Everything to know about Jesse Camp, who is a former MTV VJ who has gone missing.
Jesse Camp has been confirmed as a missing person, the Riverside Police Department revealed in a Facebook post. He was reported missing by his sister, Marisha Camp, on July 19. Marisha grew concerned after Jesse stopped answering calls from her and other family members, which she described as “unusual.” She had not heard from him in a week when she filed the report. Police have not found any suspicious leads regarding Jesse’s disappearance, but Marisha did note that he “might have been a little bit depressed lately.” Marisha has been posting about Jesse on social media in the days since he went missing, begging anyone who has information to come forward. Here’s more to know about Jesse:
1. He won a reality show on MTV in the 90s. Jesse won MTV’s Wanna Be A VJ in 1998. As the winner of the show, he received $25,000 and a one-year contract to become a VJ on Total Request Live (TRL). The contestants on the show were selected from a crowd near MTV’s office in Times Square, and put through a series of challenges that tested their knowledge of music. When the group of contestants was down to six, viewers chimed in with votes on the phone and online.
2. Jesse’s win was controversial. Although he was named the official winner of Wanna Be A VJ against Dave Holmes, many people suspected that there was an error in voting. An article even ran in The Village Voice in which an anonymous voter claimed to have hacked the system to vote for Jesse thousands of times.
3. He had a singing career. Jesse launched a music career after his year of hosting on TRL. His first album, Jesse & The 8th Street Kidz, was released in 1999. He even got to duet with Stevie Nicks on the record! The album debuted to mixed reviews.
4. He skipped college. Jesse graduated from a New England boarding school, Loomis Chaffee, after receiving a scholarship to attend. Afterward, he got a scholarship to attend UCLA’s drama department, but decided not to attend.
5. Where was he last seen? Jesse was spotted in Fontana on the morning of July 18, one day before Marisha filed her missing persons report. When inquiring about where Jesse could be, his family learned that he had been spending time in Riverside, as well as the Inland Empire region.
