On the morning of July 2, 2011, 28-year-old Jared Hanna was last seen by his sister at his home in Jerseyville, Illinois. A devoted single father of two young daughters, Jared's life was centered around his work and his children. That particular weekend, his daughters were with their mother, leaving Jared with some rare free time. It is believed he may have been planning a fishing trip, as he took his fishing equipment and bait with him when he left his house around 11:30 a.m.
Shortly after, surveillance footage captured him at a local Amoco station purchasing a soda. This was the last confirmed sighting of him. His family initially thought he might have gone on a camping trip he had mentioned, and they were not immediately alarmed when he didn't return home that night.
Concern for Jared's welfare grew when he failed to pick up his daughters on Sunday evening and was not reachable by phone. The family's fears were amplified when they received a call on Tuesday, July 5th, informing them that Jared's 1990 GMC Sierra pickup truck had been discovered abandoned in a rural area of Clinton County, approximately 70 miles from his home. The truck was found on the side of Jolliff Bridge Road in Centralia and was out of gas. Inside the vehicle, investigators found a fishing pole and a tackle box, but his guitar and amplifier, which he also had with him, were missing. The interior of the truck appeared to have been ransacked, suggesting a possible robbery. Cell phone records showed his phone last pinged a tower in Centralia at 9:30 p.m. on the night he disappeared, after which the phone was either turned off or the battery died.
In the days following the discovery of his truck, a few potential sightings were reported. A motorist claimed to have seen a man resembling Jared walking near where the truck was found around midnight on July 3rd. Later that morning, around 8:30 a.m., a resident in the area reported that a man matching Jared's description knocked on their door, asking for a glass of water and directions to Centralia before heading east on foot. Despite these leads, extensive searches of the area, involving volunteers on ATVs and horseback, yielded no sign of Jared. A significant discovery was made in October 2011 when a black shoulder bag belonging to Jared was found on the banks of Crooked Creek, about a mile and a half from where his truck had been abandoned. The case has been heartbreaking for his family, including his mother, who was a former dispatcher for the sheriff's office and passed away in 2020 without knowing what happened to her son. His sister later adopted his two daughters. The disappearance of Jared Hanna remains an unsolved case with many unanswered questions. He vanished after leaving his home for what seemed to be a day of fishing, but his truck was found miles away under suspicious circumstances, and despite some early leads, his whereabouts remain a mystery.Last Seen: Jul 2, 2011
