Jeremy Bright

Disappearance

In August 1986, fourteen-year-old Jeremy Bright, a resident of Grants Pass, Oregon, was staying in Myrtle Point with his stepfather and younger sister; Bright had been born in Myrtle Point and spent his early childhood there. On Wednesday, August 13, Bright attended the Coos County Fair with his friend, Johnny Fish. He also called his mother, Diane, from a payphone that day, and made plans for her to pick him and his sister up in Myrtle Point on August 15. That evening, Bright met with his stepfather at a tavern owned by his grandmother, and was given money to attend the fair the next day. This was the last time he was seen by his stepfather or grandmother.

On Thursday, August 14, Bright attended the fair a second time, now with his 10-year-old sister, S'te (pronounced "Est-ee"). The two parted ways at approximately 2 p.m., with Bright planning to meet up with his sister again at 5 p.m. near the ferris wheel on the fairgrounds. He never reappeared. He was last seen wearing a black windbreaker jacket and black, size 13 Nike shoes with red shoe laces.

On August 15, Bright's mother, Diane, arrived at his stepfather's house to pick up Jeremy and S'te; inside, she found Bright's wallet, watch, and the keys to their Grants Pass apartment. The following day, after Bright failed to surface, his mother contacted the authorities. Initially, police believed Bright had run away with the traveling carnival.

Theories and events

Several rumors circulated at the time of Bright's disappearance:

• One claimed that Bright had attended a party and ingested a beer laced with an illegal drug (Bright had a heart murmur, and police believed he could have potentially suffered a fatal overdose).
• Another rumor, submitted by an anonymous tip through a jail inmate, claimed that Bright had accidentally been shot to death by a group of troublemakers while with his friends at a local swimming hole along the Coquille River. Those responsible attempted to nurse him back to health at a remote cabin, but Bright succumbed to his wound. The tip provider claimed his body had been buried in the woods in a shallow grave. Police, however, searched the aforementioned cabin and surrounding area, and found nothing.

Cecelia Fish, the sister of Bright's friend Johnny, told police that the night of Jeremy's disappearance, she had been at her sister's apartment. Around midnight, the two had been on their way out when they stumbled into an unnamed male resident of the building, who was covered in blood.

Terry Lee Steinhoff

According to some accounts, Bright was last seen in the passenger's seat of a truck owned by a young man named Terry Lee Steinhoff, who at one time babysat Bright. In January 1989, a week after the case was featured on Unsolved Mysteries, Steinhoff was charged in the stabbing death of 32-year-old Patricia Morris and police considered Steinhoff a potential suspect in Bright's disappearance. Steinhoff died in prison in 2007 of a heroin overdose.

Continuing investigation

As of 2017, Bright remains missing, and is presumed dead by his family. In August 2011, his family held a memorial service in his memory.