Jason "Jake" P. Aton, 32, Missing Since 5/31/09, Oak Ridge, NC [FOUND SAFE]

[Faith]

Police Search For Missing Oak Ridge Man
Jason 'Jake' Aton Could Be Wearing Food Lion Uniform

POSTED: 6:54 pm EDT June 3, 2009
UPDATED: 7:50 pm EDT June 3, 2009

OAK RIDGE, N.C. -- Police asked for the public's help Wednesday in finding a missing Oak Ridge man.

Jason "Jake" P. Aton, 32, was last seen at his home on Sunday.

http://www.wxii12.com/2009/0603/19649727_240X180.jpg

Police said Aton drives a black and silver scooter and could be wearing a Food Lion uniform and a black motorcycle jacket. They said he also usually wearing a black helmet while riding the scooter.

He was heard by a neighbor leaving home Monday morning.

The area where he was last known to be driving was near Stanley Huff Road, Bunch Road and Carlson Daily Road.

Aton is a white, 6-foot-1-inch-tall man who weighs about 200 to 220 pounds.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call Noel Dougherty at 336-613-3908.

http://www.wxii12.com/news/19650204/detail.html

[Faith]

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/Jake.jpg

Last Login: 5/31/2009
http://www.myspace.com/thejeez

[Faith]

the photo is titled "The Band"

http://b6.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/00722/69/73/722783796_l.jpg

[Naia]

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/06/03/article/sheriffs_office_looking_for_missing_man
Sheriff's office looking for missing man
Aton was reported missing on Tuesday night. Foul play is not suspected.

A description of Aton was not immediately available and authorities have not released a photograph of him.

Check back with news-record.com for further updates as they become available.

Wonder if he actually left for work that day? Maybe he drove in a different direction.

[Faith]

I pray he is found safe.

[Donnie Heath]

Last seen 05/31/09 8:00PM at band practice on Sunday night.

Via his computer we found: He was online Sunday night briefly, did not use the computer Monday morning, but shut it down at about 6:35AM on Monday. He had to be at work at 8:00AM that morning, so it makes sense(the time interval).

His neighbor says he heard him leave on his scooter(Silver Yamaha Vino125) at around 6:30-7:00. This also makes sense to his work schedule.

He did not show up for his 8:00-4:00 shift or call on Monday or Tuesday, and this is when we all became active in looking for Jake.

He has worked at the same location for the last 13 years, and a "no call/no show" scenario is extrememly unusual.

The store manager called the Sheriff first, early Tuesday.

Tuesday AM is when I went to his house, found the cat had no food left, and was probing his computer and looking for other clues.

Tuesday between 11:00AM-2:00PM 3 of us went out on bikes along his typical back roads route to his work. We looked for wooded areas and embankments between houses that he may have run off the road into. When I arrived at his work, I made them a map and they copied it and took 3 vehicles and 8 people out to also canvas on foot some of the possible trecherous areas along the route.

At this time another friend was house sitting when the Sheriff officer came by. She felt he was a little dismissive in that he said if he disappeared for 2 days, people would assume he was fishing. No official missing person report was filed by the Sheriff's office at this time.

The store manager talked to GSO P.D., and they said they would file the report if the Sheriff Dept. would not but to first call them back from the residence and request a new officer and the MP report, with case # reference. I did this and by Tuesday evening it was official.

Earlier on Tuesday we called all Hospitals for Jake Aton's, Jason Paul Aton's, and John Doe's with no luck. We called all Towing companies in the local area to see if a scooter had been towed in the 2 previous days, we checked jails as well(despite this would highly unlikely).

The sheriff's office did a car and foot sweep of the route and area.

Wednesday I dropped of pictures to the Sheriff's Office of Jake, his upper left arm tattoo(cartoon girl[Japanese Animation]), the overhead map and satellite images of the areas he drove, and of the Yamaha Vino125 scooter.

Also on Wednesday 2 news crews came out from WGHP and WXII just after the search helicopter was deployed from the Sheriff's office. Unfortunately due to the flash flood storms we had it was grounded within 1/2 hour and would not go up again until Thursday(today), which I am still waiting on now at Jake's house. Also due to the extreme weather the news pieces probably had much less coverage than would have been optimal.

Also Wednesday we called all phone numbers in a text file of phone numbers on his computer, we called all of his last "Caller ID" received calls. Nobody has heard from him.

