Jeremy Bryan Jones
A Convenient New Identity
In Joplin, Missouri, Jones met the mother of a Missouri prison inmate. He was complaining to her that the system was out to get him, and she loaned him her son's identity: John Paul Chapman. He spent his time on a bus from Joplin to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, memorizing his new identity, complete with social security number and birth date.
He drifted, working as a delivery driver, a construction worker, and whatever else he could find, from Oklahoma to Atlanta. A bounty hunter tracked him to Tuscaloosa, so he went to Mobile, Alabama, looking for work as a laborer, hoping to stay one step ahead of his past and earn some quick cash helping to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan. He found employment and lodging with an empathetic and religious home builder and his family.
But walking the straight and narrow wasn't his style, and he soon found himself back on the street. His silver tongue and good looks soon found him fresh lodgings with another casual acquaintance and his family, but his presence made the wife very nervous. It wasn't long before he was kicked out again.