Jarrett Thomas Brooks

• Missing Since 07/04/2023
• Missing From Joseph City, Arizona
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 12/07/2006 (18)
• Age 16 years old
• Height and Weight 6'0, 140 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A black t-shirt with "AMERICA" across the front, blue jeans, cowboy boots with square toes, and a dark-colored baseball cap.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Jarrett was last seen in the 4400 block of Boyce Drive Joseph City, Arizona on the morning of July 4, 2023. The previous day he had been grounded for taking his father's vehicle without permission. At 6:15 a.m., he woke up and approached his mother to confirm he was still grounded, and she said yes.

His mother then stepped into the shower and planned to discuss the matter further with him when she got out, but by the time she got out of the shower he was gone. Home security footage showed Jarrett taking a handgun out of his father's safe and tucking it into his waistband before he left the house. He also took a pocket knife but left his wallet, driver's license and cash behind.

At 7:00 a.m., a neighbor saw him walking quickly across a pasture on the neighbor's ranch about a mile from Jarrett's home. Ten minutes later when the neighbor tried to approach him at a crossroad, he was gone. He has never been heard from again and his mother filed a missing persons report at 12:30 p.m. after looking for him in town. His mother stated he was educated in firearm saefty and had never taken a gun without permission before, and she stated she hadn't seen any indication that he was suicidal and neither had any of his friends.

Almost two years following Jarrett's disappearance, in May 2025, a local newspaper editor, Molly Kathryn Ottman, was accused of creating misinformation about the case. She worked for the newspaper the Mountain Daily Star and wrote several articles about Jarrett's disappearance in 2023 and 2024.

In October 2023, Ottman contacted the police about an account she found on the social media platform Reddit. The account, which she claimed was created by Jarrett's father, made repeated references to sexually abusing a minor child. Police, after months of investigating this, determined the Reddit account was fake and had been created by Ottman herself. Ottman has been charged with obstructing a criminal investigation and fraudulent schemes and artifices.

Jarrett has six siblings and was the oldest child still living at home, and had been homeschooled with his three younger siblings for the past few years prior to his disappearance. He planned to either work at a ranch or become a firefighter like his father after graduation, and was active in the fire department’s explorer program.

The circumstances of his disappearance are unclear. He may have traveled to Winslow, Arizona or to San Antonio, Austin, Temple or Stamford, Texas after going missing.