On the afternoon of April 25, 2002, Mr. Tieray Jones used his cell phone to dial 911 and report that his two-year-old stepson, Jahi Turner, was missing. Jones stated he had last seen Jahi at the park at 28th and Beech Streets about fifteen to twenty minutes before his call. (This area occupies the southeast corner of Balboa Park and is commonly referred to as 28th Street Park.)

Police officers were immediately dispatched to this area of Balboa Park where they found Jones waiting for them. Jones told the officers he had walked from his apartment to the park with Jahi, and then lost sight of Jahi while getting a juice drink at a nearby vending machine.

Law enforcement personnel and civilian volunteers conducted an extensive search for Jahi in the surrounding rural area of his residence, the park, and, eventually, the Miramar Landfill that collected the refuse from Jahis neighborhood. Private organizations are still actively monitoring the case, and local and national media have provided extensive coverage of the case and continue to ask for the publics assistance in locating Jahi.

Jones mother, a navy sailor, was on deployment at sea at the time of Jahi's disappearance.