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In November 2006, Jesse Ross, 20, a sophomore in college, traveled to Chicago with a group of thirteen of his fellow University of Missouri-Kansas City college students and their faculty sponsor. The group was in town to attend a model United Nations convention held at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. The conference drew more than 1,000 college students from around the country.
On Nov. 20, Jesse called his mother, Donna, to say that he was having a blast at the conference and that he would call her the next day when he and the group were headed back home.
The next night, Nov. 21, the last night of the conference, a dance was held at the hotel. Jesse was spotted on a surveillance photo just before 1 am. He was then seen again at about 2:30 a.m. by friend Ralph Parker. He and Parker were taking part in a simulated emergency U.N. meeting with 30 other students when Jesse left the conference room through a side door. A surveillance camera in the hotel lobby caught the unmistakable image of the red-haired Jesse, clad in a white T-shirt, jeans, and a green warm-up jacket, walking toward the main doors. He was carrying a Gatorade bottle. Parker assumed Jesse had either gone to the restroom or headed back to their hotel to sleep. The hotel was at the Four Points Sheraton at 630 N. Rush St., about ten minutes away, but Jesse never arrived. No one has seen him since.
When the meeting concluded at about 5:30 a.m., Parker walked back to the hotel room alone. He turned on the hall light so he wouldn’t disturb his roommate. “There was a big mess on the bed, and he’s so skinny, I figured he was under the mess somewhere,” Parker says of Jesse. But when he woke up at 10 a.m., he realized Jesse had never returned. No reason to panic, he probably just crashed in someone else’s room, Parker thought. “So I just packed up his stuff thinking he should be thanking me,” he says. It wasn't until about 3 p.m., 12 hours after Jesse had last been seen that Parker and the other UMKC students on the trip realized there was a real emergency.
Jesse Ross is still missing.
About Jesse
Jesse Ross is described as intelligent and funny--a very likable young man not known for ever being depressed or negative. While friends say he had the occasional drink, he never became belligerent or disorderly if drinking. Jesse also has a very bright future mapped out and was on the path to achieving his goals. To anyone who knows him, there is nothing to lead them to believe that Jesse could have walked away from his life or that he would have committed suicide.
Jesse was majoring in communication studies/broadcasting with a minor in political science. He had received a scholarship to attend the University of Missouri Kansas City because of his high ACT score in high school. While at school, he had gotten a promotion from unpaid intern to paid morning on-air personality at Kansas City radio station 95.7 FM - "The Vibe"--- dream job for a sophomore communication studies/broadcasting major. He was now a popular radio personality on the "Shorty and the Boyz" morning show. Coworkers decided he needed an on-air name, so they named him "Opie Cunningham," after Ron Howard's TV characters, Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham, said Don.
He was also looking forward to finishing up his new room in his parents' home, and he was pledging the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
No clues in disappearance
Since Jesse Ross was reported missing, police divers and cadaver dogs have searched along the Chicago River near the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. Police have also searched the area around both hotels---the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, where Jesse was last seen, and the Four Points Sheraton, where he was staying. They have not turned up any leads. Chicago police have found no evidence that he was a victim of foul play. There has been no activity on Jesse's credit cards or his cell phone, neither of which have been found. GPS tracking could not be used on Jesse's cell phone because it is either turned off or the battery is dead.
On a Web site dedicated to her son, Donna Ross has expressed her frustration. "When you lose someone you love when they pass on, you grieve and then you move on with your life," Donna said. "We are nowhere. We are still stuck in that revolving door. We know nothing more than we knew that first day."
Anyone with information about Jesse Ross’ disappearance should call Chicago police at (312) 744-8266.
Facts of Interest
Name/age: Jesse Ross, 20 (from Belton, MO)
http://www.findjesseross.com/
College: University of Missouri at Kansas City
Last seen: 11/21/06, 2:30 am, Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers (301 E. North Water St).
Notes: Jesse was staying at the Four Points Sheraton (630 N. Rush Street), 10 minutes away.
Physical Description: 5'10," 140# and has red hair and freckles. He was last seen wearing a green warm-up jacket and blue jeans.
Investigating Agency: Chicago Police, (312) 744-8266.
Published: 11/21/06. Updated: 6/17/11.
20 comments:
I am Jesse Ross's father. Donald. We are constantly looking for these types of items hoping the police will bring in addtional help to resolve some of these mysteries, hopefully Jesse's, but we pray for answers for all those who wait and wonder.
Mr. Ross, I am so sorry for the unimagineable nightmare you and your family have been going through. I hope my blog will help get the word out about mysteries like Jesse's. I am praying for answers as well. Please feel free to e-mail me at minne.blogmail@yahoo.com if there is anything I can do on this site that might help.
