Missing DJ Jeffrey Vandergrift had brain issues, Lyme disease

The popular San Francisco radio DJ who went missing last week discussed having mysterious brain issues hours before he disappeared.

Jeffrey Vandergrift — known as “JV” to listeners of the Bay Area’s Wild 94.9 hit music station — opened up about how doctors had been trying to diagnose and treat his health problems during his last show on-air.

“The stuff I’ve been going through in my brain that they’re trying to figure out. Ugh,” he said during Thursday morning’s show.

The longtime radio host added that his doctors thought something may have “reignited” his old infections.

“The body and the pain and all that stuff, I can handle. What it’s doing to my brain I could never describe to you,” he said, noting that his doctors most recently offered experimental medications or risky surgery.

Vandergrift, 54, was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2021, according to a post detailing his journey to the diagnosis published on the station’s website.

The DJ is considered to be “at-risk,” according to police, and his family and station have both issued appeals to help find him. His employer said there has been no trackable activity on his phone or charges to his credit cards or bank accounts since he was reported missing to the San Francisco Police Department.

Vandergrift notably edited the caption of his most recent Instagram post around the time he vanished, writing: “Thank you for a wonderful life-filed w joy, laughs, pain & struggle. It’s been a great journey.” His Twitter location at the time of his vanishing simply read “the other side”.

Reaching his diagnosis for Lyme disease took eight excruciating months, during which Vandergrift endured terrible “brain fog,” headaches, dizziness and extreme bouts of depression, among other symptoms.

In one particularly heart-wrenching paragraph, Vandergrift wrote about an experience during which his wife Natasha Yi, who is often featured on his radio show, had to call 911 after finding him passed out in their car.

“I snuck out of the closet, headed downstairs with a backpack and a blanket that had a picture of Natasha and I on it. I then went to the car and wrapped myself in the blanket. I started guzzling alcohol as I swallowed handfuls of all the sleep and psych meds,” Vandergrift wrote.

“As I was trying to send an apology email to my bosses at iHeart, I blacked out.”

Vandergrift later woke in the emergency room and was instructed by his bosses at iHeart to take some time off.

“Some people close to me thought that I needed therapy and psychiatric help, while others thought, ‘No, a diagnosis of what is causing all of this is what is needed. He has never had depression, suicidal thoughts or these many symptoms,’” he wrote, adding that his psychiatrist agreed.

His symptoms only worsened over the next two months until he was finally diagnosed with Lyme that November. He described December 2021 to March 2022 as the toughest months of his life. He returned to work in April when his journey was shared with radio listeners.

“These updates are obviously incredibly worrisome, though we continue to hope and pray for better news,” the radio station wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.

Police have described Vandergrift as a 6-foot bald white man who weighs approximately 180 pounds.

He has brown eyes and several tattoos on his arms and one above his right ear, police said.

Wild 94.9 said it’s working closely with police and Vandergrift’s wife, Natasha, to locate him.

“JV is loved by everyone here at Wild 94.9 and iHeartMedia, and we know he is equally loved by his Bay Area listening family.”

Wild94.9 did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.