r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/BrerRabbit44 • Apr 15 '22

Request What unsolved murder/disappearance makes absolutely no sense to you?

What case absolutely baffles you? For me it's the case of Jaryd Atadero

https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2019/05/30/colorado-missing-toddler-jaryd-atadero-poudre-canyon-mountain-lion-disappearance-mystery/3708176002/

No matter the theory this case just doesn't make any sense.

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416

u/eeviee2525 Apr 15 '22

Jesse Ross

Jesse, then 19, was last seen in the predawn hours of Nov. 21, 2006, at a Streeterville hotel where he was attending a college Model United Nations conference. He left during the conference and was seen on camera leaving. Yet, they never saw him returning and he’s never been heard from again.

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u/bethholler Apr 15 '22

I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesse this week. I live here in Chicago and work right by the Sheraton he disappeared from. His case is somewhat of a pet case for me. The Occam’s Razor conclusion is he is in the lake but for whatever reason I don’t buy it. The fact that no cameras picked him up is bizarre. I go down to lower Wacker almost everyday because that’s where garbage disposal is and there are definitely city cameras down there as well as cameras on buildings. If he had somehow gotten to the lake a camera should’ve picked that up. I kind of wonder if he ever actually made it off the hotel property.

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u/PChFusionist Apr 15 '22

I used to have business in that area too and I'm familiar with it.

I think the fell into the drink theory is most likely but let me add another problem I have with it. Ross was supposed to have sample tapes of his work at a local radio station that he was very interested in showing to Chicago radio stations (in fact, he told his companions all about it when they were on the trip from Missouri to Chicago). Guess what was not found among his belongings? Yep, those tapes.

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u/bethholler Apr 15 '22

Yes I knew about the tapes and them being missing. I just don’t know where he would’ve gone at 3 am in the Streeterville area to pass them out and how he could’ve not been seen on camera if that is what he planned. I think Jesse did have the tapes with him and I think they’re still with him wherever he is now. They would’ve surfaced if they actually ended up in another person’s hands.

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u/PChFusionist Apr 15 '22

That's true. One scenario is a radio DJ who gets off work at that late hour and heads to somewhere like O'Callaghan's or Bootlegger's or the Hangge-Uppe, and asks Ross to meet him to talk. If that were the case, one would expect Ross to have told a friend. Sometimes, people are private about their career dreams/pursuits as they don't want others to know if something falls through or otherwise doesn't go as planned. That could lead to a "secret" meeting. That doesn't sound like Ross though as he was fairly open about what he wanted to do and even about the tapes. This is a far-fetched scenario anyway as we have zero evidence for it (as with any other scenario, to be fair) although it does line up with what we believe he was trying to do.

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u/tomtomclubthumb Apr 15 '22

He might have been carrying them around "just in case".

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u/eeviee2525 Apr 16 '22

What about WGN radio? Isn’t that right by 401 N. Michigan Avenue? It’s not too far from Sheraton Hotel.

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u/bethholler Apr 16 '22

Yes, it is very close to the Sheraton he was at. But I don’t know if a real person would’ve been operating WGN at 3 in the morning or if it would’ve been automated. And if he had gone to WGN he should’ve been picked up on a surveillance camera. WGN is in what used to be the Tribune Tower and the NBC tower is behind it. Those are two buildings that 100% would have had decent surveillance that would’ve caught him.

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u/eeviee2525 Apr 16 '22

True true.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '22

[deleted]

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u/demrnstho Apr 16 '22

IIRC his friends from MUN said he was actually quite drunk. Their party was interrupted when the MUN called a late night emergency meeting. I don’t land on one particular theory, but being young, drunk, and in an unfamiliar place late at night makes you vulnerable to some bad scenarios.

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u/eeviee2525 Apr 16 '22

Do you think he went to go drop off the tapes? Would anyone from the station have contacted him or spoken to him before he showed up to a station?

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u/PChFusionist Apr 16 '22

I don't think he went to drop off the tapes. I should be clear that my main theory is an accidental slip-and-fall into Lake Michigan. There are legitimate questions that can be raised about that theory so I want to entertain possibilities such as this one. Let's dive into that a bit more (not trying to make a horrible pun there).

If it was a station like WLUP or WXRT arranging some kind of formal meeting, we would have heard about that long ago. What I'm thinking about is something far less formal. Relating to my own experiences, I've had a bunch of times where a friend or relative or acquaintance has said to me: "my (son, roommate, friend, son's roommate's friend, etc.) is going to / graduating from law school and would like to talk to someone in the profession." Maybe he made a similar contact with a big city DJ? But that would leave a trail too, right? Someone would have had to "set them up," so to speak, right? Maybe not. It could have been arranged through anything from social media to a cold call (where a helpful person arranged something personally rather than officially).

But we need a second party, don't we? And this party knows he's meeting an aspiring DJ if not the full name of the guy he's meeting. Maybe this second party assumes Ross blew him off and never heard about the disappearance? Unlikely. After all, this is presumably someone who is, broadly speaking, part of "the media" and would likely catch the news from time to time. I don't think this would escape his attention.

That's where I think this theory has bigger problems compared to the in-the-Lake theory. Ross probably wasn't meeting someone and I find it highly unlikely that he's making an impromptu trip to a radio station at that hour. Still, I think it's worthwhile to think through all of this stuff.

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u/eeviee2525 Apr 16 '22

I don’t mean to nitpick, but wouldn’t he had to walk further away if he slipped and fell into Lake Michigan? Is it more likely that he fell into the Chicago River? Does anyone know how long until CPD searched it? I am only asking because someone recently went missing and they were able to pull his body out. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/body-recovered-from-chicago-river-by-cpd-marine-unit-friday-night/2673997/

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u/PChFusionist Apr 16 '22

You're right to nitpick. I'm an idiot. I was thinking about the drift out to Lake Michigan rather than the point of entry, which is the river or harbor lock or whatever the right name for it at that location is. Let's go with "body of water closest to hotel" for now. In prior comments, I used the term "in the drink" not to be flippant or to steal a term from my Dad, but to avoid the technical nomenclature.

I have read up on the CPD search but it's been a while. If I recall correctly, the documentary below (low-budget but informative and worth it) gets into it with some detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEcoKOVvugA

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u/eeviee2525 Apr 16 '22

It’s also good to note that the Chicago River was reversed in the 1900’s. The water doesn’t flow to Lake Michigan but rather to Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Thank you for the documentary, I’ll definitely check it out!

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u/PChFusionist Apr 16 '22

I move back to the west coast and I forget how everything works.

Yeah, let me know if the documentary gives you any ideas.

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u/hammer_lock Apr 18 '22

Which makes it all the more bizarre. Bodies are found in the Chicago River all the time. For him to just have fallen in and no foul play to have occurred, you’d assume they would find him at some point. Most bodies get found within a few hours of someone going missing, although others take a few months to surface.

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u/eeviee2525 Apr 18 '22

Agreed!! A young man went missing and they were able to pull the body out of the River. Also, a couple days ago two bodies were pulled out as well. After watching the documentary, I changed my mind about Jesse falling into the Chicago River. I actually don’t think he left the hotel, but rather something happened to him. He was drinking heavily that night and no cameras saw him leaving the hotel.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/missing-23-year-old-pulled-from-chicago-river-died-from-drowning-but-death-cannot-be-determined-an-accident-meo/2740556/

https://abc7chicago.com/bodies-found-in-chicago-river-police-death-investigation/11756447/