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Jonathan Hoang Spotted on Camera? We Have 4 Days to Confirm and Save Him

August 13, 2025 / 08:34

This episode covers the missing person case of 21-year-old Jonathan Wong from Arlington, Washington. Key topics include Jonathan's disappearance, his autism, and the family's concerns about his safety.

On March 31, 2025, Jonathan left home with only his iPad and headphones, prompting his family to worry due to his cognitive limitations. Authorities believe he left voluntarily, while his parents suspect foul play.

The family presents several pieces of evidence, including Jonathan's heightened anxiety before his disappearance, a scent trail that stops at a cul-de-sac, and changes to his iPad's security settings that allowed communication with outsiders.

Additionally, there was a reported activity on Jonathan's iPad days after he vanished, and surveillance footage from June 23 shows a person resembling Jonathan over 40 miles away. The Snowomish County Sheriff's Office disagrees with the family's theories, stating there is no evidence of a crime.

The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to help find Jonathan, emphasizing the urgency as his family faces losing guardianship soon.

TLDR

The episode discusses the case of missing Jonathan Wong and the family's concerns about his safety and potential foul play.

Episode

8:34
00:00:00
Hi, crime junkies. I wanted to bring you something a little different while you wait for next week's episode. I'm
00:00:07
calling it a briefing. This is a case that's pretty new, and the hope is that we can get this story far and wide while
00:00:13
it's still fresh, and maybe one of you will be able to solve it, and we can keep it from becoming a cold case that
00:00:20
gets featured in full on our show. So, listen closely. I'm briefing you today on the missing
00:00:31
person case of 21-year-old Jonathan Wong out of Arlington, Washington. Sometime before dawn, March 31st, 2025,
00:00:39
unbeknownst to his family, Jonathan walked out of their home with only the clothes on his back, his iPad, and
00:00:46
headphones. And he hasn't been seen since, which is extra concerning for his parents because though Jonathan is 21,
00:00:53
he has autism. and psychological evaluations say that he's cognitively at the level of maybe an eight or
00:01:00
nineyear-old and not able to independently care for himself long term because Jonathan lived a very structured
00:01:06
and ritualistic life. What authorities and the Wongs agree on and there isn't much is that Jonathan wasn't forcibly
00:01:13
removed from his home but what drove him to walk out the door that night they have separate theories on. Police are
00:01:20
firm in their belief that no third party is connected in any way to Jonathan's disappearance and he was not a victim of
00:01:27
foul play. His parents, however, believe someone with influence over Jonathan lured him out of the house. And they
00:01:35
point to a couple of pretty compelling pieces of evidence as proof. One, heightened anxiety in the time before
00:01:42
his disappearance. Two, a scent trail that stops in a culde-sac by their house. Three, a recent change in
00:01:49
security settings on his devices that would have allowed him to talk to a stranger or someone outside of his
00:01:54
family. Four, there is a single point of activity on Jonathan's iPad days after he disappeared. And five, there is
00:02:03
surveillance footage from almost 3 months after Jonathan disappeared that his family is sure shows Jonathan. So,
00:02:10
let's break it down. around the heightened anxiety. In the two weeks before Jonathan disappeared, he seemed
00:02:16
more anxious than normal. Now, his parents attribute this to the fact that they had been trying to nudge him toward
00:02:23
more independence. He recently started a job training at a nearby Goodwill store
00:02:27
through his school, and his family says that he didn't want to go. He actually called out sick for two of the four
00:02:34
scheduled sessions. And the night that he disappeared, he told his dad that he wasn't feeling well and he said he
00:02:40
didn't want to go to school the next day. Point two, the scent trail. So when authorities did an initial search of the
00:02:47
area for Jonathan, his family says that dogs picked up his scent on pavement at the end of a culde-sac down the hill
00:02:54
from the Wong's house. But that's where the scent stopped. And that makes the family wonder if Jonathan could have
00:03:01
gotten into a car at the bottom of the culde-sac. Three is the security settings. So, a few weeks before
00:03:08
Jonathan disappeared, his parents removed the security restrictions on his iPad and iPhone so that he could
00:03:15
communicate with his job training supervisor at Goodwill. That meant instead of only being able to message
00:03:21
his immediate family, Jonathan could send or receive messages to anyone. I mean, they know he sent at least one
00:03:26
text to his supervisor at Goodwill and texted an image of his state ID to a pareducator at his school, but they
00:03:33
don't know if anyone could have sent other messages to him through his iPad, which they have been unable to locate.
00:03:41
Which brings me to point four, his iPad activity. In their own effort to find Jonathan, his dad tried using the Find
00:03:47
My feature to locate the iPad that his son took with him that night. The last location showed their house before he
00:03:55
left and presumably disconnected from their Wi-Fi. So, the family reached out to Apple. Jonathan's family gave them
00:04:01
the model, the serial number, and Apple support confirmed to them that the iPad connected to Wi-Fi, and someone
00:04:09
