Speaker 1: School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold
Speaker 1: case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite
Speaker 1: witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially
Speaker 1: be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights
Speaker 1: from family and community members, their statements should not be
Speaker 1: considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts
Speaker 1: inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has
Speaker 1: presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Speaker 1: Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply
Speaker 1: that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime
Speaker 1: is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2: On March twenty fifth, two thousand and four, Jennifer Wicks
Speaker 2: and her daughter, two year old Adriana disappeared. Last week,
Speaker 2: we talked to Jennifer's younger half sister, Casey, who has
Speaker 2: been fighting for ants about what happened to her sister
Speaker 2: and her only niece. Casey said that since Jennifer disappeared,
Speaker 2: their family has heard conflicting stories about the last time
Speaker 2: that Jennifer was seen from Joey Benton, Jennifer's boyfriend.
Speaker 3: At the time.
Speaker 2: Since December of two thousand and three, Jennifer and Adriana
Speaker 2: had been living with Joey and his family on their property,
Speaker 2: first in an outbuilding and then in the Benton's three
Speaker 2: bedroom family home. But according to Casey and Jennifer's mother Kathy,
Speaker 2: Jennifer's life at the Benton House had become chaotic. Though
Speaker 2: obviously we're only hearing one side of the story, we
Speaker 2: do know from phone calls that arguments were happening between
Speaker 2: Jennifer and members of Joey's family. On March twenty fifth,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, the day Jennifer and Adriana disappeared, Jennifer
Speaker 2: called her aunt Lisa. She told her Aunt Lisa that
Speaker 2: she was going to tell Joey that she was leaving
Speaker 2: the Benton House. She said she was going to try
Speaker 2: to get joe to move out with her, but she
Speaker 2: said that if Joey didn't agree, Jennifer was leaving with
Speaker 2: Adriana on her own and coming to her aunt Lisa's.
Speaker 2: Lisa said that they could stay at her house and
Speaker 2: left out her spare key, but Jennifer never used it
Speaker 2: and after that day she was never heard from again
Speaker 2: by anyone in her family. Jennifer's family has claimed that
Speaker 2: Joey told their family in law enforcement different stories about
Speaker 2: what happened that day. Casey said that Joey told her
Speaker 2: that on the day Jennifer went missing, he picked Jennifer
Speaker 2: and Adriana up at his family's home after leaving work.
Speaker 3: This was two thousand and four. Jennifer did not have.
Speaker 2: A cell phone, so Joey said that he drove Jennifer
Speaker 2: to a local grocery store and that she went.
Speaker 3: In to use the phone.
Speaker 2: He said that he then drove her and Adriana to
Speaker 2: a gas station in cross Plains. There, he says Jennifer
Speaker 2: and Adriana got into a vehicle, which he described as
Speaker 2: a white four door Sedan.
Speaker 3: After that they disappeared.
Speaker 2: Initially, Joey had told police a similar story about leaving
Speaker 2: work and then driving Jennifer and Adriana to a grocery
Speaker 2: store and then to an Exon gas station.
Speaker 3: But then in.
Speaker 2: Twenty thirteen, the Robertson County Sheriff's Office posted a statement
Speaker 2: about the case. They said that Joey had stated something different,
Speaker 2: that Jennifer had come back to his home and that
Speaker 2: he had seen her alive and well a day later,
Speaker 2: on March twenty sixth. In twenty twenty four, Joey's father,
Speaker 2: Joseph Benton Senior, was hit with multiple weapons charges and
Speaker 2: charges related to sexual exploitation of a miner. This led
Speaker 2: to the Benton family home where Jennifer and Adriana had
Speaker 2: been living, being raided. After that raid, Jennifer Wix's family
Speaker 2: filed a civil lawsuit against the Benton family for wrongful death,
Speaker 2: and in that lawsuit, they allege that Joseph Senior may
Speaker 2: have been responsible.
Speaker 3: For Jennifer and Adriana's death.
