The Jamison Family, Bobby, Sherilyn and 6 year old Madyson lived in the town of Eufaula, Oaklahoma.
The family were contemplating purchasing a plot of land in the Sans Bois mountain range called Red Oak, and planned to stay in a storage shed which they already owned. Sherilyn's son from a previous relationship, Colton, said that his mother had not mentioned these plans to him when he had visited. He believes that this plan to relocate must have been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
October 8 2009
The Jamison family loaded up their truck and headed into the mountains.
They were never seen again.
When no one had heard from the Jamison's for several days, a search for the family began and after eight days of hunting, the police found the family truck.
The truck was found about an hour's drive from the Jamison's home and based on the contents of the truck, it appeared that they were not planning to be away for a long period of time. Bobby and Sherilyn's phones, wallets and even the family's malnourished dog were all found inside the truck. There was also a GPS and $32,000 in cash, with no signs that an accident had occurred.
Everyone was stunned by the large amount of money found in the truck, especially family and friends, as the couple were on disability at the time. The source of this money is still unknown, some believe it is to do with the couple being involved in drug dealing, but friends and family refuse to believe that they would bring their daughter to a drug deal.
Although the police located the truck, it wasn't until November 16 2013 that the Jamison's themselves were found.
16 November 2013
Four years after their disappearance, hunters discovered the skeletal remains of two adults and one child. Forensic testing confirmed the remains to be that of the Jamison family.
A Strange Past
2003
Bobby had a car accident which left him with chronic back pain and consequently affected his moods. Sherilyn suffered from bipolar disorder and was on medication, however she sometimes decided not to take it. Due to this, she often experienced bouts of severe depression and would angrily lash out at the people in her life, including her husband.
The couple mostly kept to themselves and were deeply spiritual. However, this had negative impacts on their lives, and they believed that their home had been invaded by dark spirits. They even confinded in a local pastor about their concerns. To further their worries, little Madyson began talking to an imaginary friend called Emily, who Sherilyn belived was a malevolent entity.
Bobby also became paranoid about the family being haunted by evil. He asked the pastor if he knew of anywhere he could purchase 'special bullets' to shoot spirits which were living on the roof of the family home, and even planned to exorcise the spirits using a copy of the Satanic Bible.
Both family and friends believed that had experienced something 'odd' in the Jamison home and agreed that it was haunted.
A Video
The police found surveillance footage which showed Bobby and Sherilyn walking back and forth from their house to their truck loading things in a trance like state. They walked back and forth about twenty times, sometimes they were not carrying anything, it appears as though they did not say a single word to each other and at times they stopped and stood in place with a vacant stare on their faces. This odd behaviour has led to some theories of the couple being on drugs.
However, this footage is disturbing for more reasons. Graffiti can be sprayed on the side of the storage container. Sherilyn had told neighbours she believed that she was a witch, and that these were important, self protective messages she had wrote. These messages included one about her black cat being poisoned "witches did not like it when their black cat killed".
This, of course, led to many theories of the Jamison's home being plauged with evil spitrits, and even some theories around possession. Of course, if you believe in such things, this theory seems likely, however, for most people, this theory is brushed off immediatly.
A Satanic Cult
Sherilynn's mother, Connie Kokotan, claims that her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter was on an Oklahoma cult "hit list". She believes that Oklahoma is known for cults and that her daughter would have never put her family in danger. Despite this, Connie did not provide a name for the alleged cult, nor did police find any links to one.
A Meth Deal
The area in which the Jamison family lived, as well as the area they hoped to move too, is well known for its drug activity, mainly methamphetamine. There is evidence to support that this disappearance was to do with a drug deal, with the surveillance footage showing the couple to be in a drug like state.
They were also struggling financially, therefore if the couple was involved with selling drugs, then that would explain the large amount of money found in their car. Meth could also account for the couples erratic behaviour and why they would put their child in harms way by possibly taking her to a drug deal.
There are some other theories surrounding drugs, such as they stumbled upon illegal drug activity and was killed. However this does not stand as the killer or killers did not take the money from the truck.
Bobby had recently reported someone in the local area for running a meth lab. The Sans Bois moutin range was known for its many meth labs, therefore another theory is that they were victims of revenge.
A Murder-Suicide
The Jamison home was not a happy place and investigators discovered an eleven page "hate" letter from Sherilyn to Bobby in the family truck.