Lisa,
We are featuring Jesse this Monday, which is how I came across this blog. There's some great work here. Thanks for what you are doing. I know how much it means to families searching for their missing loved ones!
Have a good Christmas.
mammabear
I found this post in a message forum and agree 100%. How is it possible that not one camera caught an image of Jesse outside of the Sheraton? The entire location and surrounding areas must be loaded with them. Did the police check all video in all locations, including those from other buildings (not the Sheraton)? It just doesn't make any sense to me. I hate to say it but I don't think the police did a very thorough job here. I hate to say that but again, this just doesn't make sense. Someone must have seen something. In any case, here is the post I found:
I have walked every meter of the area, from Columbus St. to the lake, from the north side of the Sheridan across the river to Wacker. East and West on N. Water St., upper and lower levels. There is no way and I mean no way a person can leave the Sheridan Hotel without being seen and filmed on camera.
No matter what avenue a person departs on, they cannot leave without being on a camera. Even if you fall off into the river you are on camera. Maybe that is why the Chicago Police Dept. drug the river, they saw some thing on their cameras, but I don’t think so.
Doesn’t seem like there is much of a search going on any longer, but just to let you know I am still actively searching and will continue to do so. I pray I find Mr. Ross in good health and just hiding out for one reason or another. I’m just staying optimistic toward the situation.
I will keep you informed when any new information develops.
Sincerely Yours,
Walter D. Clemmons
White Church, Mo.
Comment by WDC | January 2, 2007
5 days before Jesse from Belton,MO was missing a soldier from Bellingham went missing in Tennessee.Jesse's nickname is Opie Cunningham.When is the FBI going to stop believing in their fairy tale story that there is no evidence of serial killers?Patterns do not just keep repeating like this on their own for a period of over ten years.
Jesse gave me the name of a radio station called the Mix and the name Randolph.he may have been in that area
Jesse Ross went missing 5 days after a young man in Clarksville.His name was Jessiah.Was the similarity in the first names a coincidence? keep the following facts in mind.
Clarksville is known for the most famous olympic runner-Wilma Rudolph-a black woman.
The most famous olympic runner that was a man was Jesse Owens
Several young men disappeared in late 2006 that were on myspace.One was Ross .One was Rossini and one attended a party on the Donald Ross road.This was less than a 2 month period
There is a similarity in the initials of Jesse Warren Ross and Wilma Rudolph.
Wade Steffy was missing in late 2006 and his body was found in Owen Hall
The year before Josh Snell went missing after making a strange phone call and his clothes were found in Owen Park
The first letters of band names victims can be associated with during a 2 month period spell SANE.
sane was left on a bridge near the water in Clarksville. The Clarksville victim ,was the first of the SANE victims and he can be associated with a band called Summit Avenue.
His name is Jameson so he also connects to Josh Szsotaks disappearance. Josh Parked on Delaware Avenue .Delaware connects to James ,which connects to Summit. He then went to a bar where Columbus connects to Pearl.This connects him to Brian Shaffer who had a Pearl Jam tattoo.
Josh (Albany,NY)went to Plattsburgh College which is at 101 Broad Street
The Clarksville victim was with the 101st Airborne Division.
Keep in mind 2 other,besides Josh were last seen at the address of 11 and in the Northeast in a 43 day period 2 young men that went missing were disc jockeys.One of those young men was Josh
Jesse Ross was also a DJ and he went missing 2 months after Luke Homan.
Luke Homan played for the Eagles.he was last seen at the Vibe bar
Jesse Ross worked at a radio station called the VIBE
Jesse's brother was an eagle scout.
The symbol for the 101st division is the Eagle
Brian Shaffer was at a bar where 11th connects to Pearl
He was also on a street that had a PIRE Office and PIRE was spelled out with the first letters of city names.
One of the NY victims was Abert Campell who was last seen at the address of 11.he was a Clarkson university student.
The Clarksville victim was a Fort Campbell soldier
The fist letters of city names leading up to Campbells disappearance spell out CAMP.After that there was an attempted murder of Cullen Fortney
Jesse Ross had worked at the East Glen theatre which is near St Luke BLVD
Jesse Owens lived in Glenville.
In addition nemec had been spelled out when Jenkins went missing and his death is being investigated as a homicide.
NEmEC explains the word sane because nemec played a part in the Steven Stayner story .Steven's brother was a serial killer reported to be found sane
11/16/2006 Tn Jessiah Jameson- Summit Avenue
11/21/2006 Il Jesse Ross- A Dead Giveaway
12/06/2006 Il Bryan Guzman North Central Jazz Ensemble
1/13/2007 Wade Steffey- Everclear
whoops
made a couple errors
I don't know if Ross was on myspace.Several people that went missing in late 2006 were on myspace and many the people named were missing in late 2006 in a short period of time
and Josh was not at the address of 11, but he did attend college at the address of 101
Jesse Ross is from Belton.His nickname is Opie Cunningham
The fort Campbell soldier is from Bellingham
The investigation started with Patrick McNeil who was reported to be found 11 miles away at pier 69
Patrick has a celtic cross tattoo and jesse Ross played for the Celtics
The Fort Campbell soldier was last seen at the address of 690
How much is it going to take before the dum dums quit dismissing this all as coincidence?
