17-year-old Jay Calvin Pringle loved traveling and it was on one of these trips that he disappeared.
Pringle was a Medford resident and in April of 1977 he traveled with a friend to California. That was the last time his family saw him.
Pringle’s friend eventually returned without him and he told authorities that they had gotten into an argument in Gardena, Calif., and Pringle left the area with an unknown male. He said Pringle had left his money and he had spent it traveling to Nevada and then returning to Medford.
Investigators always believed Pringle’s “friend” had something to do with his disappearance but they never had enough evidence to charge him and he left the state during the investigation.
The friend was the only person who reported seeing Pringle in Gardena and the exact location he disappeared is unknown.
Pringle would now be 53 years old and is described as a Caucasian male with brown hair and brown eyes. He has scars on his left elbow, above his left eye, on his left calf and on his knees. At the time of his disappearance he was 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed approximately 150 pounds. He was wearing an army jacket, gold rimless glasses and a blue handkerchief tied around his head. He was traveling with a green and brown wool blanket and a suitcase.
Anyone with information about Pringle should contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department by calling 541-774-6800.
