Jeremiah Alfred Payne III was 25 years old when he was last seen in Jacksonville, Florida, on October 12, 2017. Online missing-person information connected to NamUs states that he left his residence that day and did not return. Before he disappeared, Jeremiah reportedly told his family that he was going to California, a detail that became central to the early understanding of the case because it suggested he may have intended to travel away from Florida rather than vanish without explanation.
He was listed as a Black male with black hair, approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall and about 150 pounds at the time of the report.
After Jeremiah left, his family did not hear from him in the way they expected. The absence of contact became more troubling over time, especially because he had told them about a possible destination but did not provide the kind of continuing communication that would reassure them he was safe. According to online case information, Jeremiah’s family reported him missing on March 7, 2018, nearly five months after he was last seen. The case was associated with NamUs number MP51491, and the publicly available summary indicated that efforts to locate him had been unsuccessful at the time the case information was posted.
The available online information about Jeremiah’s disappearance is limited, but the facts that were released show the painful uncertainty his loved ones faced. A young man left home after saying he planned to go to California, and then the trail went quiet. For his family, the delay between his last known contact and the missing-person report did not make the concern any less serious; it reflected the difficult reality that families sometimes wait, hope, and search for explanations before realizing that a loved one’s absence has become a formal missing-person case. Public case summaries continued to identify Jacksonville as the place he was last seen and October 12, 2017, as the date connected to his disappearance.
The investigating agency has reported that Jeremiah Payne has been found alive. The exact date and circumstances of his recovery are not clear from the available public information, so no specific recovery date should be given. In overview, Jeremiah Payne’s case began as the disappearance of a 25-year-old man from Jacksonville who reportedly left his residence after telling family he was going to California; it developed into a missing-person investigation after months without contact, and it ultimately ended with official reporting that he was located alive.Last Seen: Oct 12, 2017
