedly tried to nurse him back to health but eventually buried his body in a shallow grave after he died from the wound.

Law enforcement conducted searches of properties related to this theory but found no evidence leading to Bright's discovery.

3) Anonymous Suspect: Cecelia Fish, Johnny's sister, told police that on the night of Jeremy's disappearance, she saw a man from her apartment building covered in blood. 

She said the man was covered in blood and stumbling in the entryway.

It is not confirmed if the police followed up on this or not.

4) Terry Lee Steinhoff - According to some accounts, Bright was last seen in the passenger seat of a truck. 

The truck belonged to a young man named Terry Lee Steinhoff, who had once babysat Bright.

In January 1989, a week after the case was featured on Unsolved Mysteries, Steinhoff was charged with the stabbing death of 32-year-old Patricia Morris.

Police also considered Steinhoff a potential suspect in Bright's disappearance.

However, Steinhoff died in prison in 2007 from a heroin overdose.



Continuing investigation

According to a 2007 report, Bright's mother has resided in Florida since 1998, but returns to Myrtle Point each summer to assist in search efforts.

In August 2011, his family held a formal memorial service in his memory.

In October 2016, a pond about 25 miles (40 km) from Myrtle Point was searched after a tip suggested Bright might have been disposed of there. 

However, the search turned out to be unsuccessful.

In 2017, Bright was still missing and presumed dead by his family. 

As of 2024, his whereabouts remain unknown, and his disappearance is still an unsolved mystery.

If you have any information about Bright's disappearance, please contact the authorities as soon as possible so his family can receive some closure.

In another news, a man has just been arrested 25 years after his wife's severed head and decapitated body were found. 

He had never reported her missing after her initial disappearance. 

Click here to read more details on that case








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