Breaking News: Jeremy Bright's case has just been picked up again by Coos County! Jeremy Bright, then 14, disappeared in 1986 from Coos County, OR. His mom still holds out hope. ~Thank you Cory~

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Police and volunteer searchers have looked everywhere, crawled down wells and drained swamps and ponds. They have literally dug up false leads. Where is Jeremy Bright? His mother Diane Beatty, will not give up.

If there's a month that Diane Beatty would like back, it would be August 1986. It was then that her 14-year-old son, Jeremy Bright, went to the Coos County Fair and vanished from the earth.

“He was here for a week during the fair,” Beatty, 52, said from her Eastside home this week as she pored over photos of her missing son from a time when Pac-Man and Van Halen were all the rage. “He was only here for a week. If I would have said, ‘No,' about him coming up to the fair, I would still have him.”

But she didn't say no.

Who would? Jeremy and his 9-year-old sister S'te (the French abbreviation for Saint and pronounced “Ess-tee”), had both grown up in Myrtle Point and they loved the fair. Their stepfather, Orville “Ole” Gulseth of Myrtle Point, had offered to take them in for a week that summer.

“My brother and I never missed the fair,” said his sister S'te Elmore, who is now married and living in San Diego.

For that last year, Beatty and the children had been living in Grants Pass. Beatty and “Ole” were finished, and Beatty was carving a new life for herself so she wouldn't be tending bar the rest of her life.

“Instead of them veggin' in Grants Pass for a week, while I worked and went to school, I thought that would be a great little trip for them,” she said, noting the children's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all lived in Myrtle Point.

“I have regretted it ever since.”
On Aug. 14, Jeremy Bright will have been missing for 21 years - an eternity for his mother. For the Coos County Sheriff's Office, it's a missing person and potential homicide case.

Beatty and investigators hope that by bringing the incident back into the public eye, someone will come forward with a new clue, a new lead, or a confession.

“If it's something that hasn't been visited before, that might be the piece of the puzzle that we're missing,” said Beatty, who lives full-time in Florida but who has been coming back every summer since she moved away in 1998. “He's out here somewhere.”

While no one has ever been arrested in the case, dozens of people have been questioned, log and beaver ponds have been drained in search of his body, scuba divers have explored wells, swamps and rivers, and various potential gravesites across the county have been dug up.

“Anything that looked like it had any substance, we put every effort into it to try and either find something that would help, or put an end to that rumor,” said former Coos County investigator Craig Zanni, who worked the case from 1991 to 2004.

But so far - nothing.

“It's all been valleys,” Beatty said. “There have not been any peaks. We have found nothing.”

The case is still considered a missing person and potential homicide case, Zanni said. His former colleague who handles the case now, Coos County Det. Sgt. Dan Looney, agreed.
“We believe he is still in the county somewhere - not alive,” said Looney, who tracked down leads surrounding Jeremy as recently as last winter. The two investigators are convinced someone in the county knows exactly what happened to Jeremy that fateful night.

“I would be willing to put money on it,” Zanni said Thursday as he worked a booth at the fair.

While Beatty cradles a glimmer of hope that Jeremy will come around a corner some day, she knows the chance is slim.

But she can't help but hope.

“You see on the news they find people that had been gone for 10 years,” Beatty said, noting a recent case in Missouri.

But that case involved teenagers. She said she had her hopes up that when Jeremy turned 18, he might return. He would have turned 35 this past May.

“In my heart I don't believe he would have been gone this long, if he had any choice,” Beatty said. “Some day ... some day, that's my last wish: To find him.”
On Thursday, Aug. 14, 1986, Beatty spoke to Jeremy, her only son, for the last time. He was on a payphone outside McKay's Market in Myrtle Point and she was in Grants Pass. She promised to pick the two of them up Saturday. Jeremy told her about his trip so far, and that he was going to pick S'te up at the fair at 5 p.m. Elmore said her brother was supposed to meet her at the Ferris wheel.