Speaker 2: After the raid, Joseph Senior was released but failed to
Speaker 2: appear for a hearing, so he ended up on the
Speaker 2: Tennessee Bureau of Investigations Most Wanted Fugitives list. Then Joseph
Speaker 2: Senior disappeared until on July fourth, twenty twenty five, a
Speaker 2: decomposing leg was found near Sulfur Fork Creek in Springfield.
Speaker 2: Days later, forensics confirmed that leg was Joseph Benton Seniors.
Speaker 2: I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past seven years of making
Speaker 2: my true crime podcast, Helling Gone, I've learned that there's
Speaker 2: no such thing as a small town where murder never happens.
Speaker 2: I've received hundreds of messages from people all around the
Speaker 2: country asking for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them,
Speaker 2: their fa families.
Speaker 3: And their communities.
Speaker 2: If you have a case you'd like me and my
Speaker 2: team to look into, you can reach out to us
Speaker 2: at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six seven eight
Speaker 2: seven four four six one four five. That's six seven
Speaker 2: eight seven four four six one four five, Or you
Speaker 2: can send us a message on Instagram at Helen Gonepod.
Speaker 2: This is Helen Gone Murder Line. So this week I
Speaker 2: want to take a closer look at the conflicting information
Speaker 2: that Jennifer's family say they have received over the years.
Speaker 2: Could Jennifer have left voluntarily and started a new life.
Speaker 2: Could she have left with someone in that white car
Speaker 2: and then that person harmed her or Adriana, Or could
Speaker 2: as the Wicks family suspects, the answers lie closer to
Speaker 2: where Jennifer was last seen on or around the one
Speaker 2: hundred acres.
Speaker 3: Owned by the Bentons.
Speaker 2: First, let's explore the theory that Jennifer could have left
Speaker 2: with the person in the white car, and she could
Speaker 2: be living somewhere else and for whatever reason, just voluntarily disappeared.
Speaker 3: And wanted to go off the grid.
Speaker 2: Jennifer's family have been adamant they do not believe that
Speaker 2: this is a possibility, and I got another piece of
Speaker 2: information that makes me agree with Jennifer's family. According to
Speaker 2: what Jennifer's sister, Casey, has been told by law enforcement,
Speaker 2: since March twenty fifth, not only has Jennifer not been
Speaker 2: in contact with anyone in her family, there is no
Speaker 2: evidence that she has been in contact with anyone at all.
Speaker 2: There has been no trace of Jennifer or Adriana being
Speaker 2: alive anywhere else since that day. Casey told me that,
Speaker 2: according to her conversations with law enforcement, neither Jennifer nor
Speaker 2: Adriana's Social Security numbers, which she would have needed for
Speaker 2: lots of things, including doctor visits for herself and her daughter,
Speaker 2: was never used again. Kathy told Dateline she believed that
Speaker 2: her daughter was deceased, but at the time she was
Speaker 2: holding out hope that Adriana may still be alive and
Speaker 2: out there somewhere. Kathy told Dateline that even if something
Speaker 2: happened and someone killed Jennifer, that that person would not
Speaker 2: take the life of such a small, innocent child. That
Speaker 2: Adriana had been left somewhere or given to someone else.
Speaker 2: Law enforcement has shared an age progress photo of Adriana
Speaker 2: in case Jennifer's killer or killers either took Adriana or
Speaker 2: gave her to someone else. Kathy told news Channel five
Speaker 2: that she also did an ancestry DNA test just in
Speaker 2: case Adriana is still out there, if there was any
Speaker 2: possibility of that, however remote. She wanted to make sure
Speaker 2: that Adriana could reach out to her family someday and
Speaker 2: that they could be reunited. But Kathy, Casey and the
Speaker 2: rest of the Whigs family feel that the Benton property
Speaker 2: could have answers as to what happened to Jennifer. And
Speaker 2: then there was Joseph Benton, Senior's decomposing leg You may
Speaker 2: remember that last week. Casey told us that in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four, she met with the district attorney in Robertson County,
Speaker 2: but that the meeting got cut short after Joey came
Speaker 2: in and said that he had information that he wanted
Speaker 2: to turn over to investigators. After that, he allegedly told
Speaker 2: Casey and her mom, while Casey was on speakerphone, that
Speaker 2: Jennifer and Adriana were already dead in their room when
Speaker 2: he came home from work that day on March twenty fifth,
Speaker 2: two thousand and four, so Joey seemed to be saying
Speaker 2: he found their bodies but had nothing to do with
Speaker 2: their deaths.