navigated to the Apple App Store on April 2nd. That is 3 days after Jonathan went missing. Where it pinged from, we
00:04:19
don't know. The family said that Apple wouldn't give them that location without a warrant from law enforcement. And then
00:04:26
there's point five, the surveillance footage. On June 23rd, someone who looks a heck of a lot like Jonathan was
00:04:33
captured on two separate security cameras in Kirkland. Now, this is over 40 miles away from Arlington, where his
00:04:41
family home is. But Jonathan's family is convinced that the man on the camera is
00:04:46
their son. and they're really convinced that he was trying to get home for a few
00:04:51
reasons. First, the man was walking in the specific way that Jonathan walked, doing the same vocal stems and hand
00:04:58
motions that Jonathan does. He's wearing clothes that match items Jonathan owned
00:05:04
and that his family says they can't account for. The second is one of the cameras he was captured on was from a
00:05:10
house ring camera. That house was on 114th Lane. Jonathan's home is on 114th Drive. And if that's not convincing
00:05:21
enough, Jonathan's dad says that the Ring camera house has two columns with a faux rock facade just like Jonathan's
00:05:29
family's home. Now, the Snowomish County Sheriff's Office does not agree with the
00:05:34
family. They say there's no evidence of a crime and they conducted extensive searches of a wide area in his
00:05:41
neighborhood beginning the morning he was reported missing and they found nothing. And even though the dogs
00:05:47
stopped at the culdesac, they point out that dogs aren't perfect and there's not
00:05:51
proof that Jonathan got into a vehicle of any kind. And unfortunately, there was no sign of Jonathan on any of the
00:05:58
neighborhood security cameras during that time. The sheriff's office says they've been in contact with Apple,
00:06:04
Microsoft, and Verizon. All companies have cooperated with them, and they have no evidence that Jonathan's iPad
00:06:10
connected to the App Store or had any activity at any time after he went missing. Now, we showed them the
00:06:17
messages his family exchanged with Apple support, and they just reiterated their
00:06:22
position. They have no evidence that Jonathan's iPad connected to the App Store or had any activity. And they say
00:06:29
that because there's no evidence of foul play, they don't have a basis for a warrant to serve on Apple to get
00:06:36
location data. They also don't believe that the surveillance footage in Kirkland is Jonathan. But they also have
00:06:41
never identified the man in the video. Not being on the same page as law enforcement has made the Wongs feel like
00:06:48
they're alone in this. When Jonathan went missing, his parents jumped through a bunch of hoops to get emergency
00:06:54
guardianship over him so that they could advocate for him legally and also just so they could access information about
00:07:01
him. They've already had it extended twice, but their attorney says a third extension is extremely unlikely, which
00:07:08
means Jonathan's family will lose guardianship of him on Tuesday, August 19th. That's in 6 days. So, they're
00:07:15
hoping this video might reach someone who knows something before then. Do you know where Jonathan is? Do you know who
00:07:23
is seen in that video footage that was filmed in Kirkland, Washington on June 23rd between approximately 10:30 and
00:07:31
11:04 p.m.? Can you help in any way find the iPad that he took with him? According to find Jonathan Wong.com,
00:07:39
here are the steps you can follow if you see him. Stay with him or in sight of him. Do not leave. Ask if he's Jonathan.
00:07:48
Immediately call the 911 emergency line because time is of the essence. After 911, contact Crimestoppers. Take a photo
00:07:56
or video as this will be the fastest way for the family and law enforcement to confirm whether or not the individual is
00:08:02
Jonathan. There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to his location being offered through Crimestoppers. You
00:08:11
can also reach out to the Snomish County Sheriff's Office directly at 4253883393.
00:08:18
And if you want to reach us, you can email [email protected]. Thank you for hanging around for this
00:08:23
briefing. Now go find Jonathan.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 75
    Most heartbreaking
  • 70
    Most emotional
  • 70
    Best concept / idea
  • 65
    Most shocking

Episode Highlights

  • The Disappearance of Jonathan Wong
    21-year-old Jonathan Wong went missing under mysterious circumstances, raising concerns for his safety.
    “His parents believe someone lured him out of the house.”
    @ 01m 35s
    August 13, 2025
  • Evidence of Jonathan's Disappearance
    Multiple pieces of evidence suggest Jonathan's disappearance may not be straightforward.
    “A scent trail that stops in a cul-de-sac raises questions.”
    @ 01m 45s
    August 13, 2025
  • Surveillance Footage Mystery
    Footage captured a man resembling Jonathan, but authorities disagree it's him.
    “The family is convinced the man on camera is their son.”
    @ 04m 46s
    August 13, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • Do you know where Jonathan is?
    Jonathan Hoang Spotted on Camera? We Have 4 Days to Confirm and Save Him
  • There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to his location.
    Jonathan Hoang Spotted on Camera? We Have 4 Days to Confirm and Save Him

Key Moments

  • Missing Person Case00:29
  • Heightened Anxiety02:14
  • Scent Trail02:45
  • Security Settings Change03:06
  • iPad Activity03:43
  • Surveillance Footage04:27
  • Family's Advocacy06:48
  • Reward Offered08:06

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown