Jason Futch

**Jason Paul Futch** (born October 24th, 1991) is an American podcast presenter who hosts the true crime podcast *From The Vault: A True Crime Podcast* since September 2020. Prior to this, he was the host of *True Cold Case Files* from 2019 to 2020.

## Early Life

Jason was born on October 24th, 1991 at Shands UF Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. He grew up in Live Oak, Florida; where he spent most of his youth. He attended the local schools, and was a participant of the local Episcopal Church, where he was very active in the youth program. Additionally, he was a wrestler for Suwannee Middle School and Suwannee High School; where an injury forced him to retire from school athletics.

In 2008, he moved to Marianna, Florida; where he graduated with his high school diploma. He became a student at Florida Gateway College in Lake City, Florida; where he majored in Criminology and minored in music studies. It was also during this time, he was introduced to his first John Doe.

## Internet Sleuth History

### **The Beginnings**

Jason was first introduced to the Lake City John Doe case in March of 2010, as a student at Florida Gateway College. After learning about the Florida Missing Persons Database, he went to the local computer lab and began researching more about missing persons local to him. As he searched, he located a vague profile about a young man who had "been left" at a BP Gas Station in Lake City.

Intrigued, Jason furthered his research and learned that this was perhaps the most graphic case that was local to him. The John Doe had been dismembered and left behind the dumpster of a BP Gas Station north of Lake City on June 5th, 1994. A woman named Rebecca Hunt, who was traveling to Pennsylvania from Florida, had located it after her dog pulled her toward the site of the remains while she was walking it.

Jason combed through information available to him at the time and additionally interviewed retired deputies with the Columbia County Sheriffs Office, as well as Rebecca Hunt. He was able to gain more information that he could use in an attempt to identify him. In 2012, he chose to post information on the case to Websleuths, and included information that was previously not released to the public.

It was information on Websleuths, along with information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that helped a family member of the victim to come forward with information that changed the course of the investigation that would lead to the identification of missing Nassau County, Florida teen Fred Paul Laster. He had last been seen in the company of Jacksonville Beach therapist Ronnie Leon Hyde, who had also been a family friend. Hyde was arrested and charged with Laster's murder on March 7th, 2017. The Laster family have publicly stated that the information Jason provided was what helped them return their brother home. Fred Laster was buried in Nassau County in October 2018.

### **Recovering Sommer Dowda**

In June of 2017, Jason was assisting the Columbia County Sheriffs Office in attempting to locate Sommer Dowda, a runaway teen from Fort White, Florida. In the course of his search, he found out that she was alive and well in New York. With the assistance of a mutual friend, Jason was able to make contact with Sommer, which led to the CCSO reaching out and taking over the leads. She was physically located by CCSO a couple of months later and was removed from NamUs and FDLE's missing persons clearinghouse

## Work in Media

Jason began working on a prototype show in 2018, which would showcase cold cases from around the United States and occasionally Canada. Originally, he had planned to present his idea to Tricia Griffith of Websleuths. The idea was for the program, then being worked on as *Finding America's Missing and Murdered*, to be featured on Websleuths Radio.

It was around this time Jason became acquainted with Kimster, the Director of *CrimeWatchers.Net (CW).* When he spoke with Kimster, she was thrilled with the fact that someone wanted to help the forum board create a "radio program" so to speak. Kimster herself had also run a podcast program called *Kimster's Mysteries* years prior and had some knowledge about the way podcasting works.

In the end, Jason was unfortunately able to begin a "radio program" for CW; however, they continued to support Jason and his idea for a True Crime show that featured cases rarely discussed. With that, Jason accepted CW as a sponsor in exchange for allowing him to host a thread on the website dedicated to the program. It was at this point Jason reworked the title, aptly called *True Cold Case Files*, and chose to go for a YouTube format.

The program made its debut on January 5th, 2019 in its YouTube format. The first case Jason covered was that of the Fly Creek Jane Doe that was found in Amboy, Washington in 1980; months before Mount Saint Helens erupted not far from the area. Jason had begun studying the case after a Websleuths user suggested he look into it. Soon, the episode gained over a thousand views in under a month, which also helped the channel gain followers.

### **True Cold Case Files Podcast**

(See *True Cold Case Files* for more information)

Jason concluded his YouTube series in May of 2019. It was then that he realized that there is potential to start a podcast, which could be listened to by others on a more wider scale. With that, he created an Anchor account and began writing the next season of *TCCF.* On top of that, Jason decided to include a co-host to help him discuss the cases he presented. He asked his friend, who goes by Daisey Chains online, to help him since she had previous experience podcasting under her real name.

The next season of True Cold Case Files debuted on November 4th, 2019 on Anchor, as well as on eight other podcasting platforms that included Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify and others. The first several episodes enjoyed great success; a success so great that it maintained status as one of the top 200 podcasts in the True Crime genre on Apple Podcast. It had even surpassed several other popular podcasts, most notably Sports Illustrated's special on the homicide of retired Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair.

Over time, scheduling issues as well as technical difficulties caused for some issues for the first half of the season, which resulted in changes to the podcast. Daisey also left the program in January 2020. It was then that the last episode featuring Daisey, *The Sims Homicide,* would be released shortly after.

### **Working with Nick Wagler, TCCF Replaced**

Shortly after taking a break and reorganizing the TCCF format, Jason decided to reach out to his friend Nick Wagler. Nick is considered the founder of *Unidentified Wiki*; the first Wiki dedicated to missing persons and unidentified persons. Nick agreed to come on after Jason praised his work when he filled in for Daisey on an episode of True Cold Case Files, when they discussed the Singer Island Jane Doe. Jason cited that Nick "knew his stuff" when it came to Jane and John Does and that he was very good at doing his homework.

Nick began working with Jason on the debut episode of TCCF as they discussed two missing persons cases from Florida: Tiffany Sessions and Kamrie Mitchell.

After several episodes, Jason decided to go forward with a new idea that would shape the future of his podcasting career. He upgraded the sound of the program, changed recording programs, and shortened segments to make way for longer discussions on the topics at hand. This eventually became *From The Vault: A True Crime Podcast.* Jason and Nick rolled out the first two episodes on September 14th, 2020 with discussions on Robert and Frieda Wheatley; as well as a discussion on Millie Doe, a Jane Doe found in Spokane, Washington in 1984. The program is ongoing.

## Personal Life

Jason lives in Lake City, Florida. Prior, he lived in the Pacific Northwest, residing in Portland, Oregon from 2015-2019. He briefly lived in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jason is an avid camper, hiker, and also enjoys traveling when he can. He works as a truck driver.