“Jeremy never showed up,” Beatty said.

Before going to the police, Beatty and her family spent much of Saturday searching for him. The family plastered missing posters throughout Myrtle Point in coming weeks, Elmore said. Nearly everyone Beatty bumped into saw Jeremy on Thursday, but not Friday.

“It was like he was beamed up,” she said.

And ever since, the rumors about Jeremy's disappearance have swirled: He was abducted by a demented carnival worker; he was shot and buried in the hills or dumped in a pond by a local; he was drugged at a beer party and killed; he ran away with the carnival.

Shortly after he disappeared, Beatty contacted the Myrtle Point Police Department. The chief told her not to worry. Jeremy wasn't missing. He'd be back as soon as the fair rolled out of town.

“Well, evidently the fair isn't gone because he hasn't come back,” Beatty said dejectedly.

At the time, S'te remembers informing police that she had seen Jeremy talking to two guys whom she did not recognize.

“For whatever reason, the (officer) I talked to didn't believe me,” Elmore said. “They thought I was making up a story to help out. But, I had seen him leave with these people. He did.”

Beatty's never subscribed to the runaway theory. Jeremy was protective of his kid sister and never would have left her alone. Besides, he didn't take his wallet or extra clothes. Investigators don't buy the runaway theory either. They believe that, despite the passing of 21 years, some people of interest still aren't coming clean.

“They would rather not say anything than do the right thing,” Zanni said. “We have a bunch of people that aren't telling the police anything. They should come forward. The family at least deserves to know. To put Jeremy to rest - and the burden on the mom and the sister.”

Elmore said her family needs closure about Jeremy.

“After this many years it seems like somebody would be willing to say something,” Elmore said. “Even if it was just to (say) where Jeremy is. Even if they called it in anonymously and said, ‘This is where he is. This is where you can find him.'”

She wants people to come forward and clear their conscience.

“To live with that knowledge for 20 years, and not say anything, has got to be torture,” Elmore said.
n a small town like Myrtle Point in the 1980s, “where everybody knew everybody,” Beatty said, you could let a 14-year-old roam about. Especially one that was so popular and never got into trouble.

“He had run of the town since he was 5,” she said. “Everybody knew him.”

Beatty can't help but think that Jeremy may have died in some horrible manner. Elmore said at least one of Jeremy's close friends began having nightmares shortly after his disappearance, and has battled alcohol addiction ever since. Beatty believes the friend's problems stem from whatever happened to Jeremy.

Through the various interviews Zanni has conducted, he said he thinks Jeremy wasn't a bad kid, but may have been somewhat troubled due to the breakup in the family - what would be expected from “a family going through a divorce.”

Jeremy went missing the summer before entering high school. He had been a standout basketball player, a so-called “sixth man,” who wore a size 13 shoe. He was convinced he would make the team at his new school in Southern Oregon. Elmore said her brother also coached her basketball team at the Boys & Girls Club in Grants Pass and had never run away from home.

Beatty said Jeremy's grades had slumped somewhat in Grants Pass. They had moved there in the middle of his eighth-grade year. She chalked it up to him simply getting used to a new school setting. Wanting to help smooth the transition into high school, a few weeks before his disappearance, the two embarked on the proverbial clothes shopping spree. Jeremy picked out a pair of Levis, several button-down shirts and pair of black Nike tennis shoes with red shoe laces.

They're the same shoes he was last seen wearing and the ones listed since the 1980s on the poster declaring him a missing person.
After three months of hanging onto the case, Myrtle Point investigators turned it over to the Coos County Sheriff's Office, which Beatty said, tracked Jeremy's whereabouts through part of Aug. 15. Investigators won't reveal that information, but Zanni said some people of interest have never been cleared due to their lack of cooperation.

Investigators, Beatty and her family still hope one day the case will break, as it did, partially, with the case of Leah Freeman, a 15-year-old girl last seen alive in Coquille in 2000. A little more than a month after she disappeared, her body was found about nine miles east of Coquille. But police have yet to make an arrest in the case, due to lack of evidence.

