SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – No one really knows which direction two young friends took before they vanished.
Witness statements in 1985 Salt Lake City police reports don’t offer a route Lloyd Reese and David Jaramillo took.
The two were presumed dead, and authorities back then assumed Jaramillo missed a curve and drove into the water of the East Canyon reservoir in Morgan County.
“We’re going back 36 years ago and do not know which direction the boys went,” said Jared Leisik, a diver with Adventures with a Purpose. “Was there any reason why they were going to Ogden?”
This week, members of “Adventures with a Purpose” searched the water near the base of the East Canyon reservoir. It’s the second such search conducted this month. It’s an area where a driver most likely could miss a sharp turn on the highway leading to Ogden.
It’s long been assumed that 21-year old Jaramillo missed a curve, sending his car and his passenger, 15-year old Lloyd Reese, into the dam.
But after two days of searching, a diving team didn’t find Jaramillo’s vehicle.
“Can I say 100% the vehicle is not over there?” Doug Bishop, a member of the team, asked. “No, but as many dives as they’ve made searching the area…yeah. Is it impossible? No. It’s not impossible, but we’re really good at what we do.”
The only vehicle found was a blue 1990 SUV, which turned out to be stolen.
The answers about their disappearance may lie with witnesses who were with Reese and Jaramillo that day in 1985.
In the 1985 police report, two persons, including a young woman named “Felisha,” were with Jaramillo at the reservoir. The report said “David had left them and driven off.” She told police “she could not believe he would leave without saying anything to her.”
Reese’s sister claimed she communicated with the woman on Facebook and said “Felisha” is now saying something different, but wouldn’t elaborate.
“I feel she may have answers, but may be scared to come forward,” said Thunder Alexander. “Whatever it may be, I think she has to put that aside and help our family, two families, get closure.”
She’s urging Salt Lake police to reopen the case and question “Felisha,” but has yet to hear back from them.
“And I want to mention Thunder before we finish tonight,” said Mike King, host of Profiling Evil YouTube, during a segment this week.
King did segments this week on the search for Reese and Jaramillo. Alexander as well as members of Adventures with a Purpose appeared this week offering updates on the search at East Reservoir.
Towards the end of one segment, King promised to help Alexander with the paperwork to declare Reese dead and raise funds for a headstone and a burial plot for him.
“It just seems like the right thing to do,” King told ABC4. “And it was really touching to Thunder and we were very glad we could do it.
Alexander was grateful for the gesture. She said their only place to pay respects for her brother is at their home.
“I will be able to take my 7-year old there and be able to let him talk (to Lloyd),” Alexander said. “Whether he is there or not, he’ll be able to talk to him as if he is there and that means a lot to me.”
Profiling Evil has set up a PayPal account on their website for anyone wishing to help with the costs of a headstone and burial plot.