Overview

Last seen: June 11, 1968 — Jacksonville Beach, Duval County, Florida. Jonathan Edward Hagans was 3 years old and attending a family gathering when he disappeared after reportedly following a family member toward a snack bar.

Main circumstances: Authorities initially considered the possibility that Jonathan entered the ocean and drowned. His family has consistently believed he was abducted near the snack bar. Later investigative leads included people seen near the snack bar, unusual items found near the St. Johns River, and multiple people who later claimed they might be Jonathan. DNA testing excluded known claimants. The case remains unresolved and Jonathan remains officially listed as missing.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Jonathan Edward Hagans: The 1968 Disappearance of a 3-Year-Old From Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Jonathan Edward Hagans, known to his family as “Jon Jon,” was only 3 years old when he disappeared during a family outing at Jacksonville Beach, Florida, on June 11, 1968. More than five decades later, Jonathan has never been found, and his disappearance remains one of Florida’s oldest unresolved missing-child cases.

Jonathan was born May 3, 1965. At the time he disappeared, he was approximately 3 feet 2 inches tall and weighed about 35 pounds. He had blond hair and blue eyes and was wearing blue swimming trunks with a red stripe. Records also note that Jonathan had previously suffered a fractured femur. His current missing-person listings classify him as an endangered missing person.

The Day Jonathan Hagans Disappeared

On June 11, 1968, Jonathan was with members of his family at Jacksonville Beach. Accounts preserved in missing-person records state that witnesses saw the toddler following his father toward a nearby snack bar shortly before he vanished.

Jonathan’s mother reportedly saw her husband enter the snack bar while a woman and two men were standing outside. According to the account later documented by The Charley Project, one of the men bent down and the group subsequently left. Jonathan apparently did not enter the snack bar, and he was not seen again.

The disappearance generated two enduring possibilities: that Jonathan somehow entered the ocean and drowned, or that someone abducted him near the snack bar.

Early investigators considered drowning a possibility, and Florida authorities continue to state that drowning cannot be ruled out. Jonathan’s family, however, has long believed he was taken by someone. No publicly documented evidence has conclusively established either scenario.

A Strange Development Eight Days Later

One of the more unusual developments reported in later accounts occurred approximately eight days after Jonathan disappeared.

A wheelchair, ice chest, clothing and a child’s tricycle were reportedly discovered along the banks of the St. Johns River. A man identified as John Gilbert contacted authorities and said he knew the owner of the wheelchair and would go to the police station to identify it. Before he could do so, Gilbert and his wife were killed in an automobile accident.

Police reportedly stated that Gilbert had previously been seen with Jonathan. He had also allegedly been observed with an unidentified woman who may have used the wheelchair.

Investigators sought a blond woman believed to have been approximately 25 to 35 years old who was reportedly traveling in a faded white 1960 Ford with a young girl and young boy. The woman may have had ties to Michigan. Publicly available accounts do not establish whether investigators ever identified the woman or conclusively determined whether Gilbert had any connection to Jonathan’s disappearance.

Because these circumstances have never been publicly established as the explanation for Jonathan’s disappearance, they remain investigative history rather than proof of an abduction.

A Man Claims to Be Jonathan Hagans

The case received renewed attention in 1989 when a man named David Bonnabel claimed that he might be the missing Jonathan.

Bonnabel said he had been abducted as a child and raised under unusual circumstances in Louisiana. His story initially raised the possibility that Jonathan had survived his disappearance and grown into adulthood.

DNA testing conducted in August 1989 ruled Bonnabel out as Jonathan. Authorities subsequently determined that his claim was not credible. Jonathan’s family was left without the reunion they had hoped might finally resolve the case.

The DNA exclusion became particularly important decades later as improved forensic technology gave investigators additional ways to evaluate people claiming to be missing children.

The Investigation Is Reopened

A major renewed effort began in March 2020, when the Jacksonville Beach Police Department partnered with the Bringing The Lost Home Task Force to re-examine Jonathan’s disappearance.

The task force brought together investigators and specialists in scent evidence, forensic archaeology, search dogs and emergency-management disciplines. Its stated objective was to re-examine evidence and information collected during the original investigation and determine whether modern investigative methods could produce new leads.

The collaboration developed in part after Jonathan’s brother, Joel Hagans, connected with former FBI forensic canine operations specialist Paul Coley of Scent Evidence K9. The partnership helped renew public attention on Jonathan’s disappearance and led to the task-force effort.

A bloodhound was also named “Jon Jon” in Jonathan’s honor as part of efforts to assist in searches for other missing people.

Detectives Continue Reviewing Jonathan’s Cold Case

Jacksonville Beach police provided another important public update in April 2022.

Detective Division Commander Mark Evans told Action News Jax that Jonathan’s case had been handed down through generations of investigators so that new detectives could examine it with a fresh perspective. Advances in DNA databases, investigative documentation and missing-person techniques have given detectives tools that did not exist when Jonathan disappeared in 1968.

Police also disclosed that at least two people had come forward over the decades claiming or suggesting they could be Jonathan, including one relatively recent claimant. DNA testing excluded the individuals.

That ability to compare potential matches through DNA is especially significant in a case in which Jonathan, if alive, would now be an older adult whose appearance would bear little resemblance to his childhood photograph.

Latest Publicly Available Information

Jonathan remains officially listed as missing.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to maintain a missing-person flyer for Jonathan and lists his age as 61. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also continues to list Jonathan as missing and maintains an age-progressed image showing how he might have appeared later in adulthood.

The Charley Project updated its Jonathan Hagans case page on October 24, 2025 and continues to list the disappearance as unsolved.

Action News Jax also continued to include Jonathan among people missing from the Jacksonville area in its updated missing-person coverage.

The Bringing The Lost Home Task Force/Scent Evidence K9 “Find Jon Jon” page remains publicly accessible in 2026 and continues to provide a Jacksonville Beach Police Department tip line and information about the task-force partnership. The detailed task-force announcement displayed on that page dates to March 26, 2020; no more recent publicly announced suspect, identification, recovery or resolution was located in the sources reviewed for this article.

Jonathan would be 61 years old as of 2026.

Anyone who knows something about Jonathan’s disappearance—even information that appeared insignificant decades ago—is encouraged to contact investigators.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last seen: June 11, 1968 — Jacksonville Beach, Duval County, Florida. Jonathan Edward Hagans was 3 years old and attending a family gathering when he disappeared after reportedly following a family member toward a snack bar.

Main circumstances: Authorities initially considered the possibility that Jonathan entered the ocean and drowned. His family has consistently believed he was abducted near the snack bar. Later investigative leads included people seen near the snack bar, unusual items found near the St. Johns River, and multiple people who later claimed they might be Jonathan. DNA testing excluded known claimants. The case remains unresolved and Jonathan remains officially listed as missing.