By Sharon Weatherall
The story of
Jake Just – a missing Midland teen has haunted me for many years now.
Each year in
the past I worked with the local Midland Police and Ontario Provincial Police
(OPP) – who are handling the case now, to provide an anniversary story in the
paper reminding people that Jake is gone but public help is still needed to try
and find out what happened to him on the fateful night he went missing.
The Midland
teen disappeared on October 30, 1998 - Halloween Eve, without a trace. He’d been
at a party and was gone exactly 24 hours when his mother Debbie called the
police. Not a day has gone by since that she doesn’t wish she’d called
sooner. Would it have made any difference? No one knows, least of all the
police.
“It was 8
p.m. and I had just finished handing out tricker-treats to the kids when I
decided something was not right and I was calling the police,” said Just.
“He never
came home and that was not like Jake but I wasn’t sure what to do. I had called
all of his friends but thought I had to wait a certain amount of time before
calling the police. They told me later you can call anytime if it is unusual
behaviour.”
Every Halloween
Just deals with the fact that another year has passed with no word and the crack
in her heart gets deeper. In the years that he has been missing many programs
had been set in place to create interesting new ways of bringing attention back
to this story. Jake Just is not just another missing kid – he’s someone's child and one of hundreds
that go missing across the continent each year. Programs like pictures on milk
cartons, a $50,000 OPP reward posting and age enhanced pictures (http://www.opp.ca/ecms/index.php?id=182),
extended media coverage and assistance from psychics are among the many methods
being used to try and find out what happened to Jake Just – a 6’2”, 170 pound,
blonde haired, green eyed Caucasian boy.
Jake was
last seen separating from a friend to take a short cut home through the woods. Extensive
searches involving police and community, as well as interviews with almost 200
people turned up nothing. Since he went missing, OPP have continued to carry
out grid searches of the Midland Sunnyside wooded area he entered trying to locate
even a sole from his running shoes or a scrap from the Jaguar knapsack he was
carrying – the only things that might remain after so many years. There has even been a television show on the
case.
On the
morning of October 31, 2007 at 7 a.m. hundreds of thousands of people across
the country saw Jake Just on TV and heard his story in hopes that maybe just
one of them would remember something, even the smallest detail of information
that could lead to finding Jake who would have turned 27 that year. He was
featured on the national digital channel Court TV Canada a show produced and
hosted by Sue Sgambati - former crime reporter for the Toronto Star. In fact the Crime Files Cold Case Edition
program on the ‘Disappearance of Jake Just’ was broadcast six times in less
than one week.
Sadly
although police confirm that the show, anniversary stories and other exercises
to help stimulate information have resulted in endless tips each year, none has
led to anything solid in the case. After so long, Debbie Just has moved forward
with her life as much as she can, however there remains a painful sense of loss
when she thinks of her son Jake - a loss
that will only be rectified when she gets some sort of closure.
“I think the cold case and missing person
shows on television now are a good idea because someone might know something
important and they don’t even know it. The bad thing is the criminals might get
smarter about hiding evidence by watching such shows. I hope the awareness
factor may outweigh the negative factors because a lot of criminals have been
caught and given families the closure they need,” said Just.
Debbie Just
says since Jake has been gone time moves in two ways for her – fast and slow.
All around she sees people moving on with their lives, Jake’s friends are
growing up, getting married and having families of their own and she is happy
they have been able to the do that. She says they stay in contact and every
once in while she finds something at the cemetery - a bottle of beer or some
flowers that tell her they are still thinking about him too.
As a mother
of three boys, I have been able to identify with this lovely lady, her patience
and hope, but in all honesty I cannot separate from her pain. The tears in her
heart cause my own to ache and I will continue to work in whatever way I can to
help find out what happened to Jake Just. As a writer I will use my blog as a tool to continue
working towards this end and post reminders of Jake from time to time to keep
him his story alive in everyone’s mind.
Can I please
remind anyone with information regarding Jake Just – even the tiniest seemingly
unimportant fact, to call police at 1-888-310-1122 or contact Crime stoppers? Visit the OPP Missing person site: http://www.opp.ca/ecms/index.php?id=182 and look at the age enhancement photos to see what Jake would look like now.
