WEBVTT - The Other Jessica | 4 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:05.040 Hey, listeners, Jessica here. Be sure to check out new 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:09.680 episodes of Undetermined every Tuesday for free wherever you get 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:13.520 your podcasts. For early and ad free listening, check out 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:20.720 Tenderfoot plus on Apple Podcasts. The views and opinions expressed 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:24.680 in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:28.280 and participating in the show, and do not represent those 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.360 of Tenderfoot TV and Resonate recordings. All individuals described or 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.160 mentioned in the podcast should be considered innocent until found 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:41.320 guilty in a court of law. This podcast contains subject 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:45.239 matter such as violence and graphic descriptions, which may not 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:57.440 be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. As 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:02.360 January twenty twenty rolled around, Jessica's family was waiting on 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:07.560 pins and needles for any update from police, any shred 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:12.199 of new information or details that could shed some light 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:16.240 on what happened to their Jessica. As far as the 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:22.199 investigation was going, it had been a long five months. Sure, 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.600 they were getting snippets from Erica during that month's long 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.560 text conversation she and Justin had, but as you know 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.600 from our last episode, it was right around this time 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:37.280 in early twenty twenty that Erica and Justin's conversation ended, 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:43.160 and since Justin had zero contact with Jessica's family at 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:47.120 this point, they were pretty much in the dark until 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:53.680 one day in late January when an officer informed Audrey 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.520 that there was a woman who wished to speak with her. 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:00.440 Her name Jessica. 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.880 I got a message from a cop in New Orleans 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:15.120 telling me that this girl named Jessica wanted to reach 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:15.600 out to me. 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:16.880 She had information. 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.400 I read the message from her, and she wanted me 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.680 to call her. I was thinking to myself, Oh my god, 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:25.800 this is Justin. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.320 This is just some fake person. 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:33.280 I ended up calling her anyway, and I found out 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.440 that she had a run in with Justin at the 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:37.520 bar that she worked at. 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.680 You came in very quickly, so it caught my attention, 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.920 and he said, while you really reminded me of my wife, 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.280 she just committed suicide. But tried telling the New Orleans 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:53.760 Police Department that in twenty six years of bartending, I've 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:55.640 met a lot of people and had a lot of 0:02:55.680 --> 0:03:00.200 strange interactions and some scary interactions, and this was top 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:00.760 of the list. 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:37.880 The late Anthony Bourdain once said, New Orleans is quote 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:42.520 a must see city because there's no explaining it, no 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:48.200 describing it. You can't compare it to anything, end quote. 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:55.560 Everything in this city has a history, a uniqueness, a story. 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.440 You never know where a day in New Orleans will 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:05.520 take you for toddy. This particular day brings us to 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:10.320 the outskirts of downtown, to a quaint Mexican restaurant called 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.040 Elpavo rial. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:14.000 Soar. 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:22.480 Upon entering, we're immediately hit with the aroma of freshly 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:29.159 chopped cilantro and warm homemade tortillas. The walls are lined 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:34.279 with bright, vivid artwork by locals, including a mosaic style 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:39.400 painting depicting the church next door. The entire place is 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:45.279 immaculate and colorfully decorated. Our reason for being here isn't 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.719 as uplifting as the restaurant we're sitting in, nor it's 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:53.960 cheerful decor. We're here because back in January of twenty twenty, 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:58.640 just a week after Jessica's Corner's report was released, another 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.960 woman named Jessica or Jessica Vee as we'll call her, 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:08.560 supposedly had an unforgettable encounter with Justin Derning in this 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:13.039 very restaurant, and she wasn't alone when she met Justin. 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:15.640 Her friend Nate was there too. 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.360 Do you think both have. 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.400 Been in the service industry for a long time, so 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.560 they've had their fair share of strange encounters, but they 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.279 say this one was different. 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.839 I've interacted with strangers my whole life and my jobs, 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.560 and I've come into contact with any number of real 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:41.000 strange people, but this was, I mean, this was by 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:42.880 far the most. 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.400 The whole thing was such a mind fuct to be honest, Yeah, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:48.480 I just thought it was all bullshit until I was 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.560 just like, there's something insane going on inside him. 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.880 Todd and I sat down with both Jessica, Vee, and 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.880 Nate to get the full story of what happened the 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.160 day they met Justin at the restaurant. