Three Minnesota men have all gone missing around Halloween, here are their stories
With the recent disappearance of 23-year-old Bryce Borca from Eagan, Minnesota, on October 30th, there have now been three separate men who have gone missing across the state of Minnesota around Halloween over the last 20 years; Jeremy Jourdain - 17-years old of Bemidji, Minnesota, Chris Jenkins - 21-years old of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and now Bryce Borca - 23-years old of Eagan, Minnesota.
To be clear, there are no apparent direct connections in their cases outside of when they went missing, but their stories are still just as important. Their families deserve justice and closure for the pain they are enduring. Keeping their stories alive could help to bring their families more answers to what happened to them.
The Search Continues for Bryce Borca
It has been about three weeks since Bryce Borca went missing early in the morning on Sunday, October 30, 2022. On Monday, October 31st over 200-250 volunteers came together to help search for the young man. A combination of emergency personnel, volunteers, K9s, and the Minnesota State helicopter did a deep search of the area of Bryce's last known location. The location was a cellphone ping that was sent to his friends when he was video chatting with them before his phone ended up dying. His last known location was along the railroad tracks on the far western side of Eagan, Minnesota. Bryce has last seen around 2 AM on October 30th after being dropped off by a Lyft driver with his friends near the Hill Ridge Drive apartments. A warrant was also issued in connection to his disappearance, which you can read more about here.
Police are asking any residents and businesses south of Lone Oak Road, west of Pilot Knob Road, and north of Silver Bell Road to check their security cameras between 2-4 AM for any information in connection with Byrce Borca's disappearance. A map of that area can be found below. If you find anything or have any additional information in regard to this case, you are asked to call Bryan Hughes of the Eagan Police Department at 651-675-5827.
Jeremy Jourdain
17-year-old Jeremy Jourdain went missing from Bemidji, Minnesota, on October 31, 2016. To this day, Jeremy is still missing, but the Bemidji police department is still working with local agencies to find Jeremy and has said they have looked into more than 200 leads while searching via land, water, and air.
According to the Bemidji police, Jeremy was last seen in the area of 6th Street SE and Wood Avenue SE in Bemidji. He was reported to be wearing a blue and gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black and white Air Jordans.
With fall upon us and Minnesota deer hunting season beginning soon, law enforcement is asking people to keep an eye out while outdoors. Anyone who sees anything suspicious, including clothing items, is asked to report it to the Bemidji Police Department by calling 218-333-9111.
You are also able to leave a tip with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s 24-hour hotline at 800-THE-LOST (800-843-5678), or by contacting Crime Stoppers of Minnesota at CrimeStoppersMn.org or calling them toll-free at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Chris Jenkins
21-year-old Chris Jenkins of Eden Prairie went missing on October 31, 2002, after leaving the Lone Tree Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His body was discovered a year later in the Mississippi River near Horseshoe Dam in February 2003, with the case being closed in 2004 as an apparent drowning by local police, but the manner of his death was labeled as unknown. It was reported that he was found with his costume still intact and his legs and arms crossed.
The family of Chris Jenkins didn’t agree with their findings, though. They thought he was murdered, so they hired a private investigator to look into the case. After four years, the case was reopened and reclassified as murder in 2006. Local officials said he was a victim of homicide after he was thrown from a bridge with a possible eyewitness/suspect to the incident when it occurred.
Tim Dolan, the Minneapolis Police Chief at the time, said, "We did make a mistake. We made an assumption” “For the Minneapolis Police Department, I want to apologize to the Jenkins family."
Sergent Pete Jackson, the lead homicide investigator for this case, returned to the case after receiving a tip with very specific information regarding where Chris was thrown from the bridge. At the time, they had no other leads on how Chris ended up in the river, so they decided to investigate this lead, which led to a possible suspect and witness.
Police won’t officially disclose any of the information until they file a criminal charge, but Sergent Jackson says the man they are talking to is already incarcerated for a separate crime. According to Jackson, this man knows a lot about the crime scene and its location. At the time, though, they did not know exactly how he was connected to Jenkins' death. This leads me to the show Breaking Homicides.
Breaking Homicide
In the Spring of 2018, the show Breaking Homicides did a story on Chris Jenkins's case. Through their investigations, we learned that Chris had gone out to the Lone Tree Bar that night with his girlfriend and a few of their friends. Chris was dressed up as the Indian, which was the same outfit he was found in. A picture from that night can be seen above. The show was able to track down a bouncer who was working at the bar that night in 2002. This bouncer was able to confirm that he did not kick Chris out of the bar that night, which was one of many rumors that circulated this story, and that Chris left on his own without his phone, wallet, or jacket on what was described as a freezing cold that night.
The show also found a man named Jaramy Lynn Alford, who was reportedly also at the same bar as Chris on that Halloween night in 2002. Jaramy is currently serving a life sentence in the Stillwater Correctional facility in Stillwater, Minnesota, for murdering a man named Douglas Miller in 2005. Both he and his brother admitted to killing their roommate and then fleeing to Iowa. Miller was reportedly stabbed 20 times and hit with a blunt object in the head. They then set the home on fire to try and cover up the evidence. If we go back to what Sergent Jackson had stated earlier, their person of interest and witness was someone who was already serving time for another crime. When the show pressed Alford about the Chris Jenkins case through an alias, his reply was, “I don’t want to talk about anything I haven’t been convicted of.”
At this time, no charges have been filed, and no arrests have been made in connection to this case. The family also says they have had no contact with the Minneapolis Police Department about the case since around 2010 when speaking with Paty Dexter of the Southwest News Media back in 2018.
