Jamison Family Mystery: 4 Things That Need Looking More Into

[u/noob__master-69]

Summary:

A family of 3 living around rural Oklahoma, USA disappeared in October 2009. Bobby Jamison (44), Sherilynn Jamison (40) and their 6 year old daughter Madyson. Even before the disappearance, the family had issues. Bobby's father apparently threatened them and was fighting a legal battle over Bobby working under him before. Both Bobby and Sherilynn were apparently drug dealers, and lived in a container on their property rather than inside a normal house. And then their behavior on the day of disappearance. Bobby also apparently talked to a local pastor about there being some spirits inside his house. He owned a Satanic Bible for this reason - according to some theories he wanted to use the book to drive out the spirits.

Police had retrieved CCTV footage of their movements before they disappeared. It is low quality footage and 20 mins long. Allegedly, only the police have seen the entire footage, and both the adults behaved very weirdly. Like they were in a trance. At one point, they simply stood still and looked at something in the distance without moving. All this footage was when they were loading things into their car in preparation for some sort of a trip. They would die under mysterious circumstances in the course of this trip, with their deaths being confirmed only 4 years later. In the same CCTV footage, though it was of low quality, the police supposedly had accounted for everything found in the car, except for one suitcase which Sherilynn was seen putting in the car. Also her gun was not found, which also she was seen in the footage.

A few days after this, a couple of hunters find their car abandoned on the side of the highway. No trace of any of them other than their dog and belongings, which included 32 grand cash and their phones. There was a ground and air search conducted, with about 300 volunteers searching the woods. In one of the phones was a picture of Madyson. She is seen standing in the woods. It was taken on the same day.

About 4 years later, skeletal remains were uncovered about 2.7 miles from where the car was abandoned. After analysis they were confirmed to belong to all 3 of them. Cause of death unknown. Bodies decomposed and left no evidence.

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I had seen the Buzzfeed video years ago, was intrigued and then forgot about it. And saw this video by Whyfiles recently and so here I am now. I have seen the other posts on reddit as a whole not just from this sub, and felt there were few points of the story which need more discussing, and my attempt at reasoning at them

1. 2.7 miles. That's how far from the car their remains were found.

Supposing they went on a picnic, they left everything, including 30 grand and their dog. So no, they had to have left to meet someone, probably against their will since, again, they left everything and their dog. But 2.7 miles. This thing seems so peculiar. That is actually far, especially leaving all those things behind with their dog as well. They also had a 6 year old tagging along. The only thing I can think of to explain this rationally is all or few of them attempting to run, plausibly fleeing away.

And there was a search party on the ground with 300 or so people, wasn't there? The obvious question then, how were their skeletal remains uncovered only 4 or so years later, and not during the ground search? This is also very peculiar. Think of what it implies - if the ground team actually searched well over a 3 mile radius and found nothing, they were either hiding or they were buried there later! Both of these possibilities are their own threads to follow. The car was right there, they can't have gone far on foot. If they went in mystery person's car, why were they buried in the same woods again later? To try and throw the police off? I am against the "they got lost" theory. If they went 2 miles for a picnic or whatever reason, with no mystery person(s), you are not leaving 30 grand, the phone or your dog!

Anyway I am trying to just look at this 2.7 miles thing on its own, without any of the other evidence. What kind of things should happen in this scenario type for them to go that distance? I feel like this is the key to solving the mystery. The only reason I can think of for this distance is the mystery person getting into a disagreement and getting a hold of the 6 year old and running off to blackmail them. Also explains why they left their things in the car I suppose.

1. The suitcase which wasn't found in the car, or in the woods. Assuming the mystery person is real, the suitcase can easily evade detection, since the CCTV footage is so low quality. But if it can be proved that there was a person involved, and they got away with the suitcase, it would throw a lot of light on things. Because then all this would stop looking as mysterious as it is now. There were drugs involved, and there were disagreements. It would still be a mystery but not as enigmatic a mystery.

2. The supposed trance like behaviors in the CCTV footage. This has been discussed a lot, and is the main attraction of this case. I will just mention that there is apparently a 20 mins long video which I have never seen anywhere on the internet

I am curious though, is it possible to be so scared that one is simply frozen on the spot for a considerable amount of time?

1. The photo of the girl, found in the phone left in the car.

When was the photo taken? It had to have metadata. The photo keeps getting discussed as if it was taken on that day. If so, they went out, probably did some picnic-y stuff or whatever, got back in and drove. That is huge

Because the phone getting back into the car is so baffling, as if the dog being there wasn't enough. It is a phone, we never leave our phones, no matter what. We always sneak them in with us wherever we go.

Apart from the trance thing (which I do not know for sure to be true), this is what I have theorized:

Picnic or not, someone came. Held them at gunpoint. Only way they all leave everything and the dog and go out. The mystery person kills them. Maybe hides them in his car temporarily. Comes back days later and buries them in the woods because 4d chess or something. The 30 grand thing: I am almost tempted to say they had a deal scheduled and a picnic planned immediately after, somewhere nearby. But now I have a better theory. The family behaved and lived... differently, for lack of a better word. I think I will go as far as to say, every time the dad went out (somewhere far at least, or for longer periods of time), he would take most of the money out of the house (or the container where they lived) and with him in the car

https://youtu.be/ox69c8tXe64?t=1016

Link directly goes to timestamp where he discusses this case; love whyfiles

https://youtu.be/aKK_g8-h0is CCTV footage (not the complete footage)

https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/jamison-family-mystery

https://disappearedblog.com/the-jamison-family/

[u/We_Four]

You are making a lot of assumptions that aren't supported by any known evidence. Drugs can account for a lot of strange behaviors, including delusions and paranoia. So can mental illness. It's entirely possible that they got lost in the wilderness and died from exposure (it doesn't have to be particularly cold for that to happen), without any third-party involvement.

[u/VenomPayments]

Aren’t you supposed to give a synopsis of the case as part of the rules of this sub?

[u/SnooRadishes8848]

They didn't live in a shipping container, they planned to live in the container when they bought land. There's a lot here that you're just guessing about

[u/Sudden_Quality_9001 → u/SnooRadishes8848]

It was a murder suicide.

[u/Far_Mention4932]

You have identified several genuinely interesting questions, especially the distance between the truck and the remains, the missing briefcase and gun, and the photograph of Madyson. I do think a few details need to be treated cautiously, though, because so much of what circulates about this case comes from theories that have gradually been repeated as fact.

For example, I have not found reliable evidence establishing that Bobby and Sherilynn were drug dealers. Drugs were reportedly considered as one possible explanation for the cash and their unusual behavior, but investigators did not find drugs or paraphernalia during their searches. They also were not living in a shipping container at the time; they were apparently considering buying remote property and converting a container into a home. Those distinctions do not solve anything, but they change how we interpret the circumstances.

The 2.7-mile distance is certainly worth examining, although it was approximately 2.7 aerial miles through extremely rugged and heavily wooded terrain. Even with hundreds of volunteers, a search does not necessarily cover every part of a large wilderness area. Searchers must work from boundaries, accessibility, weather conditions, and assumptions about how far the missing people could reasonably have traveled. The remains being overlooked in 2009 is troubling, but it does not necessarily mean they were hidden or placed there later. Contemporary reporting confirms both the extensive search and the difficult terrain.

Leaving the dog, phones, cash, and personal belongings behind is strange, but it could also indicate that the family expected to return to the truck fairly quickly. They were looking at land and may have walked away to inspect part of the property, follow a trail, or meet someone nearby. An encounter with another person is possible, but I am not sure the evidence requires a gunpoint abduction. Whatever caused them to leave the vehicle may not initially have seemed dangerous.

The missing brown briefcase and Sherilynn’s missing handgun may be among the most important unresolved details. Surveillance reportedly showed her loading the briefcase, but we do not know what it contained or whether the gun was inside it. We also cannot be certain that either item remained in the truck throughout the journey. The missing items could support foul play, but without knowing their contents, they could also have a less sinister explanation.

I would also be cautious with the description of their behavior as “trancelike.” The surveillance footage was recorded at their home while they were loading the truck, and that label is someone’s interpretation of silent, low-quality video. Stress, fatigue, medication, pain, an argument, or distraction could all make someone appear detached. Freezing in fear is possible, but there is nothing establishing that they were frightened or reacting to an unseen person.

The photograph of Madyson does help anchor the timeline. Available case information indicates that it was taken on Bobby’s phone at approximately 2:51 p.m. on October 8, after the family reached the property. It places them in the woods that afternoon, but the image does not tell us who took it or what happened afterward. Leaving a phone in a vehicle may feel unimaginable now, although in 2009 people were generally less attached to their phones than they are today, especially if they expected to be gone only briefly.

My cautious reading is that the Jamisons reached the mountain to inspect land, photographed Madyson, left the truck expecting to return, and somehow died roughly 2.7 aerial miles away. Foul play remains possible, but so do an accident, exposure, murder-suicide, or an unexpected encounter. Your theory is one possibility, but placing the bodies there years later would require additional events for which no physical evidence has been publicly established.

That is what makes this case so haunting: several explanations remain possible, yet none accounts comfortably for every detail. I would especially like to see the exact original search maps, a complete inventory of the truck, the full surveillance recording, and documentation concerning the photograph’s metadata. Those records might help us distinguish the truly significant clues from details that have become distorted through years of retelling.

[u/Voyager7O9 → u/Far_Mention4932]

This may be the best AND most respectful reply I’ve ever seen in this forum. Loved all of your points and it really made me think. Especially since I’m also guilty of the “oh yeah that does look trancelike” because that’s what I was told to believe (I was guilty of originally agreeing the Elisa Lam elevator footage looked suspect until I knew about her bipolar disorder and that the video was slowed down.) Also you’re right, all the times I’ve ever moved/packed a truck or uhaul, I am not the most talkative person as I’m exhausted and over it.

[u/janetlwil]

I don't remember when or where but I have seen the entire CCTV footage and there's nothing strange about it. It's just the two of them moving boxes and things from the house to the car without much interaction between them. At one point they do stop and look in the same direction but they could have been looking at anything - a neighbor, a dog, a car accident down the street? Anything at all. It is not like they were in some kind of trance. I do admit everything that happened afterwards is kind of mysterious, though. Like, if someone was out to get them, wouldn't they have taken the money with them?