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Jesse Camp, former MTV VJ, has reportedly gone missing, according to Page Six. A spokesman for the Riverside Police Department in California confirmed to Page Six on Monday that Camp, whose real name is Josiah Camp, was reported missing on July 19 by his sister.
However, good news broke Tuesday after Camp was found alive, according to a statement tweeted by the Riverside Police Department. According to the statement, Camp “was contacted by a local law enforcement agency a short time ago and not in need of any assistance.”
RIVERSIDE: Josiah “Jesse” Camp is no longer considered missing. He was contacted by a local law enforcement agency a short time ago and not in need of any assistance. His family has been notified. No further information will be released.
Camp, 38, first rose to fame in 1998 when he became an MTV VJ after winning the network’s first “Wanna Be a VJ” contest, Page Six reports. He had previously been homeless.
Friends and family had been sharing concerned messages on social media, asking anyone for information on his whereabouts. His family was notified after police located Camp.
Here’s what you need to know about Camp’s disappearance:
1. Camp Usually Keeps In Contact With His Elderly Mother But She Hasn’t Heard From Him Since Early July
MISSING | Our friend #jessecamp hasn’t been heard from in over a week by friends and family. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts should please DM me. I will be sure to immediately get that information to his family. Thank you. #missingperson #missingpersons #missingpeople
According to police, Camp usually keeps in touch with his mother via weekly phone calls, but she reportedly hasn’t heard from him since July 11 or 12. An ex-girlfriend of Camp’s also tried reaching him but told police that a “stranger picked up his cell phone and that Camp had given him the phone and three bags of property.”
The police spokesman also told Page Six that Camp’s sister said he had been depressed lately but didn’t indicate if he was suicidal.
Camp’s sister Marisha Camp posted a story on Instagram stating: “Jesse was last seen in California last week but has not reached out to us yet. What he needs more than anything is kindness and love… Please keep him in your prayers. If you see him, please let him know that many, many people care… (He does not need to be the subject of tabloid journalism, making everything worse.)”
Camp was last seen in Riverside. He has not been located in any local hospitals or jails.
2. Camp’s Sister Posted a Desperate Message on Instagram Asking For Help Locating Her Brother
My friend Jesse Camp’s sister and many friends would love any information about his whereabouts. Please and thanks. Message her or me.
Camp was last spotted a week ago in California, according to his sister Marisha.
“If anyone has seen or heard from my brother Jesse since Saturday, please, please, please reach out to me or ask him to call home!!! Thank you!!!!!” Marisha wrote on her Instagram Story on Thursday, July 19, alongside a series of photos of Jesse.
Marisha posted another message about Jesse’s whereabouts on Monday, July 23.
“I can’t begin to thank everyone who reached out to express their concern and support after my brother Jesse went MIA,” the photographer wrote on her Instagram Story. “He truly has the most beautiful friends from all walks of life, and he is SO LOVED…”
3. Friends & Loved Ones Are Flooding Social Media With Pleas of Help Finding Camp
Anyone seen our buddy @josiahcamp?? Aka Jesse Camp? He’s been missing for a week and his family has been looking for him. Contact me if you guys hear anything and please help by spreading this around. 🖤
Jesse’s friend Andrew Schwartz recently added on Facebook, “We’re really worried about him. He’s been out touch since Saturday. If you have seen him recently or have any info on where he may be please reach out to me.”
BulletBoys posted: “Our friend #jessecamp has been missing for a week? If anyone has seen or talked to him please have him call his family! We are all very concerned for him!”
“Please those of you on New York City streets keep your eyes open for Jesse,” Twitter user Michael Des Barres posted. “Such a sweet and loving man.”
4. Camp Was Homeless Before Winning The First Season of Wanna Be a VJ
Camp rose to fame in 1998 after winning the first season of MTV’s Wanna Be a VJ.
The former MTV star told the Huffington Post in a 2015 interview that he got sober at 29 after a “hardcore drug-time era” between the ages of 23 and 29. He was reportedly homeless before winning Wanna Be a VJ.
“That was kind of like the turning point. When I was 29, I was like basically, yeah, I don’t want to have to take drugs with me anywhere to feel OK. I just want to be normal,” he told the outlet at the time, adding that he felt “totally revived.”
In 2016, Camp did an interview with Page Six and they let him do some throw-back VJ stuff, but he ended up mixing up the New York Post with the New York Times, which he blamed on the amount of drugs he was tripping on at the time. He told the gossip rag, “I’m zipping it ’cause I am on a very bad acid trip at the moment and I think I’m being interviewed for the New York Post – so clearly I’m not in my right head.”
5. Camp Has a Distinctive, Flashy Style & Is Known For Carrying a Bag of Costumes When He Travels
Camp released the album “Jesse & The 8th Street Kidz” in 1999. According to Ranker, “The album was produced by Rob Cavallo (think Green Day, Kid Rock) and it’s packed with 46 minutes of glam rock, New York Dolls-aping sounds that weren’t even popular when Camp was a VJ.”
He has a trademark look, complete with plenty of flashy, eye-catching costumes, which he claims to carry with him when he travels.
In an article on Camp for Complex, he’s described as wearing “fur cowboy boots, distressed grey skinny jeans, a vintage Kiss shirt paired with a bedazzled blazer, black and baby pink cape, a handful of chains, a wrist covered in festival bands, and a light pink hat.”