The California Five: The 2010 Disappearance of Jackson Miller

Where is Jackson Miller?Photo byWhere are they? Podcast

Jackson Miller was especially known for his athleticism when he was a child growing up. He excelled at swimming, track & field, wrestling and soccer. Sports were a big part of Jackson’s life

In 2010, at 19 years old, Jackson was living in Cupertino.  Cupertino is a California city, just south of San Francisco, known for being the headquarters of Apple.

Jackson was struggling a bit with anxiety and was put on medication. As long as he took his meds, he seemed to be managing quite well.

At some point though, in early May of 2010, Jackson stopped taking his medications, His family said he kind of went QUOTE ‘off the rails’ ENQUOTE.

The circumstances of who reported Jackson missing officially, and what prompted the reporting, are unclear.

What we do know is what was learned after that report came in.

At 4:10 p.m., Jackson is seen driving his 2004 Honda Pilot into the parking lot for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

He is seen getting out of his car and walking away from it,. He is alone in the video.

Authorities discovered that he left behind his wallet and phone in the car, and this was alarming. Considering his mental struggles and the fact that he was parked at the Golden Gate Bridge had everyone fearing the worst.

The Coast Guard has cameras around the bridge and at first, they believed they identified a splash in the water around the same time Jackson disappeared.  This was devastating, but that report was soon recanted.

The actual bridge cameras that watch the entire water line around the bridge, saw no splashes in the water that day at all.  The bridge authorities, and local law enforcement, believe it to be highly unlikely he went into the water.

First, they say a body that jumps off the bridge would be seen on camera- that’s one of the main purposes of the cameras.  Nothing was seen.  Secondly, law enforcement and bridge authorities, also claim that a body that goes into the water there will wash up on shore eventually because of the way the currents run.

Soon they discover that CCTV cameras at a nearby bus station caught Jackson boarding a bus shortly after he was seen leaving his car.

Jackson Miller would not be seen or heard from again.

Over the years, sightings and leads would come in, but nothing ever definitively led to Jackson.

The most promising lead would come in on March 26, 2021. Someone called and reported a sighting to the police from a Target Store in Woodland, California.

They said Jackson had approached them and asked for a ride. He said his name was Jackson, and even casually mentioned he was a missing person.  The woman declined to give him a ride, but later did some research to see if she could find a missing person named “Jackson” and was surprised to come across Jackson Miller. She believes it was him.

Authorities reviewed surveillance footage and identified the man who the woman had spoken to. He was wearing a face mask, so unfortunately they could only see part of his face.  They couldn’t say one way or another if they felt it was him but believed it could be.

Surveillance Footage at TargetPhoto bySanta Clara County Sheriff Department

They sent the video off to be forensically analyzed to see if they could determine if it was indeed Jackson. The analysis was inconclusive.

Was it Jackson? 

The young man seen at the Target store who identified himself as a missing person by the name of ‘Jackson’ was seen wearing black pajama pants with green shamrocks and a dark green sweater. A blue face mask partially covered his face. 

Jackson Miller is described as a Caucasian male, standing 5’10” and weighing around 160 pounds when he was last seen, presumably in May 2010.  He has brown hair and blue eyes.

The potential sighting of him in March 2021 seems to have a similar description.

If you have any information on the case of Jackson Miller, please contact the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department at 408-808-4720.