While Beatty feels the Sheriff's Office has done everything it could on the case, she still can't help but express grave frustration over the lost time that transpired while the case was in the hands of the Myrtle Point Police Department.

“My personal opinion is that if (Myrtle Point Police officials) had turned it over three months earlier - we would have had a whole lot better chance of finding out what happened,” she said.

At the moment, Beatty said she is not looking for retribution, or justice - simply peace for herself, her family and Jeremy. Living with out knowing if your child is alive or dead is “indescribable,” she said, adding she was somewhat jealous the Freemans' had, at least a partial ending, however tragic.

“I just want most to put him to rest - his spirit, his soul,” she said. “My quest isn't to find the perpetrator. It's just to find him.”
In 1989, the Jeremy Bright case was featured on the national network television show “Unsolved Mysteries.” The segment still airs occasionally and the proposed scenarios are still bandied about by bloggers on the Internet.

Still, authorities and the family hope that one day the case will be cracked.

“I always hope that someone will think, ‘Well. OK, it's time for me to talk,'” Looney said.

- Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Jeremy Bright is urged to contact Det. Sgt. Dan Looney at 396-3121 ext. 378.http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2007/07/29/breaking/tpn01072807.txt

He could have been brainwashed by his abductor's, or, is ashamed to call his family because the victim usually feels as if some how it was their fault. He might be afraid of how people would look at him if they knew the truth. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he is alive and well and just leading a life with the new identity given him by his abductors. After Jaycee and Shawn Hornbeck I believe in miracles.

Age Progression:

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Bumping this thread! I am with Critters post up thread, MIRACLES HAPPEN!! Please bring this boys home to his momma!

Jeremy's sister, S'te, just recently joined VH...See her intro under "Sticky: Please Introduce Yourself"...Her life story is incredible!

I knew when I read that on the introduction thread we had the story somewhere here on VH. Thanks for bumping it up.

LM, actually mommyof3kids bumped the thread up...I just added that Ste had recently joined VH and directed everyone to her intro on "Sticky"... :high five:

I'm so glad to see this thread on here for Jeremy. I will try to add information to it as I can. We do have a group on FB Help Find Jeremy Bright [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

He also has a squido page [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


The Coos County Sheriff's Department has been great at keeping Jeremy's case open and worked on over the last 24 years. There are several detectives there who have put many many hours into his case. From my understanding the new Cold Case team will be picking up Jeremy's case and we hope that with this new team his case will be solved. More than anything we just want to bring him home.

The Coos County Sheriff's Department has been great at keeping Jeremy's case open and worked on over the last 24 years. There are several detectives there who have put many many hours into his case. From my understanding the new Cold Case team will be picking up Jeremy's case and we hope that with this new team his case will be solved. More than anything we just want to bring him home.

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!! :cheers: Is this the same one who re-opened Leah's case??

OMG, this is Fantastic news!! I bet it is, Mommy!! They are really on the ball now!! Oh, Ste1977...I am so happy that you now have renewed hope!!!!! :celebration:

We will do everything in our power to help you. Rest assured!!

My God! It can only get better!!

Yes the same team. Two of the detectives have done some reorganizing already and sent his case to the Oregon DOJ. I was told that after the arrest in Leah's case was made they would be picking up Jeremy's case and working it like they did Leah's.

I am speechless!!!!

I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND YOUR MOTHER, (YES I AM YELLING) LOL!!! S'te, your Mother is a SWEET HEART!!!! :winnie: I am so very thankful for this cold case team and what they are doing for Leah and Jeremy's Families!!

ahhh!!!! OMG THAT IS GREAT NEWS!!!!! Ray Ray (mommy) and i where just talking about that this morning hoping that they will pick up the case!!!! :cheering:

I love all the good news we have been getting. This is wonderful.

