High schooler to U.S. Marine
Jordan Hunkin was barely a teenager when he first told his mom he wanted to be a U.S. Marine.
“He said, I'm going in the military, mom; I want to be a Marine. I didn't have a problem with it. I mean, to be in the military was an honor,” said Jordan’s mom, Beverly Hunkin.
By 17, Hunkin enlisted. The young recruit even made the local news in Tampa Bay when he skipped his high school graduation to pursue military service.
For the next 8 years, Hunkin, who was a signal communicator for a top-secret electronic warfare unit, would endure multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
By 2012, he left the U.S. Marine Corps for civilian contract work. A few years later, his mom noticed a dramatic change in his behavior.
“About 2015, he began to pull from us, and I did not know why. As the years went on, the further and further he got,” she told us.
Medical records his family provided investigative reporter Katie LaGrone showed Jordan’s military service left him with numerous head strikes, a mild concussion, and PTSD.
Friends said the former Marine knew he needed help and wanted it. Fellow Marine James Hobby trained Jordan and stayed close with him even after they both left the military.
“Don’t go to the VA. They’ll just kill you.”
“When he brought up that he was thinking about going to the VA, I got really worried because there's been plenty of instances where guys do that, and it doesn't turn out well.” Hobby said.
“We joke about it in the military. We’re like, 'Don't go to the VA; they'll just kill you.' It’s a horrible joke,” he said.
But for Jordan, nothing was funny about the mental battle he felt like he was starting to lose.
In February of 2023, Jordan took off work and drove three hours to Malcolm Randall VA hospital in Gainesville, FL, where the young Marine told buddies he was attending a long-term voluntary treatment program for depression and PTSD.
“He was convinced that there was this special combat veteran program that he was going to be able to attend that would help him with the issues that he was having,” said Hobby, who spoke with Jordan the night before he entered the program.
A few days later, Jordan called Hobby.
“I don’t understand why I’m Baker Acted.”
“He was a completely, totally different person. He was very frantic; he was very distraught. He starts to tell me about how he showed up, and he asked for this person's name that he was supposed to be meeting there, and upon asking for that person's name, he was tackled and restrained and held for three days,” explained Hobby.
Known in Florida as the Baker Act, the state law allows designated professionals to initiate a 72-hour involuntary mental health examination on someone they deem to be a threat to themselves or others.
In Jordan’s case, despite voluntarily going to the VA for treatment, denying he was suicidal at the time, and, according to medical records, even being “commended for his courage in reaching out for help,” he was still involuntarily committed under Florida’s Baker Act Law.
Records showed the move took the former Marine off guard. At one point, he told staff, “This place is not what I expected,” and “I don’t understand why I am here or Baker Acted.”
Two days later, Jordan was discharged and never went to the VA for help again.
“At that point, he felt that whoever he asked for help is just going to hold him against his will again,” said Hobby. “It’s wrong, it’s all wrong."
Six months later, 36-year-old Jordan Hunkin died by suicide.
“It's just a shock,” said his mom.
Family and friends believe what happened to Jordan at the VA pushed the young Marine over the edge.
“Absolutely, because afterward, he was a completely, totally different person,” said Hobby, who also described how Jordan quit his job, stopped paying his mortgage, and moved to Texas after the VA Baker Acted him.
“You threw my son under the bus. You didn't take care of him,” said his mom.
Angry over his friend’s treatment, Hobby complained to the VA’s hotline only to discover his complaints were getting closed within an hour of being submitted.
“So, they're immediately getting complaints that they should be looking into, and they're throwing them in the trash,” he said.
Hobby refused to stop his quest for answers. He went up the chain of command and eventually got the attention of the VA’s Office of Inspector General, who investigated his friend’s treatment at the hospital.
A few months later, the IG releaseda report that found Jordan was incorrectly Baker Acted and his rights violated (The VA report does not name Jordan as the patient for privacy reasons, but both Hobby and Jordan’s mom confirmed the report is based on Jordan’s treatment at the hospital).
“It definitely was a significant failure.”
The IG found more problems. Hospital staff had no annual Baker Act training. There was no Baker Act oversight. And the hospital didn’t even track its Baker Act incidents.
The Inspector General suggested what happened to Jordan may have happened to dozens of other veterans who were Baker Acted at the same hospital.
“This seems like it's a way bigger issue,” said Hobby, who described being shocked after reading the 60-page report.
“It definitely was a significant failure,” explained the VA’s Susan Tostenrude, who manages hotline inspections for VA hospitals.
She explained that part of the problem is the VA governs by its own rules, not Florida law, which sets rules for the Baker Act. Tostenrude couldn’t rule out if the hospital’s incorrect use of the Baker Act could be a problem at other VA hospitals in Florida or even nationwide.
“The VA has over 170 medical centers, and we looked at this one. I’m unable to say if it's a systemic issue; I can say it could be,” she said.
Studies show veterans who are involuntarily admitted are at a higher risk of suicide in the year following that involuntary admission.
Though Jordan took his life six months after he was Baker Acted, the IG’s report falls short of blaming the hospital for Jordan’s death. Still, it acknowledged the experience likely contributed to the patient feeling “misled” by the VA.
It also acknowledged that he “disengaged” with the VA after his Baker Act.
“Some people have a great experience with the VA, and then some people die,” said Hobby, who now wants accountability for his friend’s treatment. “I just don't think it's okay for him to be treated that way and then for him to just be another number that killed himself when there's way more to it."
Jordan’s family wants change and a promise that their son’s death off the battlefield is taken as seriously as it would be had Jordan died on the battlefield.
“I want them to work to help these men and women. These guys are coming to you for help,” said Beverly Hunkin.
Officials at Malcom Randall VA Hospital refused an on-camera interview. A spokesperson sent us the following statement:
“Preventing Veteran suicide is our highest priority, and we take this responsibility with the utmost seriousness. The entire North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (NF/SGVHS) is devastated by this tragedy and from the moment it occurred, we’ve sought to understand what took place so that it never happens again. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Veteran’s family and loved ones.”
A health system spokesperson also said the VA is now stepping up its training and protocols on Florida’s Baker Act to include electronic record keeping for patients who are Baker Acted, annual training, and oversight compliance.
If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or Contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