We still have no more information.

He does not have a cell phone to try to track either.

Any other ideas? I am hoping that helicopter goes back up soon.

[Roamer]

Welcome, Donnie.

Contact all the media in your area and ask them to feature Jake's story.

If you need posters made, let us know and we'll be glad to help.

Best of luck!

[Donnie Heath]

DOB: Sep 9 1976
Jason Paul Aton
Jake

Blond, bald with beard, blue eyes, glasses, 6 ft, 220 lbs

Does not drink, is not on any medication, everything seemed to be life as normal until this incident.

Any info call Detective Wilson @ 336-643-2305

[annalyzer]

DOB: Sep 9 1976
Jason Paul Aton
Jake

Blond, bald with beard, blue eyes, glasses, 6 ft, 220 lbs

Does not drink, is not on any medication, everything seemed to be life as normal until this incident.

Any info call Detective Wilson @ 336-643-2305

From everthing you've stated surrounding his disappearance I would be focusing the search on the route he would normally take to work. How many miles is there between his home and workplace? And what are the road conditions? Any bodies of water nearby? Sharp curves? Look at the guardrails for signs of damage and also the branches of trees. Good luck and I hope you find your friend safe and soon!

[Faith]

Welcome Donnie. My prayers are with all of you, especially Jake.

Have you checked with the other band members and close friends, girlfriend

[Faith]

What about Kat? Talked to her?

http://www.myspace.com/Katluvsforensics

[Donnie Heath]

From everthing you've stated surrounding his disappearance I would be focusing the search on the route he would normally take to work. How many miles is there between his home and workplace? And what are the road conditions? Any bodies of water nearby? Sharp curves? Look at the guardrails for signs of damage and also the branches of trees. Good luck and I hope you find your friend safe and soon!

That is where most of our personal manpower has gone, on foot, and on bikes, and off road.

It is about 10 miles, the roads are curvy, and pass over one creek and one lake. We canvased it thoroughly on Tuesday, bike and by foot, the police cavased it by car that day. Wednesday the police covered it by foot, and we did again as well. The helicopter was only up for 25 minutes before weather forced them to call it off.

MY UPDATES FROM TODAY'S EFFORTS:

Northwest Observer(Oak Ridge Newspaper) has the story.

Radio- 107.5WKZL has it on their web blog and will air it on their morning program.

I have left a message with Jake's brother Jesse in Asheville.

I called Det. Wilson again(left message) regarding today's air search as it appeared the had not launched it.

Thanks all,

-Donnie

[Donnie Heath]

Images below

[Donnie Heath]

http://www.virtuallyanything.com/jakemap.gif
http://www.virtuallyanything.com/jakepic.jpg

[nanabillie]

He looks so different in the pictures with glasses and without. I hope and pray he is found soon.

[Faith]

Friends, authorities search for missing grocery manager
Thursday, June 4, 2009

http://mm.news-record.com/drupal/files/imagecache/nrcom09_image_view/Images/aton.jpg

GREENSBORO — Friends of an Oak Ridge man missing since Monday are desperately searching for him.

Jason “Jake” Paul Aton, 32, has been missing since at least Monday when friends said he failed to show up for work at the Food Lion at 3516 Drawbridge Parkway. He was a manager at the store.

Aton was last seen Sunday night when leaving a practice with his rock band.

He was scheduled to report for work at 8 a.m. Monday, and a neighbor reported hearing the engine from his scooter about that time leaving his residence along Oak Ridge Road, said Noel Dougherty, a friend of Aton’s.

“He has never been known not to go to work and not call,” Dougherty said. “(On Sunday) he mentioned he was going to work the next day and showed no odd behavior.”

Aton was reported missing to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday night. Authorities have searched his route to work by both air and ground with no luck.

The sheriff’s office said Wednesday they do not suspect foul play.

“What worries is that so much time has passed,” Dougherty said. “My fear is that he’s been hit on the scooter by a vehicle ... (and) he is in a ravine where no one has seen him yet. We are doing the best to cover all the areas where he might have been.”

Dougherty said that as far as his friends know, Aton had no enemies and nothing going on in his life that might cause him to run off. He had no mental or medical issues, or drug or alcohol problems, she said. He also rarely traveled out of town.