Speaker 3: This was a huge and.
Speaker 2: Shocking revelation, and this led to Kathy and Casey following
Speaker 2: a wrongful death civil lawsuit against the Bentons. They stated
Speaker 2: in that lawsuit that Joseph Senior killed Jennifer and Adriana
Speaker 2: and that Joey helped him cover it up. In a
Speaker 2: July ninth, twenty twenty five filing responding to that lawsuit,
Speaker 2: Cynthia Benton and Joey Benton completely denied these allegations. They
Speaker 2: say they had no knowledge of involvement in or connection
Speaker 2: with the disappearance of Jennifer or of Adriana. We reached
Speaker 2: out to Joey and Cynthia for comment. We didn't hear
Speaker 2: back from Joey, and Cynthia told us she did not
Speaker 2: want to comment. Cynthia Benton has filed a motion to
Speaker 2: dismiss the civil lawsuit, and in that dismissal, she claims
Speaker 2: that the civil suit quote failed to show how she
Speaker 2: and Joey Benton caused injury or harm to Jennifer or
Speaker 2: Adriana end quote. While this was happening, while the drama
Speaker 2: with the raid and the civil lawsuit was unfolding, Joseph
Speaker 2: Senior seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. Remember,
Speaker 2: police raided the Benton family property in March of twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four. Leading up to that, in February of twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four, there were domestic assault charges filed against Joseph
Speaker 2: Senior related to an alleged assault of his wife. He
Speaker 2: was arrested and held on those charges. Now, at some point,
Speaker 2: someone we don't know who alerted police to the presence
Speaker 2: of a photo that Joseph had in his possession, which,
Speaker 2: according to court documents, showed a minor child in a
Speaker 2: sexual situation. And someone also alerted police that Joseph had
Speaker 2: multiple weapons at home, which, as a convicted felon, he
Speaker 2: was not allowed to have. Then, in March of twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four, the raid on the Benton property happened and
Speaker 2: police found the weapons and a photo of a minor
Speaker 2: child in a sexual situation. As we said last week,
Speaker 2: that photo was not Adriana, and it turned out this
Speaker 2: raid had nothing to do with her and Jennifer's disappearance,
Speaker 2: but the photo, which according to court documents, was in
Speaker 2: Joseph's possession between January and March of twenty twenty four
Speaker 2: when the raid happened, was a photo of a family member.
Speaker 2: After the raid, Joseph Senior was briefly locked up in jail,
Speaker 2: then he disappeared. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's
Speaker 2: Most Wanted Information, Joseph's last known address was listed as homeless.
Speaker 3: According to media reports.
Speaker 2: Cynthia Benton said she had no communication with her husband
Speaker 2: since his release from jail in March. She said she
Speaker 2: had no idea where he was. She had also filed
Speaker 2: for divorce after the raid since he hadn't been seen
Speaker 2: in months. The Tennesseean asked the Robertson County Sheriff's office
Speaker 2: if there had been a missing persons report filed for Joseph.
Speaker 2: The department said no, there had not. Then there was
Speaker 2: the shocking news about Joseph's leg being found in Springfield
Speaker 2: near a creek. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed that
Speaker 2: they were able to test the DNA from the leg
Speaker 2: against the CODIS database and because Joseph Senior had pleaded
Speaker 2: guilty to that count of possession of prohibited weapons in
Speaker 2: US of twenty twenty four. His DNA was in the system,
Speaker 2: so they got a match. Joseph Senior's remains were found
Speaker 2: about ten miles from the Benton home.
Speaker 3: But it's been difficult.