Any single thing could be a coincidence but there are multiple patterns.There are map patterns,name patterns,tattoo patterns ,band patterns and various similarities with names. many of the similarities are within a short time frame.
As was mentioned, Matthew Soumakis went missing from this hotel area as well, as did Trevor Hoheisel in 1998.
Now I'm really curious to see if there are more we haven't noted.
Barbara,
I have been keeping an eye on Chicago. My research has turned up 9 disappearances along the East Coast from 1998-2006:
- 1 seems to be related to mental illness
- 1 has circumstances completely unknown
- 8 were last seen at a bar or party.
There does seem to be a grouping around E. North Water Street.
They should look for Jesse at Pier 23. There are similarities with 7 different groups with young men missing the same day. David Reilly was at a bar called Pier 23 the day he was last seen.
dear mr ross, i stay in scotland which i no is many miles away from your family and from where ross dissapeared, but i watched a programme about your boys dissapearence, im was touched by the programme and listening to yourself, your wife and other son brought tears to my eyes, how does someone like that just vanish without a trace? it doesent make sense, there must be cctv or some other footage that has captured your sons movements? such a shame, i just wanted to let you no that even here in scotland we are aware of what has happened to your boy and i hope and pray someday that you get news that can help put some of your questions to rest. linda
The very first thing I thought when I heard of this tragic disappearance was what if he never left the hotel? There's no concrete proof that he left and CCTV would have captured him somewhere if he did.
I hope this mystery is solved and while his parents are still around. My thoughts are with them, it must be so difficult to suddenly lose a child and have no sort of closure. Jesse seems like he was a really cool guy too, the kind of person everyone would like. I hope you're happy wherever you are Jesse.
Why did he leave by himself? How can no one see him? Did he meet a girl with a jealous boyfriend?
Does train tracks mean anything? Something green with blue on the feet.
This makes me so sad that I am writing this in 2017 and there is still nothing more known about Jesse's disappearance. I agree with what others are saying, he should have shown up on more hotel cameras if he went anywhere. A place like that in downtown Chicago would be covered in security cameras, as well as surrounding businesses. I'm wondering if someone within the hotel is responsible. Did they use search dogs to sniff out what direction he might have gone in and how far he could have gone? Seems like they would have.
Ok so what does all this mean?
Hi Donald..it is 10 years since you posted this and I doubt you will ever read this, but my heart goes out to you and your family. I can't imagine the pain and frustration you feel. I'm so very sorry for your loss. Something has been bothering me all day about this case. The video surveillance of Jesse when he was last seen is from the hotel he was sleeping in, not the hotel that the "emergency meeting" was held in, correct? I can't find anything that states that he was picked up on video anywhere else. Is is possible that his roommate and friend isn't telling the truth about seeing him at the meeting? If there is no video of him going in or out of the second hotel, or anywhere else between the two hotels, logic leads me to believe that he never left the first hotel at all and didn't show up at the emergency meeting. I'm hoping that I have my facts straight here..but has his roommate been considered a person of interest at all? Once again, I am so sorry for your loss and I truly hope you get the answers that you and your family very much deserve.
Jennifer Scully, I totally agree with your comment. The time stamp on the cctv photo is 12:43 AM which means he was leaving the hotel where he was staying and heading to the emergency meeting. No news articles seem interested in why this is and I've seen many people allude to that photo being the last time he was seen and saying it was him leaving the hotel where the meeting was, but it doesn't seem that it the case. I am so intrigued to know how he wasn't caught on video going from the hotel where he was staying to the actual emergency meeting. If he never left the hotel where he was staying why did people say they saw him at the meeting? I cannot imagine going through this and I also don't see how someone can just vanish. I hope the Ross's are able to find what happened to their son! My heart goes out to anyone who is missing a family member.
I just watched “The Last Time I Saw Jesse” on Prime. I don’t think he ever left the hotel and it didn’t set right with me the comments his friend/roommate made about it seemed like Jesse wanted to start a new life. The comments were odd. As his close friend and the person to last see Jesse, it seems to me the friend would be saying “something bad had to have happened; no way would Jesse vanish of his own accord - he loved his parents, they were paining his room, he was pledging a fraternity” etc. Instead he made vague comments that seemed to give credence to Jesse staging his own disappearance. To which I say, no way. Something fishy there...
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