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:06.520 So me and jess had planned to hang out after 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:08.600 she had gotten off work, and I just lived down 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.359 the street at the time, so I was going to 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:13.400 go in and sit down at the bar and wait 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.800 for her to get off. I decided to stay at 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:21.040 the bar and she made me a half watermelon, half 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:24.360 lime swirl frozen margarita, which is my favorite. We were 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:29.400 just drinking and eating and Justin came in. Didn't know 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:33.200 who he was of course at the time, he looked 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:39.520 frantic and unhealthy, like in a way like he maybe 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:45.560 hadn't been like eating good or he didn't look aneberated 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:51.040 or anything. But he just looked frantic, disheveled, and scrawny. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:56.560 But right away I was like, please, don't talk to 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:58.680 me right when I saw him, but I could tell 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:02.240 that he really needed to talk to someone. Obviously. 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.080 He started walking towards us and immediately asked us about 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.120 the food pantry next door. There's a church that runs 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:11.880 a food pantry next door. We could see the very 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:13.920 expensive car he pulled up, and so it was just 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:20.560 right off the bat a seemingly weird situation, and I said, well, 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.960 I think that closes about three hours ago. He said, 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.560 of course it's closed. This is just what my life 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.600 is right now. I should just kill myself. That's immediately 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:36.000 what he said. I responded, and I said, oh, hey, hey, man, 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.600 don't hurt yourself. And I said I always tell the 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:41.960 people around me when I'm upset that they'd better be 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:43.160 the ones to watch out. 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:49.560 Justin was not out of sorts. She says. She noticed 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:54.000 that he smelled and his hair was disheveled. She characterizes 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.600 him as being twitchy. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.160 Then when he mentioned the death and he was saying 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:01.720 he want to kill himself that you know that, I'm like, uh, 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:03.400 maybe he's just having a middle breakdown. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:03.680 You know. 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:05.520 At first I was kind of given the benefit of 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:08.120 the doubt of like, you know, maybe I just need 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:10.040 to calm this dude down, and like if he sits 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.920 here a second, maybe just collect his bearings, then he'll go. 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:18.400 But then yeah, it got really uncomfortable very quickly. And 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.960 he said, wow, you really reminded me of my wife. 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:26.040 She just committed suicide. But try telling the New Orleans 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:30.040 Police Department that I'm not certain what I responded to him, 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:32.040 and he said again, he's like, you really remind me 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.320 a lot of my wife. What's your name And I 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:38.760 said Jessica, and he said that is my wife's name. 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:43.839 He's like, you look about her size. I have all 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:45.640 of this shit of hers in my house. I gotta 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.120 get rid of it. I gotta get it out of there. 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.520 I have her hope chest, I have all of her clothes. 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.480 They're all designer, they're all amazing, they're all expensive. 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:57.240 He's telling me all this and telling me he's got 0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:58.040 to go to the food. 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.040 Pantry, and I said, you know, there's some consignments that 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.200 you could probably make a lot of money on these things. 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.440 Maybe you should do that. I said, did she have 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:12.040 family that might want it? He said yeah, but yeah, 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:14.040 they're not getting it. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.920 It just went from like I said, a stranger walking 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.760 into just all of a sudden, you look like my 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:24.800 dead wife that committed suicide. And then I have all 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.200 of her things and I need to get rid of them, 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.280 like I need to get her like out of my 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:33.000 house because I can't handle But it was very like 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.079 a sad like I can't handle having all her things around. 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.600 I mean, it just went so gross really fast. When 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.040 you know when a man's like what's your shoe size? 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.280 You know, what kind of fashion do you like? What 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.640 size shirt do you wear? And stuff? Because you can 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.160 come get all my dead wife's things. But then it 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.480 went from there to like, maybe we should hang out sometime, 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.920 like what are you into? It was mostly very focused 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:02.199 on jess and he started talking about how him and 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.120 Jessica should hang out and how he loves diving and 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:09.160 how he has all this scuba equipment and how he 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:14.680 loves knife and he loves hunting and shooting bows and 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:18.400 arrows and all this stuff. I'm like, I'm so confused. 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:20.960 It was a whirlwind for sure. 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.120 At this point, Jessica Vee says she pretty much quit 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:30.600 engaging with Justin and went on to warn her coworkers. 