Radio Host Jeffrey Vandergrift Found Dead a Month After He Went Missing
San Francisco radio host Jeffrey Vandergrift has been found dead a month after he went missing. He was 55.
The San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Officer confirmed the WiLD 94.9 on-air personality’s death to PEOPLE in a statement and said next of kin have been notified.
In a separate statement, the city’s police department confirmed to PEOPLE that a body was found on Wednesday afternoon.
“On March 22, 2023, at approximately 4:56 p.m. San Francisco Police officers responded to Pier 39 regarding a person in the water. Officers arrived on scene and located a person in the water,” Public Information Officer Niccole Pacchetti said. “Officers and medics from the San Francisco Fire Department retrieved the person who was confirmed deceased at the scene. At this time, we have no evidence of foul play.“
The San Francisco police first alerted the public to Vandergrift’s disappearance Feb. 24, noting the radio host, who went missing the previous night, was considered “at-risk.”
On Thursday, Vandergrift’s radio station addressed the loss of their colleague in a Twitter post. “With a heavy heart, we must confirm that the body found near Pier 39 on Wednesday afternoon has been identified as our dear friend, family member & colleague, JV,” the radio station wrote. “We are devastated to know now that JV is gone. Please keep his wife Natasha, his family, and close friends in your thoughts and prayers.”
Vandergrift’s wife Natasha Yi, also an on-air radio personality, addressed her husband’s disappearance on March 2. Yi wrote that although Vandergrift “officially remains missing according to the SFPD,” some “personal information” that had recently been discovered “leads us to believe JV will not be coming back.”
Vandergrift, who received a diagnosis of Lyme disease in 2021, gave a troubling update about his health just hours before he was last seen.
“The stuff I’ve been going through in my brain that they’re trying to figure out. Ugh,” he said, adding that doctors told him they believed something might have “reignited” some of his old infections.
“The body and the pain and all that stuff, I can handle. What it’s doing to my brain I could never describe to you,” Vandergrift continued, adding that he was told options were experimental treatment or a “risky and experimental” surgery.
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