Journey back to 1997 a time when hanging out with your friends cruising the local Burger King was still cool, whether you were listening to alternative rock or hip hop you were having a great time, dressed in the latest fashion trends of baggie jeans with a t-shirt over a long sleeve shirt or a plaid shirt wrapped around your waist life was simple and easy and you knew at the end of the night you were headed back home only to wake up the next morning and have a brand new adventure on your hands. One seventeen-year-old young man would never get the chance to experience this as one hot day in August he vanished from an Arizona desert.
Jason William Noble Saul was born on April 22, 1980. While there is little information about his life growing up the information that is available states that he lived in Bullhead City, Arizona, with his mother as his father had passed away the date for his death is unknown. Jason was receiving social security benefits for his father’s passing according to online reports.
On August 14,1997 Jason would head out with his friend Kenford J. Farley to the desert in hopes of finding crystals. The pair were traveling in an orange 1977 Dodge van. It is unclear what time the boys headed out to the desert. It is also unclear if they found any crystals. What is known is that at some point on their way back home the van would get stuck on an isolated gravel road, when this happened Jason and Kenford decided to walk to Bullhead City. It is unclear how far of a walk this would have been for them. As the pair began to walk, they for reasons unknown decided to split up and go separate ways about a mile into their journey. According to Kenford, the last time he saw Jason was at four am. Again, this was never confirmed, and it is unknown if the last time Kenford saw him was when the pair split up as there is not very much information on Jason’s case.
Van similar to the one Jason and Kenford were driving.
It was around nine am when Kenford walked into the hospital in Bullhead City. Jason was not with him at this time. It would not be until noon that Jason was reported missing by who we can only assume was his mother as no article I read stated who made the call to police.
Once police were notified a full on search took place with volunteers and helicopters combing the area looking for the seventeen year old. At some point the search was suspended. The police wanted to gather more information about what had happened out in the desert the previous night and into the early morning hours on Saturday August fifteenth.
Sadly, this is pretty much all the information that is available on Jason’s case. There are rumors of what happened to Jason in the desert that night according to some Jason was killed by a group of teenagers. It was also rumored that Jason hung out with a very rough crowd and Kenford was the one who killed him and buried him somewhere in the desert. His own mother allegedly claimed the night her son vanished there was drug interference in the desert. However, all these claims are just rumors and have not been confirmed by the police. I do find it interesting if his mom did claim that, did, she knew what happened to her son and if so was she afraid to say anything as to protect herself from whoever had done something to Jason. That is only my opinion, and nothing has been confirmed. The rumor that most people believe is Jason ran off to start a new life and get away from all the troubles he had in Bullhead City, while this cannot be confirmed it is what more people than not believe. If he did run away what were the troubles, he had that he felt he was running away from.
Bullhead City, Arizona
An online poster who claimed to be Jason’s stepsister alleged that his mom did not report him missing for quite some time as she wanted to collect the social security money he was receiving. This person also claimed his mom was a real piece of work. When I read this I took it with a grain of salt as he was reported missing on Saturday around noon it was not as if she waited weeks or months to report her son missing, it is possible she did not know he was missing until the police contacted her or someone else did and that is when the official report was made.
Jason’s friend Kenford would pass away on December 5,2000 at the age of 21, it is unclear what he died from as I was unable to find an obituary for him online. It was also said that Jason’s mom passed away in late 2000 as well but I cannot confirm this as no article I could find listed his mother’s name.
Jason at age 10
It is unknown if the police looked into Kenford’s story of being stuck on a gravel road, we can only hope they looked at the orange van, it is also unclear if any of the other claims were ever looked into as once again there is very little on this case. The most recent photo that the police have of Jason was when he was ten years old. It is unclear why there were no photos of him after the age of ten.
Jason was seventeen years old when he vanished, with blonde hair and blue eyes standing five foot four inches weighing one hundred and twenty pounds. Jason had a tattoo of a cross on the web of his hand. He went by the nicknames Lazy J, J, and eight ball. He had the name Lazy J tattooed on his abdomen at the time he vanished. He was wearing a black muscle shirt or black tank top with blue shorts and tire tread sandals.
If you have any information on what happened to Jason that hot August day please contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office at 928-753-0753.
Age progressed to 41 years old.
Sources:
The Charley Project
The Doe Network
Today’s News Herald
The Certified Roarikle 