“My hope is that something would have snapped within him and he left, but that’s not his character,” Dougherty said.


Aton is described as a white man, 6 foot 1 inch tall and weighs about 210 pounds, Dougherty said. He has a stocky build, a shaved head, and a blondish brown goatee. He wears glasses.

Dougherty said he was believed to be on a black and silver Yamaha Vino scooter. He usually wore a black biker’s jacket and helmet and he is believed to have been wearing his Food Lion uniform.

Anyone with information about Aton’s whereabouts is asked to call the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office at 641-3690 or Crime Stoppers at 373-1000. Crime Stoppers callers can remain anonymous and are eligible for cash rewards.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/06/04/article/friends_authorities_searching_for_missing_oak_ridg e_man

[Donnie Heath]

On the above map, we have now completed a thorough canvas of all of the woods from point "D" onward. We have also done so for about 1/2 of the wooded areas between point "A" and point "D" with the remaining areas to be completed today.

The revised map with a different lettering system is at this link:
http://www.virtuallyanything.com/remaining.jpg

Thanks to all of those who have helped so much with their time, effort, prayers, and suggestions.

[Faith]

Thank you for the updates, Donnie. My prayers are with the family and the searchers.

[Donnie Heath]

Just before are final mass search efforts yesterday, we found out that Jake was under investigation for aledgedly stealing a substantial amount of money from Food Lion. It appears that he ran before authorities could confront him.

In any case, it would appear now that Jake is probably safe, though his whereabouts are unknown, and he will probably be working to keep it that way. Thanks to everyone for their help.

[annalyzer]

Just before are final mass search efforts yesterday, we found out that Jake was under investigation for aledgedly stealing a substantial amount of money from Food Lion. It appears that he ran before authorities could confront him.

In any case, it would appear now that Jake is probably safe, though his whereabouts are unknown, and he will probably be working to keep it that way. Thanks to everyone for their help.


Well I hope you are right and he is okay. If this is the case he may as well turn himself in and face the music. It won't get any better for him on the run. But that's none of my business. Hope you are at least breathing a sigh of relief now Donnie.

[Christine]

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/06/09/article/missing_oak_ridge_man_found_at_beach

Update: Authorities speculate man who was missing fled from criminal investigation
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
By Ryan Seals
Staff Writer

Jason “Jake” Paul Aton, 32, of 2874 Oak Ridge Road, was found alive late Monday in Wrightsville Beach after a patrol officer matched him to a missing person’s report.

He had been missing since at least June 2 after he failed to show up for work the day before at the Food Lion on Drawbridge Parkway, where he worked as a manager.

Authorities with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday afternoon that they are relieved to find out that Aton was Ok, but are looking into the possibility he fled to avoid an investigation conducted by Greensboro police.

The case involved the embezzlement of $10,000 in lottery tickets, reported stolen from the Food Lion store Aton worked at, said Capt. Janice Rogers with Greensboro police.

She did not have specific details on the investigation, but said Aton went missing around the time the lottery tickets were taken.

The detective assigned to the case could not be reached for comment on Tuesday night. It is unclear when the theft occurred and to what extent Aton was being considered as a suspect.

Capt. Tony Caliendo, who heads the sheriff’s office Special Operations Division, said detectives learned early on that Aton was a person of interest in the Greensboro case and speculated that’s why he left.

The sheriff’s office deployed a helicopter and a small airplane to aid in their week-long search for Aton, which also included ground searches along the route from his house to the store.

Caliendo couldn’t give an estimate how much the sheriff’s office spent on the search, which involved two or three detectives daily, working at least four to five hours each on the case.

He said local investigators have yet to talk to Aton, who was still in Wrightsville Beach on Tuesday. No charges are expected in relation to the missing persons case.

“It wasn’t that he was here locally and trying to elude us on purpose. He picked up and left town for whatever reason, either legitimate or because of the criminal investigation,” Caliendo said.

“When we heard that he was found and in good health, it was a relief more than anything else.”

Aton’s friends said they too were relieved of he was found safe, but were shocked to learn of the criminal investigation.

“If it turns out any of this is true... we had no clue anything was going on,” said Noel Dougherty, a friend of Aton’s.

“We hope to hear more soon when we see him. We are just happy he is alive.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com

[Roamer]

Thanks for the good news, Christine!