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:34.120 In this situation, she wanted to wrap up her shift 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.440 so she could get out of there, but before she could, 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.040 she needed to give Justin his bill. And it was 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:45.720 then that Jessica VV and Nate both noticed him frantically 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:49.920 scribbling something into a notebook. They weren't sure what. 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.319 I was leaving as I put his bill in front 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:54.839 of him, and he said, wait, wait, wait, wait wait, and 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:57.480 turned around to the notebook and ripped the page out 0:10:58.320 --> 0:10:59.960 and folded it up and gave it to me. 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:04.080 Could you open up the letter and just like read 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:08.479 through the gibberish that it is okay. 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.600 It starts with his personal information at the top. It's 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.840 says Justin Durning. It gives his address, it says Grace daughter. 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.280 It gives me exact directions how to get there. It 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.280 gives his cell phone number and his landline and his 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.880 email address. Immediately it goes to the items he wants 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.920 to give me of Jessica's purses, Kate Spade, Betsy Johnson, 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:36.120 Mark Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Barbery, Chanel Shoes, Christian Leubatan, Jimmy Choos, 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.400 Steve Madden, all kinds of shit jewelry, mid to high 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:43.000 end costume jewelry. I have some furniture that I just 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:48.480 don't need. Dresser Cedar Chest, Hope chest questions. Do you 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.960 like to shoot guns? Do you like knives? Parentheses, tactical? 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.440 Do you dive or want to learn? If you or 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.880 your husband or into any of this, please let me know. 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:04.160 Southern heels, Nola custom high end flip flops. He had 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.720 mentioned that sitting at the bar, that his wife had 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.920 this business that was just sitting there and it was 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.920 a It was just a cash cow, and I could 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:17.599 have that too, So it was just all very confusing. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.080 Jessica Vee was eager to get out of there, so 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.360 she took the note Justin handed her and promptly left 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.840 the restaurant for the night. Her shift and her brush 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:34.480 with Justin had ended, but her story didn't end there. 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:40.400 After leaving the restaurant, Jessica V and Nate, still reeling 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:44.720 from the bizarre experience, googled Justin's full name to see 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:48.520 if they could find any more information about him, and 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:53.120 in doing so, they quickly learned about his wife, Jessica's death. 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:55.840 This was a big story in New Orleans. 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.160 We'd all heard about Jessica, but we didn't know the 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:03.680 names Jessica's or his. I immediately grew. 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:04.800 More concerned for his daughter. 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:07.640 We've read the stories that he doesn't appear to be 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:11.559 involved in the search or any other thing, and there 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.200 he's not the person contact. You know, this is our 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:17.360 family that's in the media, not him. That he had 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:22.480 been speaking about weapons, and then the note had really 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.280 odd things about weapons. Did I like to shoot guns? 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:31.440 Did I like tactical knives? Those things obviously concerned me 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:32.359 a little more. 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:33.560 Once I found out who he was. 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:39.280 So that's kind of what kept nagging at me till 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.960 the next day. When I called the police department to 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:44.439 just turn the note in. I just assumed there'd be 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:47.520 a homicide investigator working on this case. I thought I 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.559 could just call and someone would come to the restaurant 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:51.560 pick up the note. I really thought that that would 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.880 be it. I thought that would be all of my involvement. 0:13:56.400 --> 0:14:00.439 While this may have sounded easy, in theory turned out 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.120 to be a lot more complicated than Jessica Vee thought 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:03.560 it would be. 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:06.760 They said, we've don't handle stuff like that. There isn't 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:08.480 a homicide investigator working on. 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:09.959 We don't do that. 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:12.120 You got to turn that into the corner. Are you 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.760 afraid he's going to hurt himself or someone else? I'm 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:16.680 not concerned he's going to hurt me, but himself or 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:20.760 someone else. Yes, I am concerned, highly concerned, and that 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.480 there's a child in his care. That is what I'm 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.880 calling about. And they explained to me that I would 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.800 have to take the letter to the coroner's office. She 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.280 told me that where that was and told me that 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:35.920 they would be able to pick him up for a 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:36.880 mental health hold. 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.520 So Jessica v drives to the corner's office around seven 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:45.120 or eight that night. She walks inside and meets a 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.280 woman who she thinks is a receptionist but is later 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:52.160 told is one of the coroners. Jessica Vee starts telling 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.440 her about the exchange she'd had with Justin and was 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:56.960 stunned by the woman's reaction. 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:03.240 She said, Oh, my god, I probably shouldn't be telling 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:08.760 you this, but she's still here. He has not released 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:13.040 her body to her family, so she's still here. 