BOISE, Idaho — Three-year-old Jason Cannon was last seen sitting on his front porch in Boise in March of 1983. He was waiting for his older brother to come home from school, and it was a little chilly, so his mother went inside to get him a jacket. When she went back to the porch, Jason was gone.
Boise Police Detective Paul Jagosh said Jason's mother had been baking brownies at the time for her two sons. The department thinks Jason was abducted.
"His brother was his hero," Jagosh said. "So, that was kind of a daily thing for him. He was excited when his brother was coming home. And she went in to get a coat and came back out, and he was gone. Just absolutely disappeared."
The case keeps Jagosh up at night, he said he wonders if Jason is ok, who took him and if there can be any closure to this case. Now, he's hoping that by re-interviewing people, getting the case back in the public discussion and using forensic genetic genealogy this cold case could heat up.
The detective said police have been talking to people that were originally interviewed hoping they might remember something. He said even though so much time has gone by, people still remember when a child goes missing.
"They think about it, maybe you talk to them a day or two later," Jagosh said. "But that is our hope, that there's a piece of the puzzle that we're missing. We'd really like to speak with people who lived in that immediate area and have something knowledgeable about the case."
When Jason originally went missing, there were theories that he had wandered to a nearby canal and drowned but Jagosh said that is unlikely and that original police reports show that Jason was actually scared of water.
"In reading the police reports, the dive teams, the detectives all talked about how none of them believe that the body would have floated to the Boise River," Jagosh said. "I went and walked along that entire canal bank and looked at what they were describing in the police reports, and it makes sense, it's shallow."
The detective said reports also show there was a large chain link fence around the canal at the time. Jason's house was located at 32nd Street and Jordan Street.
"He loved his highlight of the day, his brother coming home from school, and mom had brownies in the oven," Jagosh said. "What 3-year-old kid just wanders off during that time? So, if he didn't go in the in the canal, a 3-year-old doesn't just walk off and raise themselves. That's why we strongly believe that this was an abduction or kidnapping. Now, who did it and what their motives are? We don't know."
Something that could crack the case is forensic genetic genealogy. It's when law enforcement uses DNA analysis with genetic genealogy research to see if there are any matches. Jagosh said Jason potentially could be alive and not know he was abducted.
"We just started the DNA process," Jagosh said. "So, we're waiting for the results to come back and start doing the genealogical searches. But we don't have anything of Jason's that we could get DNA off of, and that would actually fill in that void. At this point, it's a waiting game of if his DNA pops up as a live sample, or if remains are found."
Jagosh said even if the investigation leads to remains, at least that is some kind of closure for Jason's family.
"I think the big thing here is that the Boise police doesn't give up. We're going to work this case and continue working this case, as long as there's leads to follow, we're going to follow up and keep this case alive. And hopefully with the media's interest that people across the country see this. They have suspicions. Any knowledge whatsoever that we're looking to speak with you and get that information, and we're going to follow up on any lead that comes in," Jagosh said.
If you think you might be Jason, or have any information on the case, contact the Boise Police Department.
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