In 1986, 14-year-old Jeremy Bright relocated from Myrtle Point, Oregon to Grants Pass, Oregon, following his mother’s divorce from his stepfather, Orville “Ole” Gulseth. Diane decided to allow Jeremy and his nine-year-old sister, S’te, to spend a week with their stepfather so that Jeremy could return to Myrtle Point for the annual Coos County Fair. On August 14, Jeremy brought S’te and her friend to the fair and purchased all-day passes for them.

Jeremy Said To His Sister

He told his sister at 2:00 that he would meet her by the Ferris wheel at 5:00. Jeremy then spent the afternoon assisting his aunt in her restaurant before calling his mother at 4:45 on a payphone. He informed Diane that he would meet S’te and arranged for her to pick them up in two days at Myrtle Point.

Soon after, Jeremy stopped by a tavern owned by his uncle and asked his stepfather, Ole, for money to attend the fair the following day. After leaving the tavern, Jeremy did not appear to meet S’te and was never seen again.

Jeremy Disappeared

When Diane arrived at Ole’s house on August 16, she found Jeremy’s wallet, wristwatch, and keys on top of the television and realized no one had seen him for two days. After Jeremy was reported missing, numerous unconfirmed rumors about his whereabouts spread throughout the town. Throughout the week, witnesses recalled seeing Jeremy at numerous parties in Myrtle Point, and there was speculation that he was given a drug-laced beer. Due to Jeremy’s heart murmur, this could have led to a fatal overdose and prompted someone to dispose of his body.

A jailhouse informant also claimed that Jeremy and his friends were harassed by three regional troublemakers while they were at a swimming hole. One of them decided to demonstrate his skill by firing a gun into the water until Jeremy was accidentally struck by a bullet. These three individuals took Jeremy to a remote cabin 10 miles outside of town and attempted to nurse him back to health after he was injured.

Two weeks later, Jeremy succumbed to his wounds and was buried 200 feet from the cabin in a shallow grave. The cabin and the surrounding area were searched, but no evidence was discovered.

August 15

Nevertheless, at approximately 12 a.m. on August 15, a young woman named Cecelia Fish was leaving her sister’s apartment when one of the three individuals named in this narrative entered the building. His clothing was stained with blood, but he laughed it off and stated, “This happened hours ago.” Johnny, one of Jeremy’s best friends who had been hanging out with him that week, arrived at the building a half-hour later and entered his sister’s apartment.

He was trembling and traumatized about something, but he refused to reveal what had happened. Johnny reportedly was never the same after the incident and battled addiction and homelessness until his death in 2011. In September 1988, 24-year-old Terry Lee Steinhoff was accused of murdering Patricia Lynn Morris, who had been cut and stabbed 15 times in the throat three and a half months earlier after leaving a bar.

Steinhoff pleaded “no contest” to the murder charge and remained incarcerated until his death by heroin overdose in 2007. Jeremy was babysat by Steinhoff when he was younger, and the two were reportedly spotted in a truck together on the day Jeremy vanished. Steinhoff was also one of the three individuals mentioned in the “swimming hole” tale, and the blood-covered man Cecilia Fish encountered was Steinhoff’s cousin.

According to the prevalent rumor, Steinhoff, his cousin, and one or two other individuals were responsible for Jeremy’s disappearance, but no one has ever been arrested and Jeremy’s body has never been found.