Jeremy Ray Coots

• Missing Since 02/18/1977
• Missing From Atchison, Kansas
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 10/30/1972 (52)
• Age 4 years old
• Height and Weight 3'0, 40 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue coat with patches of blue and purple plaid and a hood tied with orange string, one red mitten hanging from his coat sleeve by an elastic band, a blue shirt, light-colored pants, and square-toed brown cowboy boots with a bird design.
• Medical Conditions Jeremy suffers from severe hearing loss. He wore a Maico brand hearing aid with the serial number 41076 at the time of his disappearance. He can make out voices when he wears the hearing aid, but is almost entirely deaf without it.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Jeremy has a half-inch scar on the upper left side of his forehead and a three-quarter-inch scar on his lower jaw.

Details of Disappearance

Jeremy was last seen in the Potato Hill area of south Atchison, Kansas on February 18, 1977. He was at a babysitter's home and she allowed him to play outside in the yard with her own four-year-old son.

This was the first time the babysitter had let Jeremy out to play alone. He wandered away, walking east, and has never been heard from again. A five-day search of the area turned up no sign of him.

Jeremy's babysitter's home was about 400 yards from the Missouri River, and dogs tracked Jeremy's scent to its banks; authorities believe the child fell into the river and drowned. His body has never been recovered, however, in spite of a massive search.

At the time of his disappearance, Jeremy lived with his parents in the 200 block of north Eleventh Street. His family held a memorial service for him two weeks after he was last seen. His mother, Melodye Hathaway, published a book about her son's disappearance called In Search of Jeremy: A Mother's Story.