Middletown Man Still Missing 1 Year Later

MIDDLETOWN, NJ - Middletown police posted an update Wednesday on their Facebook page, reminding the public that a young man who grew up in the Township has now been missing for more than a year. John Paul Fernandez, "JP" or "Japes" to those who knew him, was last seen at 1:30 a.m. on December 13, 2015 at his family's home on Kentucky Avenue. Fernandez, 22, grew up in Middletown and graduated from Middletown High School North. He was a student at Seton Hall University, in his senior year studying accounting, when he went missing. He would have graduated last May.

He is a 5-foot, 10-inches tall Filipino male, with a thin build and black hair. He may have walked off along the Henry Hudson Trail, Middletown police said at the time of his disappearance. The same day he disappeared, Dec. 13, his cell phone was found on the side of Rt. 36 near the Gramercy Lakeside Manor at Natco Lake in Hazlet. That prompted a massive police search, including a dive team combing Natco Lake. Police K9 dogs were used; Hazlet’s ATV units and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s department helicopter combed the wooded area around the small lake.

Earlier this year, his mother, Ninia Fernandez, told a Filipino-American news organization her son had left a six-page suicide letter hidden inside a toy in his bedroom the day he left. In the letter, John wrote he wanted to end his life because he feels “inadequate with amazing people," according to the interview. She also said he had been a victim of bullying at Middletown North, where he would come home from school with his shirt torn and spat on. In the interview, Ninia said her son “has an identity crisis,” and was isolated and lonely.

“He said he would end his life in a high place somewhere in the woods,” Ninia, told the newspaper. The young man had once had a summer internship at Allaire State Park, so earlier in 2016 volunteer search teams combed the wooded state park. No sign of John has ever been recovered.

This continues to be an open active investigation for the Middletown Police Department. Anyone with any information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Detective Kelly Godley at 732-615-2066.

Past coverage from Patch:

Missing Middletown Man a Victim of Bullying, His Family Says

Search Saturday for John Fernandez in Allaire State Park

Middletown Man Missing; May Be Near Natco Lake