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:18.760 So and we're talking five months. So at that point 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:20.000 she's been there five months. 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:24.640 This is January and this has been since Oko so yes, 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.320 So that was very distressing for me to hear. She 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:33.360 started to prepare all this paperwork, making copies of the note. 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:37.040 She wouldn't keep the note. She's filling out some other paperwork. 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:39.640 She picks up the phone and calls a friend that 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.920 She tells me, I'm calling my friend at the New 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:45.040 Orleans Police apartment. So I think this is kind of 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:48.320 going to be the end of my situation. She starts 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:50.760 talking to her friend and she says, Hey, I've got 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:55.000 this girl in here who had an interaction with Justin Darning. 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.440 So she's like telling her about the note and she's 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.200 kind of talking to her, but it's not it's in 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.600 a personal way. It's not in a you're recounting this 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:08.520 to a person who is taking official notes about this. 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.840 She was reading parts of the note about the questions 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.480 at the bottom about the tactical knives and do you 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:19.080 like to shoot guns and scuba dinive mentioned it by name, 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.840 and the person must have known who that was. And 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:25.960 quickly I realized she's just like gossiping with a friend 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.440 there maybe or just wanting to tell her like she 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:32.000 had wanted to tell me Jessica was still there. That 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:35.440 was a little off putting for me and distressing to 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:36.920 be honest. 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.680 And to add to that, once the woman wrapped up 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.360 the paperwork, she told Jessica Vee that since she's the 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:48.520 person instigating the mental healthhold, her name would be on 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:53.040 the paperwork, allowing doctors, lawyers, or whoever could be involved 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.720 to see her name. And while this wasn't what Jessica 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.160 Vie preferred, it didn't stop. 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:02.600 Her at that point. I didn't feel like I couldn't 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:02.920 do it. 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.720 I just didn't feel like I could not do it. 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:10.840 I was very obviously distressed, and I mean I even 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:12.920 said to her, I was like, that is so fucked up. 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:14.880 I can't believe that's the process. 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.240 And the Unfortunately for dusk A Vee, this wouldn't conclude 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.680 what was turning out to be a complicated and rather 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:24.560 frustrating process. 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.359 She prepared all this paperwork and made a copy of 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:30.800 the note, gave me the noteback, wouldn't keep it, put 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.600 all of them in an envelope with an official seal 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:35.800 all over it, and she leaned across the desk and 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.520 handed it to me, and she said, now you need 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.200 to take this to whatever precinct it is, the Lakeview 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:45.800 Police Department. You need to deliver this to them in 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.360 the next forty eight hours. I said, but I'm here 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:50.960 to give it to you. You've made all this official. 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:53.639 You have spoken to someone at the police department and 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.359 told them this is happening. And now I really don't 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.320 understand why I have to do this. And now I'm 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:03.960 really am a little concerned that this is the procedure. 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:08.959 The process itself caused Jessica viv to have second thoughts 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.520 as to whether or not the hassle was worth it. 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:14.280 She took the rest of the day to think on it, 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.639 but eventually she decided to go ahead and give the 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:18.720 letter to police. 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:22.480 Like, at this point, I feel really bad if I 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.520 don't see it through, because the whole reason I got 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:29.359 involved was this kid, and so I mean, it's just 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:34.240 typical New Orleans shit. This is not the right way 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.040 for any of this to happen. Maybe this is ridiculous 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.120 for me to be involved anyway, But at that point, 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.400 my conscience wasn't gonna be all right. 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.800 While speaking with the officer, Jessica Vie was very direct 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.360 about her frustrations how things were being handled. 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:54.480 I said the same things to him that I'd said 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:56.679 to the corner. This is just garbage that I have 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.160 to be here. This is insane to me that this 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.160 is the process. I don't know anyone else. 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.800 That would do this. He was, you know, yeah, well, 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:07.159 I mean because you're. 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.720 Worried about him, right, You're worried about his daughter and 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:11.119 other people's safety. 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:12.920 I said, yes, yeah, I am. 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:17.760 In twenty six years of bartending, I've met a lot 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:20.040 of people and had a lot of strange interactions and 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:24.080 some scary interactions, and this was top of the list. 