Remember Jimmy Hubert? The missing Georgia Tech student who was found because his awesome friends refused to give up on looking for him? The 24-year-old student was missing for four days but eventually found by a nearby railroad track. While he was badly beaten and unconscious, at least he was alive. But his claim of getting beaten up by a homeless guy is coming back to haunt him thanks to new surveillance footage that shows otherwise.
According to the footage, Hubert was not attacked by anyone, but instead jumped from a bridge onto a moving train. According to Mirror,
A source told CBS 46 that Hubert ‘jumped off a bridge — like James Bond in the opening scene of Skyfall– onto a moving train, believed to be a CSX train.’
The station also reports that one of the young man’s friends told police that at the time he went missing Hubert was ‘probably drunk when he left the event and possibly using recreational drugs.’
Hubert’s father Jim also released a statement on Wednesday saying; ‘We don’t have the full story yet about Jimmy’s activities and whereabouts during the 55 hours that he was missing.
‘It appears that he somehow got aboard a moving freight train. How he did this is unclear. What happened between his time on the train and the time he was found remains a mystery.
‘Did he do something reckless? It appears that he did. Was there a robbery? Police are still investigating that.
‘To our family, the story hasn’t changed: Jimmy is alive today because of a great group of friends who were committed to finding him. We will forever be grateful for that.
‘Our priority is to focus on Jimmy’s health, and he gets stronger every day. He is also remembering more each day, and we are fully cooperating with the on-going police investigation.’
The information comes just a few days after the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority reviewed surveillance tapes and found that Hubert was not riding the Atlanta Train system, despite the boy’s previous claim.
Hubert underwent spinal surgery last Wednesday and is said to be doing well. While we continue to wish him a speedy recovery, we’re also confused about why he lied in the first place.
As vice president of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at the Georgia Institute of Technology, we suspect his stature on campus plays a role. Could the incident – which was in no doubt prompted by excessive drinking – jeopardize the school’s house? Probably. But will lying about it solve the problem? No.
We’re sure the whole story will come out soon enough.