This is great news...I love Chief Dannels and his crew, someone finally in that county not willing to just "sit on the pot". (sorry, hope that doesn't offend anyone, it was my Mama's fav saying)

Jeremy Doland Bright


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

# Missing Since: August 14, 1986 from Myrtle Point, Oregon
# Classification: Non-Family Abduction
# Date Of Birth: May 25, 1972
# Age: 14 years old
# Height and Weight: 6'0, 140 pounds
# Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes. Bright has a mole on his chin. He has scars on his forehead and nose. At the time of his disappearance, he wore size 13 shoes.
# Clothing/Jewelry Description: A black windbreaker jacket and black Nike sneakers with red laces.

Details of Disappearance

Bright attended the Coos County Fair in Oregon with his sister and a group of his friends on August 14, 1986. He became separated from them sometime that evening. He was last seen at 9:30 p.m., when he saw his stepfather in a cafe and borrowed money from him. Bright disappeared during the course of the evening and has never been seen again.

Bright lived in Grants Pass, Oregon in 1986, but he had grown up in Myrtle Point and had many relatives living there. He and his younger sister enjoyed the fair and their stepfather agreed to take them there for the week so they could go to the festivities. He spoke to his mother on a pay phone on the day of his disappearance, and she stated their conversation was normal.

There were several possible sightings of Bright in the local area in the days following his disappearance, but none of them were confirmed. He was a basketball player in 1986, and was looking forward to starting high school. Many rumors circulated about his disappearance: that he was accidentally shot during target practice or while swimming in the Coquille River, or that he died of a drug overdose at a party and his friends disposed of his body to avoid possible legal consequences. None of these stories have been substantiated.

Authorities do not believe Bright left of his own accord. He was close to his sister and it would have been uncharacteristic of him to abandon her, and he did not take his wallet or extra clothes when he went missing. His mother and stepfather were going through a divorce in 1986 and he may have been somewhat troubled as a result; his grades dropped during the school year prior to his disappearance. However, he was described as a popular, likeable teenager.

Due to the lack of evidence in Bright's case, it is classified as a non-family abduction and a potential homicide. His case is unsolved.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Coos County Sheriff's Office
541-396-3121

Updated 4 times since October 12, 2004. distinguishing characteristics and details of disappearance updated.

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Just wanted to stop in and let everyone know that things are moving along in Jeremy's case. The sheriff's dept has been interviewing people that were "missed" and reinterviewing people. As they "stir things up" people are starting to talk and things are getting posted more around the web so hopefully we will find the missing pieces.

As some may know Johnnie Gray (the friend of my brother who was shown on Unsolved Mysteries) passed away about 3 weeksago. While I am sad that he is no longer here to try and get information from I am glad that he is finally released from the burden that has haunted him all these years. Some believe that he was there and witnessed what happened while others believe that the grief of not being their to help Jeremy plagued him. Whatever the case, he has carried a heavy burden since that day so many years ago and was forever a changed person.

My Mom and I are planning on doing some sort of Rememberance Day this summer to mark the 25th Anniversary of his disappearance. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them

This is the best news I've heard since the arrest of Nick McGuffin!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!! I am praying for you Ste and Family!! Prayers are with you!

Ste just reading your signature makes me sad. What brave women you and your mother are. I am sorry to say I had not heard about your brother.

What a long time to wait for closure.

My thoughts and prayers are certainly with you as you continue on this journey to try and find your brother.

Cory wrote:This is the best news I've heard since the arrest of Nick McGuffin!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!! I am praying for you Ste and Family!! Prayers are with you!

Well said.

Ste, I am just THRILLED to hear this news! That Cold Case Team does NOT mess around! They are cracking case after Case! I am so happy I am doing the Happy dance for you and Your Mother!!

I'm thankful that Sheriff Zanni has made it a mission of his to solve Jeremy's case and find him. Hopefully they have the resources now to do just that! After all this time it's hard to get my hopes up to high but I have to say that I'm very optimistic that it will happen.

Sorry about Johnnie Gray dying. Is it possible that he made a confession of what he knew as he was dying? Maybe he told a family member??

