I’m okay…we were close enough to banter…but it was my mom he was closest with…they were only 4 months apart. And since he was from a family of 4 boys…she was the closest thing they had to a sister. (Even though my mom is one of 6 kids - 4 girls, 2 boys - she is the kind of person who gets along with everyone…so she is “close” with nearly anyone she comes into contact with.)
Well…I have some more details now, and things seem a little less weird.
When the police arrived, after they looked at Jon’s apartment & after the landlord (Linda) told them his truck was missing, the police oncluded this was indeed foul play & began to investiagte it that way. Jon’s body was wrapped in a blanket, and he had a large wound on him (police didn’t say where & when mom identified him, it was over the phone…she told them where scars & tattoos were). There was blood in the apartment.
When the police told mom Jon was naked she said that wasn’t cause for concern b/c he always slept naked…something to do with not liking to run the A/C at night. He told her if she was going to visit…to call ahead so he could get dressed. Linda told police that when he answered the door, he was often wrapped in his blanket. The only thing out of place in the apartment was a bottle (empty) of Jack Daniels. There was a cup with a straw in it on the counter. Linda said Jon had started drinking with a straw b/c he had the shakes so bad he couldn’t hold a cup. She had come over to help him take some medications some nights b/c he couldn’t get them to his mouth.
Jon had let a homeless man stay with him for a few weeks while he got clean…they met in rehab at the VA [hospital]. The thinking now is that the homeless guy found Jon & took off in his truck. Someone called 911 & let them know he was in his apartment from a phone a few miles from Jon’s home. The truck was found a little later. Police are doing the finger print thing to see if they can locate this guy. Mom told them to check the VA, b/c that’s where Jon spent a lot of hours in outpatient rehab, getting meds, and getting stitched up from his various injuries.
I feel really badly for my mom…this is the third close cousin she has lost in a quick & bizarre way. When she was 7, her 6 year old cousin was playing in his driveway. A vehicle trying to evade police pulled into the driveway really quickly & killed Jamie. He was playing with a friend…but the friend was so freaked out he went home & slept for a really long time before he woke up. When he woke up, Jamie’s mother had already dscovered his body and the friend told them how it happened. Before my mom was to get her duty assignment for the Army, she was staying at her aunt’s chicken farm. Her cousins were growing some pot & selling it, using a wealthy couple’s home to do their business deals. One night, her cousin Larry went to this house to meet some other people. When his brothers didn’t see him for two days, they went to this house. Larry had been tortured, bound, and gagged. His truck was full of blood. The couple that lived there was dead also. These were all years apart…but she was close with each of them b/c of their ages and it has been hard for her to think about it.
Two of Jon’ brohers seem to be okay. They aren’t supried that something like this could happen. In the last few years Jon would have seizures & black out. They figured it was a matter of time before he had one that could be fatal. Another brother simply answered his phone & said, “Good for him,“ when his brothers called to tell him. They had some kind of argument & have been estranged the last few years.