Speaker 2: To find out any more information about what's going on
Speaker 2: with this investigation into Joseph's leg and his disappearance. The
Speaker 2: Tennesseean reported they have the same problem. In fact, the
Speaker 2: newspaper wrote they couldn't figure out who was leading the investigation.
Speaker 2: The newspaper reported that they had reached out to a
Speaker 2: spokesperson for the TBI, and this person referred them to
Speaker 2: Robertson County Law Enforcement, saying that they were leading the investigation.
Speaker 2: But then when the newspaper contacted the Robertson County Sheriff's
Speaker 2: Office for comment, they were apparently told the Springfield Police
Speaker 2: were in charge, but a spokesperson for Springfield told the
Speaker 2: newspaper the Robertson County Sheriff's Office and the nineteenth Judicial
Speaker 2: District Attorney General's office were the ones leading the investigation.
Speaker 2: This is very confusing, and they were not the only
Speaker 2: news outlet trying to get answers and clarity. On August
Speaker 2: twenty fifth, twenty twenty five, news Channel five also reported
Speaker 2: that they reached out to the Springfield Police for more
Speaker 2: details about the investigation. They said the department got back
Speaker 2: to them and stated that the leg was the only
Speaker 2: body part found, that there were no other body parts found,
Speaker 2: and they said there was quote no indication of foul
Speaker 2: play at this time end quote.
Speaker 3: Now, a lot of people posted.
Speaker 2: Comments on YouTube under that news story that reflected what
Speaker 2: I'm sure a lot of you were thinking, which is,
Speaker 2: how do you find a severed leg and come to
Speaker 2: the conclusion immediately that there's no foul play. There are
Speaker 2: a couple of possibilities that.
Speaker 3: Occurred to me.
Speaker 2: Again, we don't know anything about the evidence that the
Speaker 2: police have, so this is pure speculation.
Speaker 3: But one possibility could.
Speaker 2: Be that Joseph Senior was out in the woods and
Speaker 2: either took his own life or possibly died of natural causes,
Speaker 2: and then there was some animal likedvity and that could
Speaker 2: be the reason why his leg was separated from the
Speaker 2: rest of his body.
Speaker 3: I will say.
Speaker 2: Though, that, in my opinion, though it does seem a
Speaker 2: little odd to immediately assume there's been no sign of
Speaker 2: foul play. They may mean the leg did not appear
Speaker 2: to be cleanly severed, meaning that it wasn't immediately obvious
Speaker 2: that Joseph had been dismembered. But as with so many
Speaker 2: things in this case, the exact status of the investigation
Speaker 2: into Joseph Benton's senior's death is unclear. So where does
Speaker 2: this lead the investigation into Jennifer and Adriana's disappearances and
Speaker 2: Jennifer's family. Over the years, Joey Benton has not said
Speaker 2: much publicly about the state of the investigation. Joseph Benton, Sr.
Speaker 2: Did talk to some journalists in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2: He told Fox seventeen News, quote, we done everything we
Speaker 2: could for a year to try to help find Jennifer,
Speaker 2: and we just don't know where Jennifer is end quote.
Speaker 2: Eventually Casey started doing her own investigating. Now, obviously Casey
Speaker 2: and her mother are not impartial. They have made it
Speaker 2: very clear that from the beginning they were suspicious of
Speaker 2: Joey and his family. They started a Facebook page in
Speaker 2: twenty eleven, and more recently, in twenty twenty four, Casey
Speaker 2: was interviewed on a podcast called Missing in Hushtown. And
Speaker 2: in that podcast, she claimed that at the time Joey
Speaker 2: and Jennifer were dating, that he had issues with drugs
Speaker 2: and that he had had police reports filed against him
Speaker 2: by other women. And as she kept digging, Casey found
Speaker 2: even more discrepancies in Joey's story about what really happened
Speaker 2: the day Jennifer and Adriana disappeared. Since Casey started investigating,
Speaker 2: she's heard a lot of conflicting information about what Joey
Speaker 2: said in the day's following Jennifer and adrian His disappearance. Remember,
Speaker 2: Joey and Jennifer had initially met through Jennifer's cousin, Jeffrey,
Speaker 2: and Jeffrey told Casey about something that happened on the
Speaker 2: night of May twenty fifth, two thousand and four.
