Search for WHS grad continues

WASILLA — Friends and family members of an Anchorage resident and Wasilla High School graduate were still searching Monday for any sign of Jael Hamblen.

The 20-year-old mother of an infant child was last heard from via her cellphone at 3:11 a.m., Oct. 12 after she left her son, Joel, with a roommate at their house in Anchorage, leaving even her car behind. After that, Hamblen hasn’t been seen or heard from since, according to her longtime friend, Layn Bosman.

As the search for Hamblen enters a new month, some things have been resolved. Joel now lives with his grandmother, Wasilla resi dent Colleen Vague, where he is being well cared-for, Bosman said.

However, the longer the wait goes on, the more suspicious Hamblen’s disappearance becomes, Bosman wrote, in an e-mail.

“I definitely think she was taken, or that something happened to her,” she wrote. “She would never run off like this, especially not without her son. He’s her everything, she hates to even leave him to go to work or school, let alone 23 days.”

The two have been close friends since a middle school science class, Bosman recalled

“We were both new there and didn’t really know anybody,” she said. “We were in the same science class, and everyone was assigned to pick a partner and to go outside and collect different types of leaves. Everyone else had a partner, so we were partnered together. Ever since then, we’ve been best friends.”

The pair has remained in close contact since, speaking at least weekly, until the night Hamblen disappeared, Bosman wrote. The disappearance was hard to reconcile with a young woman who appeared in the prime of her life, Bosman wrote.

“Life was going really good for her, she was in school, had a job, was in the process of getting her own apartment for her and her son,” she wrote.

“I talked to her that evening, a few hours before she disappeared,” Bosman added. “Everything seemed fine to me.”

The unexplained disappearance of her friend has been particularly trying, so Bosman wrote a letter to Hamblen letting her know how she felt.

“I just want to let you know that I love you, and I miss you so much,” the letter reads in part. “The thought of losing you positively breaks my heart. You are my rock, my strength, my inspiration, my hope. When I’m lost, or scared, or broken, or when I’m feeling hopeless and unworthy, you are the one who is always there.

“You saved my life, and you continue to save it every single day,” Bosman added.

Hamblen is 5’5”, 170 to 180 pounds, and has pink hair and green eyes. Anyone with information about Hamblen’s whereabouts can contact the Anchorage Police Department at (907) 786-8900.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com