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September 2, 2010
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Missing veteran’s familiy in need
Published December 15, 2006
Jason Roark of Snellville turned 27 on Monday and his parents didn’t get to wish him happy birthday. Thanksgiving was more than two weeks ago and his parents weren’t able to celebrate that with him. And with Christmas less than two weeks away unless something breaks soon that won’t be much of a family celebration either. His father said there’s probably no good time for your child to go missing but over the holidays just seems that much worse.
The missing 27-year-old veteran is the only child of Terry and Ken Roark of Dallas and they say he wouldn’t choose to just disappear and not contact them. They say he’s their child, their baby, and they just know. Police might say that as an adult he is entitled to leave without permission but family members know when things aren’t right. Jason was an assistant manager at the Texas Roadhouse in Snellville and had phoned his mother the day before his disappearance to tell her about an upcoming promotion he was excited about. She said his life was going in a good direction — not one that would lead to him to voluntarily withdraw from society.
No matter what might or might not have happened since his return from the war, this man put his life on the line for us — not once, but twice. As with all veterans and their families, that makes them our family too. We owe it to this family to do whatever we can to help bring Jason home. As a Special Forces Iraq veteran, we don’t know what demons he might be battling. But we do know he is battling them because he chose to incur them on our behalf. Let’s not forget that.
The two-tour Iraqi veteran was last seen on a Lilburn hotel parking surveillance camera at 11:04 a.m. on Nov. 9 and nobody has seen or heard from him since. He was driving a 2001 black Honda Accord, Ga. plate ASL0280 with a white Florida Gator decal in the back window. The family calls his cell phone every two hours and once, for a 26-hour period a couple of weeks ago, the phone was switched back on. But police didn’t get to trace its location and it’s now switched off again. Initially, police said they didn’t suspect foul play but according to his parents something has changed, although they’re not sure what. The case is now a full-blown investigation His parents say he has suffered from depression and post traumatic stress syndrome since returning from his final tour of duty in 2005 but they don’t believe that is the reason he is missing.
The Roarks, with help from family, friends and volunteers, handed out fliers in Snellville last weekend with hopes that somebody would remember seeing Jason, his car or something that would help police in the search.
A trust fund has been set up to help locate Jason and to pay a reward for anyone who has information that helps locate him. Contributions to the reward fund can be made by contacting Westside Bank at 770-445-1855 ext. 301. Anyone wishing to find out more about the case or to pass on any information can go to info(at)TexasEquuSearch.org or by phoning 1-877-270-9500, Gwinnett County Police at 770-513-5347 case number 06-11-8592 or private investigator Bob Poulnot at 770-995-1275.
Let’s do what we can to help this family go to sleep Christmas Eve at least knowing where their son is. We owe them that.
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