Jamey Holyoak has been missing since mid-April, and friends and family fear he has died. He was last seen walking along the road in La Sal, near where he often stayed with a girlfriend. Family members have been working with sheriffs in Grand and San Juan counties, as well as private investigator Jason Jensen, to try to find out what happened to Holyoak; there is a $5,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
“We need to know what happened to him,” said Holyoak’s sister, Kathy Randall. “We need to bring him home. If he’s gone, we need to bury him; we need to have some peace. It’s just the worst horror to be in.”
Randall and her other siblings have searched for their brother in La Sal. She thinks that if he were still alive, he would have contacted her by now.
Holyoak had been in touch with family once or twice a month, Randall said, usually communicating through a friend since Holyoak struggled with substance abuse issues. Though those issues created distance between the siblings, Randall expresses strong affection for her brother.
“He was a really good guy; he just had a really bad problem with drugs,” she said. She said it would be completely out of character for him to disappear without contacting her or another family member for any longer than a couple of weeks, unless something was wrong.
Randall lovingly describes her brother as warm and fun. She recalled how he kept everyone in good spirits while the siblings were up all night at the hospital worrying over one of their infant children who was being treated for jaundice.
“He’d make you laugh, no matter what,” she said.
Holyoak has an adult son and a teenage daughter, though he was not in close touch with them before his disappearance. He loves the outdoors—camping, hunting, fishing and four-wheeling—and spending time with friends.
“He’s kind of a social butterfly, he’s never been a loner,” Randall said. “He’s one of those people that’s easy to get to know and befriend.”
Randall said Holyoak battled with drug addiction for years—he tried and gave up three times on rehabilitation programs. After a painful divorce several years ago, he began using more frequently, stopped working and moved out of his house. He spent most of his time in La Sal.
“He’d kind of hit rock bottom,” Randall said.
San Juan County Sheriffs have searched La Sal, and used search dogs in areas they thought Holyoak was likely to be. They’ve questioned friends and acquaintances, but have not drawn any conclusions. Jensen said that if Holyoak is deceased, it’s important to find his remains soon so that a cause of death can be determined.
Randall implores anyone with information to come forward.
“Even if you think it’s just small or whatever—it could be the link to putting two and two together,” she said. “We don’t know what little piece might fill in the blank.”
Holyoak is 47, with brown hair and blue eyes; he stands around 6’1” in height and weighs about 140 pounds. He often walked or biked, and carried a backpack, sleeping bag, and tarp. He was last seen walking along La Sal Road in La Sal on April 15.
To share tips or information, contact the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office at 435-587-2237 or contact private investigator Jason Jensen at 801-759-2248. Tips may remain anonymous.
