San Francisco radio DJ Jeffrey Vandergrift has been found dead after a monthlong disappearance. He was 55.
On Wednesday, police in San Francisco responded to a body floating in the water at Pier 39 a little before 5 p.m. The next day, the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office shared the news of Vandergrift’s death.
“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 medical examiner said in a statement. “We are devastated to know that JV is gone. Please keep his wife, Natasha, his family and close friends in your thoughts and prayers.”
Vandergrift was reported missing Feb. 23, hours making a cryptic Instagram post thanking his fans and followers for “a wonderful life-filled w joy, laughs, pain & struggle.” He then changed his Twitter location to “the other side” before disappearing. He’d appeared on his show, Bay Area’s WiLD 94.4 that same day. During his airtime he mentioned that he was “trying to figure out” what he was “going though” in his brain.
According to a Feb. 24 statement on the SFPD’s Facebook page, Vandergrift was considered “at-risk” when he was first reported as missing.
In a March 1 message to and for Vandergrift’s fans, his wife Natasha Yi thanked iHeart Radio and his listeners for staying with her through his disappearance. “I can feel your love and energy for JV, and I am so grateful for it,” Yi’s statement reads. “The amount of compassion for the physical torture JV has been going through for the past 2 years has been overwhelming.”
Prior to his stint in the Bay Area, Vandergrift spent some time on-air in New York before returning to host “The JV Show,” which goes on in the mornings. He was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2021.
