If you were born at least 50 years ago, please think hard… Did you know a man who just seemed to vanish in the year 1978? Was he known to hitch-hike? Did he have any ties to Oregon or Idaho? Was he missing his left eye? (Consider that his eye may have been injured after you last saw him too.)
Maybe you have a missing family member that was known to be a drifter or transient who just seemed to vanish from the family. Anyway, this man you see in this photo is nick-named One-Eyed Jack. He is a John Doe who was murdered in 1978 by a man who had given him a ride from an area near Boise, Idaho to Alaska. “Jack” actually allegedly wanted to travel to Pendleton, Oregon, but the driver told him he was on his way to Alaska. Jack decided to go along for the trip. Upon their arrival to Alaska, the driver strangled and stabbed “Jack”. He then disposed of his body in the woods near the highway. The driver claimed that the man told him his name was either John or Jack. But keep in mind, “Jack” may have been lying for privacy concerns. Or it may have been a new-found nick-name. Or, the driver may have lied. So, keep an open mind with the name. For all we know, his name could be anything.
“Jack” also told the driver that he was married and that he was about 32 years old in 1978, making him born around the year 1945-1947. Apparently Jack had a driver’s license from the state of Oregon. He told the driver that his eye was damaged in a logging accident. He also told the driver that he used to be a car washer back in Colorado or Utah and that he may have worked for Lincoln Auto Dealership, possibly in CO or UT.
“Jack’s” remains were found in Tok, Alaska on August 20, 1979, about 11 months after his death. He is described as being Caucasian, about 6′ tall, about 185 lbs, with almost shoulder-length wavy brown hair and brown eyes. He was found wearing a red and black flannel button-down shirt. He also had an eye mask on. He had some facial hair as well. In his pocket was a marble. It is believed he was a smoker. He was allegedly found with an eye mask, but due to the age of this case, passed down information could have been skewed.
So, here’s what we can conclude about this murder victim: He likely has ties to Oregon and/or Idaho. He was likely a transient or maybe even homeless. He may have just loved to travel. He was possibly a habitual hitchhiker. He was possibly married. He “may” have been missing his left eye. It is unclear whether or not his eye was definitely missing before his death, because we are relying on the words of a murderer. His eye could have been injured after or upon his death. When his body was found, it was skeletonized.
“Jack’s” murderer was sentenced to prison, and he passed away in 2003.
You’re probably wondering a couple obvious things:
1- Where is this alleged driver’s license? Well, I don’t even know if detectives know where it is. It supposedly was not found on “Jack’s” possession. Since he was found a year after his death, anything is possible.
2- Why has he not been matched with a missing person? There are so many reasons why this could be the case:
-Theory: He didn’t have a family or loved ones.
-Theory: He was estranged from his family.
-Theory: His family figured he was fine.
-Theory: He told his family not to worry and they just presumed he was starting anew.
-Theory: His family assumed he abandoned them.
-Theory: He was habitual hitchhiker and a known transient, and his loved ones figured he just went to somewhere new, or may be living off the grid.
-Theory: His family may not have filed a missing person’s report.
-Theory: His family did in fact file a missing person’s report, but it somehow “slipped through the cracks”, as many cases did in those days! They were often not taken seriously, or lost with system modifications, etc.
-Theory: His family filed a report but have all since passed away.
-Theory: He is a known / filed missing person who is not in the Namus.gov database. (This happens often.)
3. Where is his wife? Was she alive at the time of his passing? Did he even have a wife? Did she look for him? Were they estranged?
Please contact the Medical Examiner’s Office at 907-334-2200 if you have any information on this case.