The letter reveals Sherilyn's rage towards her husband, calling him a 'loner' and saying he did not care about his daughter. This list was of things in which she hated about Bobby, and she wrote that she wanted a divorce.
This theory has more support, such as the fact Sherilyn was known to own a .22 caliber pistol that she carried with her in the truck. The coroner found a small hole in Bobby's skull that may have been from a bulltet. Police concluded that the hole was not made by a bullet, but local hunters disagreed.
Despite this theory seeming likely, neither Sherilynn nor Madyson had any injuries to suggest they had been shot and the gun was never found. If Sherilynn has used it to kill her family before turning the gun on herself, one would rightly assume that it would have been found at the crime scene or at least near by.
A White Supremacist Group
2010.
Shortly after the Jamison's story appeared on the show "Disappeared", a strange phone call suggested yet another theory as to what happened to this family.
The female caller stated that she once belonged to a white supremacy group and that she has seen a book containing the names of people that members of the group believed needed to be "taken care of". This caller said she has tried to memorize the names in the book and would go home and look them up on the internert. Many of the names came back to missing person cases- including the Jamisons'.
The woman stated that she had overheard some converstations of men clearly talking about Sherilyn, Bobby and Madyson and how they 'took care of them'. She also added another distrurbing detail about how one of the men talked about putting Madyson on his lap and how it made him feel 'good'. This supports the theory that the family was kidnapped so that the kidnapper could get to Madyson.
It was also reported that a member of this group had stayed with the Jamisons' for a while and after learning about Sherilyn's native american background, things turned sour. This ended with Sherilyn asking the man to leave whilst pointing a gun at him. This man did give a solid abilibi, however, it is not unlikely that another member, or members of the white suprematist group took action to 'take care' of the family.
A Truck and The Bodies
Another theory is that the Jamison family got out of the truck and then got lost, becoming victim to the elements. However, this seems very unlikely.
The Jaminson's truck was parked in a way that it appeared they were leaving and was stopped by somebody. Their GPS showed that the family did not stay with their truck and insteaed ventured to the top of the hill. Their bodies were found three miles from the truck, and with Bobby's chronic back pain, family and friends said there was no way he would have been able to walk that distance.
The family was found laying side-by-side and face down. Therefore it is highly unlikely that they all died of exposure.
An Autopsy
The autopsies provided no answers. Due to decomposition, animals nibbling at the bones, and with no soft tissue present, the cause of death could not be determined. There was many leads but all came to a dead end. To this day, no one is sure what happened in those mountains.
As someone who looks at unsolved cases regularly, this case does seem to stand out. The theory which makes most sense to me, is the idea that the couple were caught up in drugs. Despite Sherilyn's family refusing to believe the couple were involved in drugs, I disagree, as if they were taking and selling meth, they would not have told anyone in fear of prosecution or losing their daughter. The taking of meth provides an explanation for their trance like state on the surveillance footage, and their paranoid behaviour claiming their house was haunted by evil spirits.
Selling meth would also explain the large amount of money which was found in the truck. The couple were struggling financially, and I believe that they got involved with selling drugs to get money fast, so that they could move away and start a new life.
My theory is that the Jamison family went up into the mountains and met with someone from the drug trade, either on purpose or by accident. I believe it is highly likely that the couple either got in over their heads with selling drugs and tried to escape, which explains why they did not tell anyone their plans to relocate and seemed a last minute decision, or that they gained enough money to start over and just wanted out. Therefore they were followed, found, or went to meet someone in the drug trade, and things went badly. Due to the couple bringing Madyson, the most likely theory is that they were planning on leaving with their money, without telling anyone, and therefore someone in the drug trade was sent to find them. Due to the nature in which the truck was parked, and the fact that they left their money, phones and family dog inside, I believe that someone stopped them, forced them to get out and walked them to the top of the hill. Here they were killed and their bodies lined up.
However, one does question, if their deaths were to do with the drug trade, then why did the killer/killers not take the money from the truck? It could be possible that they were not necessairly interested in the money, either due to this attack solely being about revenge or stopping them. The killer/killers may have not wanted to go back for the money in fear of being seen or leaving any evidence.
Despite all the leads, no one has been held accountable for the disappearnace and deaths of the Jamison family. Many clues lead to dead ends, and information and details are not only eeire but puzziling. I hope that one day it is discovered what happened to the Jamison family, not only to solve the mystery, but to finally give their loved ones some form of closure.
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