Speaker 4: That night, there was a bonfire happening at his house
Speaker 4: that Jennifer was supposed to be at, and it was
Speaker 4: kind of like a couple's bonfire. There were three couples,
Speaker 4: and Jennifer was one of the couples with Joey, and
Speaker 4: so my cousin was there and my cousin's like, well,
Speaker 4: where's Jennifer And he says, she's at a friend's house.
Speaker 3: This seemed odd to Casey.
Speaker 2: Why would Joey tell Jeffrey that Jennifer was at a
Speaker 2: friend's house when he told police the next day that
Speaker 2: he and Jennifer had broken up in that car ride
Speaker 2: to the grocery store and then went to.
Speaker 3: The gas station.
Speaker 2: When the Robertson County Sheriff's Office put out that statement
Speaker 2: on their website in twenty thirteen, they said they were
Speaker 2: changing Jennifer and Adriana case for missing persons to homicide,
Speaker 2: and in that post they said that there was quote
Speaker 2: no independent confirmation that Jennifer had been at either the
Speaker 2: grocery store or the gas station on March twenty five
Speaker 2: to Casey's shop. The post also said that at some
Speaker 2: point Joey told law enforcement that Jennifer stopped by his
Speaker 2: house on the next day, on March twenty sixth.
Speaker 4: He says that Jennifer comes back to his house on
Speaker 4: Friday Friday. He was working at the same job site,
Speaker 4: but they got off work early, and so he was
Speaker 4: sitting in the living room and Jennifer pulls up to
Speaker 4: their house in the same white car, but alone. She's
Speaker 4: driving this car without Adriana, and she comes in to
Speaker 4: get a few things, the car seat, the diaper bag,
Speaker 4: and a change of clothes and stuff. And she's there
Speaker 4: to get her tax refunds money, her five hundred dollars
Speaker 4: and he says, well, my parents aren't here to give
Speaker 4: it to you, and she says, okay, I'll come back tomorrow,
Speaker 4: and of course never shows up.
Speaker 2: Later said that Joey's mother wrote her mother Kathy, a
Speaker 2: check for the five hundred dollars that she said Jennifer
Speaker 2: had gotten from her tax returns and deposited into one
Speaker 2: of Joey's family member's accounts because at the time, Casey said,
Speaker 2: Jennifer did not have her own bank account. Casey also
Speaker 2: has questions about the car. Joey told law enforcement that
Speaker 2: the white car that Jennifer drove to his house was
Speaker 2: the same one that Jennifer had gotten into the day before,
Speaker 2: but he said he couldn't identify the car more precisely
Speaker 2: than saying it was a four door white vehicle.
Speaker 4: He can't make out what kind of car it is,
Speaker 4: even though he changes that story. Originally in the police report,
Speaker 4: it says a white fourd do or Camaro or Mustang,
Speaker 4: which those do not exist, so he changes it from
Speaker 4: that to just a white board or car.
Speaker 2: We know that Jennifer was arguing with the Bentons, but
Speaker 2: we don't know much about those arguments or who the
Speaker 2: main family member was who Jennifer had a problem with.
Speaker 2: As we said last week, law enforcement have said the
Speaker 2: last person to talk to Jennifer was her father, Michael,
Speaker 2: at around eleven am on March twenty fifth, two thousand
Speaker 2: and four. That was the conversation where Jennifer told Michael
Speaker 2: that Joey's mom was acting strange and that she was scared.
Speaker 2: Casey told me something else about that phone call. Apparently,
Speaker 2: at some point Jennifer was under the impression that she
Speaker 2: and Joey were going on a picnic on that day,
Speaker 2: a detail that Casey is not sure that Joey told police.
