Jacksonville remembers legions of missing adults

Plenty of adults in the U.S. remain unaccounted for by their loved ones, and a designated day shines a light on their still-open cases.   

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan proclaimed Friday as Missing Adults Day in the city.  She recognized the “profound pain” the families of missing people experience.   

In Northeast Florida, people are remembering Geanna Jones, Whitney Sanders, Rosemary Day and Paul Akridge, to name a few. All are from the Jacksonville area and have been missing for years.   

Speaking almost 24 years to the day his brother, John Rowan Jr., disappeared, Michael Rowan gazed at a large photo of John displayed on an easel.

“We get updates from the police, from the detectives of course, but it’s a cold case ( like many of the cases here), and that’s why this event is so important to keep it in the detective’s mind and the people out there who see it,” he said.   

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Mark Degner and Bryan Hayes were middle school students who disappeared in 2005 after leaving Paxon Middle School. Their age-progressed photos were on display Friday.