MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – After 20 years, DNA evidence confirms a Myrtle Beach man who went missing after leaving the area to follow the band Grateful Dead, was killed in a car accident in Virginia in 1995.
Unknown victim identification program, a group managed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, says Jason Callahan was identified through DNA evidence after one of Callahan’s friends came forward with information after seeing a facial reconstruction photo from the center.
Callahan was killed in a car crash in Emporia, VA when he was 19-years-old. DNA was collected from searching family members, which confirmed the unidentified male was in fact Callahan.
A Myrtle Beach police report states Callahan was believed to have left the Myrtle Beach area to follow the Grateful Dead. According to reports, the John Doe at the site of the Virginia crash was found with no identification, but had two Grateful Dead tickets in his pocket and a letter addressed to “Jason.” The unidentified male was deemed “Grateful Doe,” following the crash.
The missing person report wasn’t filed by Callahan’s family until 2015. News13 sat down with Callahan’s parents in January, just days after the report was filed with police. Although they did not want to go on camera, Callahan’s parents said when their son left home he was an adult, and they never assumed anything happen to him, that he was just living on his own elsewhere. They say that is why nearly 20 years passed before they filed the missing person report.