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:29.800 Bananas to me, this god's behavior. So he asked me 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:32.720 could he see the note because the paperwork was sealed, 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:36.960 He looked at it, he made a copy. He told 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:39.040 me that will be at his house by seven to 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:40.160 pick him up and take him in. 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:46.520 Jessica Vee then left the station and that was the 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:50.240 end of it. She also never saw or heard from 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:54.520 Justin again. According to a source within the n OPD, 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.679 Justin was in fact picked up and held on a 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:01.679 mental health hold or some digging, we found out that 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:05.879 in Louisiana, a mental healthhold request does in fact go 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:11.040 through the corner's office, not the police. Since our interview 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.199 with her, she's been trying to get a copy of 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:16.320 the paperwork she filed and at the very least a 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:19.920 copy of the affid David that she signed, but without success, 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:22.919 and it was the same outcome for us. In our 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:26.600 request for a copy of the paperwork, the corner denied 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.960 our request, citing it's not considered a public record and 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:36.160 citing hippolaws. The NOPD also denied our request for any 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:40.560 paperwork pertaining to the mental healthhold, police pickup, or any 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:46.000 supplemental or supporting materials, including, but not limited to, any 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.280 signed requests or documents by Jessica Vee. 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:52.080 It made me feel good that I didn't live in 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:55.240 New Orleans anymore. I don't know that I would have 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:57.480 participated if I still lived there. I don't know that 0:20:57.520 --> 0:20:59.760 I would have gotten and started talking about the corner 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:03.200 and the police department. I mean, who's supposed to help 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:05.679 me if something happens to me. I don't have to 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:07.600 be scared about it. I don't need their help I 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:11.360 don't live there anymore, and I don't have to worry 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:14.000 about him turning up at my work, which that's lesser. 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.000 That's still a lesser fear to me than talking about 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:20.320 the Corners Office the police Department saying these things that 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:22.280 I've said about them and my interactions with them, but 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:26.080 they're true. That's what happened, and it was upsetting. It 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.959 was super upsetting that these are the professionals that were 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:30.040 supposed to do something. 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:33.760 I think the New Orleans Police Department needs to take 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:39.240 accountability for a lot of missing persons and murder cases 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:42.680 inside the city of New Orleans, because this is not 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:46.480 the only one. It's a very easy city to just 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:50.520 forget about what happened yesterday and move on to tomorrow, 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:53.360 because we love to have a good time and love 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:56.440 to just keep living life, and we love to celebrate 0:21:56.520 --> 0:22:01.600 death and celebrate anything we can celebrate. But we still 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:04.600 need to hold people accountable so there's not evil walking 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.280 around us. 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:12.480 And that accountability applies to law enforcement just as much 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:17.399 as criminals and everyday citizens. Thankfully, there are some people 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:20.640 out there who care and will go to great lengths 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:22.960 to help someone that they don't even know. 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:28.879 I mean, I got very invested in there'd be in 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:32.639 some resolution for them, because it was heartbreaking to talk 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:35.359 to Audra. My sister, Jennifer is my best friend in 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.040 the world, and those were very emotional conversations for me 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:42.760 to have with her. I felt very sorry for her 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:50.240 and I can't imagine being in there she is. I 0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:53.480 would do anything, I would not stop if it were 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:58.120 my sister. So I have a twin sister too, So 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:01.200 I have two sisters and yeah, and a half sister. 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:07.399 I any of them, Yeah, I don't. I cannot. I 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:08.919 cannot imagine. 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:11.399 And again, my interactions at the corner and with the 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:16.359 police were so unsettling and instilled zero confidence in me 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:19.280 that I thought, well, these are the people that they 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:23.360 have to help them, and it felt very inadequate and 0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:24.560 really sad. 0:23:26.080 --> 0:23:28.480 I just had a lama heart broke for. 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:30.600 Yeah. 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:33.480 I just hope the family knows and everyone that's been 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:39.000 involved that I'm really happy that they're speaking out and they're, 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:41.960 you know, standing up for someone who can't stand up 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:42.560 for herself. 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:46.600 She seems to have been a really kind person with 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:49.919 a lot of people that love her, and regardless of 0:23:49.920 --> 0:23:51.440 what was going on in our personal life, or whatever 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:54.280 struggles she was having, it just doesn't matter. 0:23:55.119 --> 0:23:56.119 Somebody killed her. 0:23:56.680 --> 0:24:07.400 And I think that's really clear to everybody. 0:24:08.200 --> 0:24:11.919 Jessica Vee has a point. Through what we've seen in 0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:15.479 Jessica's personal life so far, it's pretty clear she had 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:19.439 her struggles. From the outside looking in, it appeared like 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:23.000