On the morning of November 29, 2023, Covington resident, Jeremiah “Jay” Barr, left the home he shared with his wife, Heather Barr, around 9 a.m. and hasn’t returned since. Jay was known by his wife to suffer from mental health issues. Heather is asking for the public’s assistance in bringing her husband home.
Jay Barr’s last known location was the 800 block of Beverly Avenue in Covington, Virginia. According to Heather, Barr is autistic, endured abuse as a child, no longer has parents, and is a longtime sufferer of mental health issues. “The only person he’s got is his daughter and me and a half brother he doesn’t even associate with at all, so he’s all alone.” she said. “And now I know how my husband feels now because that’s how I feel.”
Heather said that her husband had a court hearing at 8:30 a.m. on the morning of November 29, was gone half an hour or less, returned home briefly, and left one final time. The couple was having marital issues at the time, but had been talking about moving away from the area to “get a fresh start.”
“He [Jay Barr] was walking down the steps,” Heather Barr said, “and he looked up at me and he says, ‘Heather, I’m so sorry.’ That was the last time I seen him, that I actually had my eyes on him. He was having issues, he was getting very paranoid…” she said through tears.
According to Heather, hours after Jay left their home on the morning of November 29, he attempted to pawn their Playstation 5 (PS5). While he was unsuccessful at the pawn shop, Heather says he was still able to “pawn it to someone else they knew and that’s how police got his last known whereabouts on the 800 block of Beverly.”
Other outlets have reported that Jay’s car was found on E. Kline Street the same day that Jay went missing.
When asked if she had any idea where her husband might be, Heather Barr offered several possibilities ranging from Washington State where his daughter lives to an out-of-state mental health facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to Heather, Jay lived in Philadelphia for 15 years prior to relocating to Virginia in 2017.
According to the Virginia State Police, Jeremiah “Jay” Barr was last seen wearing tan pants, a blue hoodie, is 5’8” tall, and weighs approximately 220 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Salem Division of the VSP at 540-444-7798 or send an email to questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
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