You can also interact with me on my Facebook page, and I will forward tips to the Medical Examiner. www.facebook.com/undergroundmysteries
Key phrases or SEO:
180 lbs, 180 pounds, 185 lbs, 185 pounds, 190 lbs, 190 pounds, 32 years old, 6’1″, Alaska, beard, blind in left eye, blind in one eye, blind man, blindness, Boise, Boise id, born in 1945, born in 1946, born in 1947, brown eyes, brown hair, can’t see out of his left eye, cold case murder unidentified 1978, Colorado, Colorado missing man, could not see from his left eye, couldn’t use his left eye, curly brown hair, curly hair, dark brown hair, died at 32, died in 1978, died with one eye, disappeared around 1978, disappeared in 1978, does not have a left eye, doesn’t have a left eye, doesn’t have his left eye, doesn’t have his left eyeball, estranged and missing, estranged since 1978, eye injury, eye injury while logging, eye mask, eye patch, eye poked out, eye surgery, eye was injured, eye was removed, eyeball got poked out, eyeball injury, eyeball is missing, eyeball missing, eyeball surgery, eyeball was lost, eyeball was poked out, facial hair, flannel jacket, found deceased in 1978, found deceased in 1979, had a left eye patch, had a mask on his eye, had a mask on his left eye, had a patch on his eye, had a patch on his left eye, half blind, has one eye, has only 1 eye, has only one eye, hasn’t made contact since 1978, homeless and missing, homeless from Oregon, ID, Idaho, injured eye, injured left eye, jack, Jack Doe, john doe, last heard from him in 1978, left eye injury, left eye is blind, left eye is missing, left eye is not there, left eye was removed, left eye was taken out, left eye went blind, left eyeball is missing, Lincoln Auto, Lincoln auto dealership, loading logs, logger, logging, logging accident, logging eye injury, logging injury, long brown hair, lost an eye cutting a tree down, lost his eye cutting a tree, lost his eye cutting log, lost his eye cutting logs, lost his eye moving a tree, lost his eye transplating a tree, lost his eye while logging, lost his left eye, lost his left eye cutting logs, lost left eye, loves to travel, medium brown hair, medium build, missing an eye, missing an eyeball, missing eye, missing eyeball, Missing from AK, Missing from Alaska, Missing from ID, Missing from OR, Missing from Oregon, missing homeless man, Missing in AK, Missing in Alaska, missing in Colorado, Missing in ID, Missing in Idaho, Missing in Oregon, missing logger, missing originally from Oregon, missing person, missing person with one eye, missing since 1976, missing since 1977, missing since 1978, Missing since 1978 in Oregon, missing since 1979, missing since about 1977, missing since about 1978, missing since around 1976, missing since the late 1970’s, missing since the late 1970s, missing since the late 70’s, missing since the late 70s, missing transient, missing tree cutter, mustache, needs eye mask, needs eye patch, no one has heard from him since 1978, one-eyed, one-eyed jack, only had 1 eye, only had one eye, only has 1 eye, only has his right eye, only has one eye, only has right eyeball, OR, Oregon, Oregon missing man, passed away in 1978, possibly from Colorado, skidding accident, skidding trees, tall, transient and missing, transplanting a tree, tree cutter, tree mover, tree transplantor, tree transporter, tree trimmer, tree-cutter who went missing, underrepresented case, unidentified, unidentified john doe, unidentified man, unidentified man with one eye, unidentified since 1978, wears a left eye patch, wears a mask on his eye, wears a patch on his eye, wears a patch on his left eye, wears a patch on one eye, wears an eye patch, wears eye mask, wears eye patch, went missing around 1977, went missing around 1978, went missing around the year 1978, went missing at 32, went missing in 1977, went missing in 1978, went missing in the late 70’s, wore a left eye patch, wore an eye patch, worked on trees, missing since January 1977, missing since January of 1977, missing since February 1977, missing since February of 1977, missing since march 1977, missing since march of 1977, missing since April 1977, missing since April of 1977, missing since may 1977, missing since may of 1977, missing since June 1977, missing since June of 1977, missing since July 1977, missing since July of 1977, missing since august of 1977, missing since august 1977, missing since September 1977, missing since September of 1977, missing since October 1977, missing since October of 1977, missing since November 1977, missing since November of 1977, missing since December 1977, missing since December of 1977, missing since January of 1978, missing since January 1978, missing since February of 1978, missing since February of 1978, missing since march of 1978, missing since march 1978, missing since April of 1978, missing since April 1978, missing since may 1978, missing since may of 1978, missing since June 1978, missing since June of 1978, missing since July 1978, missing since July of 1978, missing since august 1978, missing since august of 1978, missing since September 1978, missing since September of 1978, missing since October of 1978, missing since October 1978, missing since November 1978, missing since November of 1978, missing since December 1978, missing since December of 1978, missing around 1978, missing sometime in 1978, missing sometime in 1977, missing around 1976, missing since 1976, missing since about 1976, missing since about 1977, smoker, smoked cigarettes, marble in his pocket, marble, married, married man, born in Oregon, OR, born in Utah, UT, born in Alaska, AK, born in Colorado, CO, CO missing man, Missing from CO, born in Boise, from Boise, from Idaho, from Oregon, high school in Oregon, Oregon nomad, married but separated, married then separated, separated, separated from his wife, estranged wife, estranged from his family, abandoned his family, left his home, abandoned his life, Pendleton, OR, Pendleton OR, Pendleton, Oregon, Missing from Pendleton OR, Missing from Pendleton, OR, Missing in Pendleton, OR, Idaho, Colorado, Missing from CO, Missing in ID, Missing from ID, Missing from UT
Leave a Reply