Man Accused of Stealing Identity of Boy Murdered in 1982
Jason Evers may have stolen the identity of a boy killed in Ohio in 1982
May 6, 2010— -- When Jason Robert Evers applied for a passport in 2002 he had all the necessary information, including Social Security number, place of birth and mother and father's name.
Evers was issued the passport, but it wasn't until April 2010 that agents with the State Department made a startling discovery – Jason Robert Evers was murdered in 1982 when he was 3.
The man who officials claim assumed Evers' identity appeared in an Idaho courtroom Tuesday, charged with making a false statement in an application for a passport.
Authorities said the suspect worked as an inspector for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and believe he assumed the dead boy's identity when he was just a teenager.
Questions about the man's identity arose during a random cross-match of Ohio death records and passport records in accordance with a program run by the Diplomatic Security Services called "Operation Death Match."
The DSS, a division of the U.S. State Department, has won 120 federal convictions against people for federal passport or false identification offenses related to deceased people, according to the police affidavit against "Evers."
A death record was sent to a DSS agent who forwarded it to Special Agent Calvin Sherstan of the Diplomatic Security Service in Seattle, the affidavit said. The death record lists a Jason Robert Evers with the same birth date as the one on the passport application. Also the same were the parents' names, though the birth date of the father, Robert Evers, does not match.
Agents began searching the Internet for information about Jason Robert Evers, and uncovered Cincinnati Enquirer news articles from 2000, Sherstan said.
Related Stories
ABC News Live