Speaker 4: On the phone call with her dad after she said
Speaker 4: I'm scared, dad, and he said of what she said
Speaker 4: of his mom, she's acting weird. Her dad said, well,
Speaker 4: why don't you have your Grainny come get you or
Speaker 4: your mom come get you? And she's like, no, Joey's
Speaker 4: on his way home. We're going to go on a picnic.
Speaker 4: At that point in time, I guess joe had already
Speaker 4: told her before he left her work or she had
Speaker 4: talked to him earlier in the day. I don't know
Speaker 4: what it was, but they had plans for him to
Speaker 4: come home early. She knew he was on his way home.
Speaker 4: That's kind of an important thing to note because when
Speaker 4: we're thinking about who made the phone calls from the house,
Speaker 4: that it potentially could have been her.
Speaker 2: Casey spoke to Joey and says he told her that
Speaker 2: he and Jennifer did have a picnic, but that it
Speaker 2: wasn't any particular destination, that they just hung around the
Speaker 2: barn on the Benton property, and that after that he
Speaker 2: and Jennifer went on the drive. Over the years, Casey
Speaker 2: says she and the rest of her family have only
Speaker 2: become more convinced that Joey and his family were hiding something.
Speaker 2: The Sheriff's off estated quote no one, including Joey Benton,
Speaker 2: has been eliminated as having potential involvement in the disappearance
Speaker 2: of Jennifer and Adriana.
Speaker 3: Wicks End quote.
Speaker 2: Between two thousand and four and twenty thirteen, the Robertson
Speaker 2: County Sheriff's Department has searched the Benton property on four
Speaker 2: separate occasions, They reportedly drained a pond on the land
Speaker 2: as well. Jennifer's family told the Tennessee And that there
Speaker 2: was another search in twenty twenty one that scent and
Speaker 2: cadaver dogs were on the Benton property and that ground
Speaker 2: penetrating radar was also used. They told the newspaper that
Speaker 2: the dogs and the radar ultimately did not lead to
Speaker 2: any human remains being found. Then there was the big
Speaker 2: raid in twenty twenty four on the Benton property, and
Speaker 2: before Casey knew that the raid wasn't related to her
Speaker 2: sister and niece's disappearances, the family briefly had hope again,
Speaker 2: they said in a statement to news Channel five, quote,
Speaker 2: twenty years ago today we reported the missing. Law enforcement
Speaker 2: have never been on that property to conduct a warranted search.
Speaker 2: That house has the answers we need, and we're hoping
Speaker 2: this is the day we get them.
Speaker 3: End quote.
Speaker 2: We don't know a lot of details about the searches
Speaker 2: that have happened on the Benton property over the years,
Speaker 2: but reportedly nothing of evidentiary value related to Jennifer's case
Speaker 2: has ever been found there by law enforcement. When Robertson
Speaker 2: County Sheriff Bill Holt contributed to that posting on the
Speaker 2: department website in twenty thirteen, he said that the Sheriff's
Speaker 2: office was quote absolutely committed to not letting Jennifer and
Speaker 2: Adriana Wicks be forgotten, and he went on to say, quote,
Speaker 2: I strongly believe that there are persons.
Speaker 3: In this community who know what happened to Jennifer.
Speaker 2: And Adriana, but who have been reluctant to come forward
Speaker 2: for one reason or another. We today strongly encourage our
Speaker 2: citizens to help us provide answers and closure to the family,
Speaker 2: and as circumstances warrant justice to these two young persons
Speaker 2: who chose to live in our area.
Speaker 3: End quote.
Speaker 2: So from that statement, it seems like police believe there
Speaker 2: are people, maybe people right there in that community who
Speaker 2: have information that could lead to finding Jennifer and Adriana
Speaker 2: or the remains. The police have a number that you
Speaker 2: can call with tips at the Robertson County Sheriff's Office.
Speaker 2: The number is six one, five three, eight four, seven
Speaker 2: nine seven one. It's also listed on the department's Major
Speaker 2: Unsolved Cases page. There's also a crime tip section on
Speaker 2: the sheriff's department website at www.
Speaker 3: Dot robertson sheriff dot Com.
Speaker 2: From there you can navigate to the crime tips page.