Johnnie spent the last 24.5 years homeless, drunk and on drugs. He was found under a bridge in San Jose CA. I have spoke with some of his family and he knew that he was sick however he didn't tell any of them anything. He was found with a bunch of papers but the last I heard they hadn't been returned to the family yet.

I woke up thinking about Jeremy's case this morning. My gosh, this poor young man has been missing for 25 years this August. I remember hearing about it well. I remember thinking "If anyone were to EVER do anything to one of my kids I would kill them." Never having a clue it would happen to one of my very own. I remember hearing the Stienhoff name (in Jeremy's case) and thinking how I would NEVER even want to run across one with that name. Low and behold.......The Steinhoff name comes up in Leah's case too. Strange.

As for your Remembrance Day for Jeremy......The only thing that comes to mind is maybe the fairgrounds. To me it speaks volumes if one is strong enough to have it where their child or family member actually went missing. I want you to know Ste, that to this very day I do NOT go to the Coos County Fair. I just can't. Jeremy is on my mind throughout the fair. It just makes me too sad. When it is soccer season I have to take my Grandson there...........All I think about there is Jeremy.

Also Ste....I am so happy to hear that you will be working with Sheriff Zanni. (still not used to that!!!!) For those of you who don't know, our last Sheriff passed away on Feb 1 this year....heart attack. He had just been appointed County Commissioner and Zanni has only been our Sheriff for a few short weeks. He has worked for the SO for MANY years but is just as of recent our New Sheriff. Great Guy!

I have the utmost respect for you Ste and your Mom. You are two STRONG women. I will continue to pray that something comes of this investigation.

Everyone PLEASE pray for a positive outcome for Jeremy and his family.

We know the collective minds on this site concentrating on a positive outcome works wonders.
Stay strong!

charminglane wrote:We know the collective minds on this site concentrating on a positive outcome works wonders.
Stay strong!

So very true. Also, don't forget yourself, Cory, when you are talking about strong women. When you first heard about Jeremy 25 yrs ago, thinking that you hoped nothing like that would ever happen to you, you never knew the strength that was inside of you when you had your own personal, devastating tragedy.
Ste, I like the idea of the fair grounds, too. You could get people to donate their time to sell kisses, fall into water, Sell pies. Have the musical chairs where the winner gets a beautiful homemade cake. I think it is the cake walk, that type of thing. The money raised could go to your Jeremy Bright fund.
Make it a celebration to a certain extent. A celebration of life. When it gets dark,everyone could light a candle, speeches, talk about Jeremy, reminisce.
Get some nice signs to put up in windows at the hardware store, teachers lounge, diner, pharmacy.....
Just an idea.

I stop by here occassionally however I haven't posted in a while. Sunday August 14th marks 25 years since we last saw or spoke to Jeremy. We will be holding an awareness ceremony and balloon release on Sunday 3pm at the baseball field in front of Myrtle Crest in Myrtle Point Oregon. We are hoping to have a full baseball field to honor Jeremy's memory and to bring awareness to the 800,000 missing children in the US. Children, who like Jeremy, are loved and missed by families awaiting answers

Sunday August 14th marks 25 years since we last saw or talked to Jeremy. We will be marking this day with an Awareness Ceremony and Balloon release. It will be held at the baseball field in front of Myrtle Crest in Myrtle Point at 3pm. We are inviting everyone who is able to come to join us. If you are not able to join us we are asking that you release green balloons in his honor as green is the color for Missing Childrens Awareness and if possible post a photo on his group at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

S'te, I will certainly be thinking of you on Sunday. I wish so very much that justice could be found for Jeremy, and you could find out what happened to him. Are there any new developments? Also, what is the status of the trial for your daughter's murderer? Good to hear from you again.

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I will be for you and Jeremy.

Ste, for coming here and letting us know of the awareness ceremony for Jeremy and all missing children!! Your presence here is Always welcome!!

I will light a candle tomorrow for Jeremy and all the kids that are still out there unfound.