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| Jeremy Peck |
Peck did not have a vehicle, so after leaving the pub, it is believed that he would have walked down California Avenue to Alaska or Juneau Street. But he never made it home.
"He's too hungry. He eats like a puppy," John told the West Seattle Herald on January 9, 2011.
According to reports, JP did not have enough money to disappear, was not on any type of medication and had no mental illnesses.
When JP didn't come home for Christmas, his uncle began contacting JP's many friends. It was not unusual for JP, who was unemployed, to spend a couple days with friends--but he always called and returned home. So by New Year's, when no one had seen or heard from his nephew, he reported his disappearance to the police.
No official police investigation was launched by the Seattle Police Department.
The Search for Jeremy Peck
On January 6, several friends went look for JP and any clues to his disappearance. The search, which was hindered by the rain, yielded nothing.
On Jan. 7, Lt. Pierre Davis of the Seattle police Southwest Precinct Operations told the West Seattle Herald that he was aware that JP was missing, but to his knowledge the police were not actively searching for him.
A volunteer search party conducted a “grid search” of West Seattle on Sunday, Jan. 9, meeting at Puerto Vallarta restaurant at 4727 California Ave. SW. and splitting up into search groups. Some members of the party attempted to retrace JP's possible route home, others searched in areas that they weren't able to get to during the previous search. Parks and wooded areas around the area of the admiral pub were also searched.
Friends of JP talked to bus drivers on the route he would have taken home. Drivers looked at flyers with his photo, but did not recall seeing the young man.
JP did not answer his prepaid cell phone through Virgin Mobile. "It was out of juice," said John, but he speculated there might be a way to determine the last known call based on the tower it went through. (West Seattle Herald, 1/9/11.)
While JP was missing, the only possible clue that friends found, was a report of a violent incident that occurred a few months before he had disappeared. According to friends in the search party, on October 1, JP had been standing behind Poggie Tavern smoking a cigarette when a drunk man--about 5'9" with white hair, and possibly in his 50s--"just reached for a shovel out of a pickup truck and punched him twice and hit him twice with the shovel. Jeremy ran off down the alley. We all tried to pull the guy off of him but he chased him. The guy is insane." said the friend.
Recovery
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, a badly decomposed body was found near the rocky east shore of Murden Cove near Bainbridge Island by a passerby traveling on Manitou Beach Drive. The body, which was visible from the road, was found 20 feet from the bank, approximately 50 yards west of the Manitou Beach Drive and Beach Crest Drive intersection. The area is said to be well traveled during the early morning hours. The body was identified using JP's tattoo, clothing, and through dental records. Peck's uncle was notified at about 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20.
On March 24, 2011, the West Seattle Herald reported that the King County Medical Examiner had
released the cause of death, but only to detectives and to Peck's family because of the ongoing investigation. Peck's family confirmed to the paper that they were indeed told a cause of death, while James Sosik Jr. of the Medical Examiner's office told the paper that the cause of death was "undetermined" with no toxicological or body trauma causes identified.
On November 6, 2012, Det. Renee Whit of the Seattle Police Department confirmed to the West Seattle Herald that the death was being investigated as a homicide
Name/age: Jeremy Peck, 24
DOB: 12/10/86
Last seen: 12/24/10, Admiral Pub, 2306 California Avenue SW, Seattle, WA
Physical description: 6'1", 177 lb, brown hair, brown eyes. Last seen wearing blue Jeans, tennis shoes, black waist length coat over a gray hooded sweatshirt.
Jeremy is 6’1,″ about 177 pounds, light brown hair, brown eyes, and goes by “JP.” He was wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a black waist-length coat over a gray hooded sweatshirt the night he was last seen.
Investigating Agency: Seattle police, 206-923-0875
Links: Click here to watch a You Tube video interview with Jeremy's uncle, regarding the search for Jeremy. A Facebook page, Find Jeremy Peck, was also been created for Jeremy.
Sources
Robinson, Patrick (2011, January 09). UPDATE: Search for Jeremy Peck gets underway; Friends gather to find him and spread the word of his disappearance. West Seattle Herald. Retrieved January 21, 2011 from
Swenson, Ty. (2011, March 24). UPDATE 1: Cause of death determined in Jeremy Peck case; investigation moving forward. West Seattle Herald. Retrieved November 17, 2012 from http://www.westseattleherald.com/2011/03/24/news/update-1-cause-death-determined-jeremy-peck-case-
Swenson, Ty. (2012, November 6). Jeremy Peck’s death becomes a homicide investigation. West Seattle Herald. Retrieved November 17, 2012 from http://www.westseattleherald.com/2012/11/06/news/jeremy-peck’s-death-becomes-homicide-investigatio.
1 comment:
ME lists cause of death as 'undetermined'. Authorities still believe Peck's death is suspicious. At least the ruling allows hope for action in the future if new evidence surfaces.
http://westseattleblog.com/2011/03/jeremy-peck-death-medical-examiner-says-cause-undetermined
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