Speaker 2: There are still so many unanswered questions in this case,
Speaker 2: including did Joseph Senior's disappearance have anything even indirectly to
Speaker 2: do with Jennifer and Adriana's case, and if not, what
Speaker 2: happened to him? And where is the rest of his body?
Speaker 2: Since I wrote this episode, there have been some updates.
Speaker 2: We just learned today that more remains have been found
Speaker 2: in Springfield. Smoky Mountain News reported that they had rec
Speaker 2: received a statement from the City of Springfield confirming that
Speaker 2: possible human remains had been recovered near the Greenway by
Speaker 2: sul for Fort Creek. This is the same general area
Speaker 2: where Joseph Senior's leg was found. This happened on October
Speaker 2: fourth and October fifth. The statement from the City of
Speaker 2: Springfield explained that on those two days, the Springfield Police
Speaker 2: Department was contacted concerning the discovery of possible human remains
Speaker 2: in the creek near the Greenway. The department stated that
Speaker 2: they also conducted additional searches, including an underwater dive unit
Speaker 2: in canine cadiver units. On the next day, October sixth,
Speaker 2: as of this recording that was yesterday, the department wrote
Speaker 2: in a statement, quote, the Springfield Police Department can confirm
Speaker 2: that possible bone remains were recovered in the water located
Speaker 2: in close proximity to the Greenway and Springfield on all
Speaker 2: three dates listed. All potential remains showed significant signs of
Speaker 2: decomposition end quote. The department went on to say they
Speaker 2: have not identified any of the remains and that the
Speaker 2: remains have been sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office
Speaker 2: for further identification. Again, this is a developing story. We
Speaker 2: don't know if the bones are human, if they are human,
Speaker 2: if they could be Joseph Senior or someone else, And
Speaker 2: the department stated that we won't know more about the
Speaker 2: identification until they get a report back from the State
Speaker 2: Medical Examiner's office. This could take weeks or months, but
Speaker 2: we will keep you posted. Again, this is a developing
Speaker 2: story and we will keep following it. After so many years,
Speaker 2: it just goes to show even in the coldest cases,
Speaker 2: things can still happen, and Jennifer's family has never given up.
Speaker 2: I ask Casey if she believed today that Adriana.
Speaker 3: Could be alive.
Speaker 4: No, I don't feel like Jennifer or Adriana are alive.
Speaker 4: I mean, there's a lot of people over the year
Speaker 4: that say, I can understand how someone could do that
Speaker 4: with an adult. You know that someone's arguing with you
Speaker 4: in the heat of a moment or whatever. But people
Speaker 4: can't seem to grasp someone doing that to a two
Speaker 4: year old. And I always tell them it happens every day.
Speaker 4: We cover these cases, and people are hurting and harming
Speaker 4: children every day. I would like for that not to
Speaker 4: be the case. But hearing him say that for the
Speaker 4: first time last year just really solidified for me that
Speaker 4: they are dead.
Speaker 2: I'm Catherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Helen
Speaker 2: Gone Murder Line is a production of School of Humans.
Speaker 3: And iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 2: It's written and narrated by me Catherine Townsend and produced
Speaker 2: by Gabby Watts. Special thanks to Amy Tubbs for her
Speaker 2: research assistance and James Wheaton for legal review. Noah Cammer
Speaker 2: mixed and scored this episode. Our theme song is by
Speaker 2: Ben Sale, Executive producers of Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr and L. C.
Speaker 3: Crowley.
Speaker 2: Listen to Helen Gone ad free by some describing to
Speaker 2: the iHeart True crime plus channel on Apple Podcasts. If
Speaker 2: you were interested in seeing documents and materials from the case,
Speaker 2: you can follow the show on Instagram at Helen gonepod.
Speaker 3: If you have a case you'd like me.
Speaker 2: And my team to look into, you can reach out
Speaker 2: to us at our Helen Gone Murder line at six
Speaker 2: seven eight seven four four six one four five. That's
Speaker 2: six seven eight seven four four six one four five.
Speaker 1: School of Humans