WEBVTT - Jessica | 1 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 --> 0:00:49.720 be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.960 First of all, let me just say to the family 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:12.200 of Jessica, I want to thank them for being at 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:14.600 this place, at this site. 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:15.840 I know it is not easy. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.039 I know every time they come anywhere close to this 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:23.680 area they are reliving the worst moment of their lives. 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.839 As many of you probably do know, two years ago, 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:35.920 we unfortunately lost Jessica after going missing. Jessica's sisters found 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:40.880 her deceased just steps away from where we're standing right now, 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:46.720 And since that day, this family has had absolutely no 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:48.840 closure in this case. 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:52.600 They've gotten no answers in this case. 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.160 This is from a press conference I attended that on 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:05.040 August eighth, twenty twenty one. The man speaking is New 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:10.239 Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams. The woman he just mentioned 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.960 is Jessica Easterly Darning, the person at the center of 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:20.040 this story. Jessica wasn't a New Orleans native, but it's 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.600 where she spent a good chunk of her life, right 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:26.520 here in the neighborhood of Lakeview, where this press conference 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:32.640 was held. By appearance alone, nothing bad could ever happen 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:38.919 in this charming Maybury esque setting. But on August twenty second, 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:44.519 twenty nineteen, this is where Jessica was found, just a 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:49.040 stone's throw from her own home. And who made that 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:56.280 gruesome discovery not trained investigators nor innocent bystanders, but her 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:57.320 own family. 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:04.280 Of today's press conference on these railroad tracks, however, is 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:08.200 to make a very clear and a very direct. 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:10.639 Public appeal to this community. 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.120 We need you to speak up, because in order to 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:19.120 solve cold cases and unsolved murders, all of. 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.680 The law enforcement community needs your help. 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:27.560 This city, the five thousand plus unsolved cases, needs your help. 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:34.920 This family needs your help. I need your help, and. 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:36.720 I want to say to this family, just like I 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:41.560 said to Jessica's mother, this is important for the folks 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.200 behind me, but this is important to every single family 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.040 that has lost a loved one and has not had 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:51.800 the closure of having that case solved. You have our 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.200 thoughts and prayers, and you know that, but this family 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:58.640 needs more than that. This family needs us to work 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:01.880 and work together. This family needs just to be a team. 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:17.360 This family needs closure and deserves justice. 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.920 Some people in this neighborhood didn't even know this case existed, 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:23.359 didn't even know that Jessica went missing or that she 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:28.800 was found dad. So it all comes back to did 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.520 the police do the footwork to ask people around here, hey, 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:37.320 did you see anything you know? Did you see this girl? 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:42.800 And if they did, how hard did they canvas. My 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:47.839 name is also Jessica, Jessica Nole. I'm an investigative journalist 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.760 and I've been covering this story for some time now, 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.400 but I didn't go it alone. With me is my 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:59.279 partner and good friend, Todd Macomas, a retired detective who 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.520 brings his own set of skills, ones that can hopefully 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.200 help make a difference in this case, a case that 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.720 sits in limbo with the New Orleans Police Department growing 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.440 colder with each passing day. 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:17.080 If I'm one of the detectives called out here, I'm 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.919 immediately gonna just say out loud, what a weird place 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:22.560 to dump a body? 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.479 What a weird place to find a body? 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:30.240 Just because I literally can go forty yards over here, 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:34.200 and I have a tree line that's very still overgrown 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:38.080 that I could tuck anything in there and no one 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:39.000 probably find it for a. 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.880 Very long time. So it's just weird to me. I know. 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:46.240 The location of where she was found is just it's troublesome. 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.560 It's troublesome unless it was by design. 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.960 When we first visited the site where Jessica was found, 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:59.479 admittedly we knew very little about her story, our questions 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:03.320 were simple and straightforward. How about what you would expect 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:04.800 given the circumstances. 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.200 I just keep going back to, what are the odds? 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.440 What do you? What are you doing back here? Why 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:13.600 is your life in? Why does your walk in if 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.719 no one brought you here? Why this spot? Why this 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:19.279 side of this neighborhood? 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:26.839 And that's the undetermined question. Jessica's case it's not just 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:31.200 a question of who's responsible for her death. It's also 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:35.600 a question of how she died, questions that emerged when 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.640 the corner listed both her cause and manner of death 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:44.000 as undetermined, a catch all when there's insufficient evidence to 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:52.159 say it's homicide, suicide, accidental, or natural. The word undetermined 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:57.039 has loomed over this case, sparking outrage and Jessica's loved 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:04.640 ones leaving. Investigators don't that's why we are here searching 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:08.200 for answers. Answers about Jessica's life. 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:10.800 But I think it's part of what held her in 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.720 place after she was ready to leave, is she had 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:14.640 this dirty secret. 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:19.840 I just wish I would have known then better before 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:25.520 we really got involved with their lives and about her death. 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:30.480 Her C four vertebrae as well as her grip was broken, 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:32.560 and there's a post motive. 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:38.800 I might have some information that y'all would find helpful. 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:45.920 From resonate recordings and Tenderfoot TV. I'm your host, Jessica Nole. 0:07:46.800 --> 0:08:11.840 This is undetermined. From time to time, Jessica's family travels 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.320 from Mississippi to the New Orleans neighborhood of Lakeview, where 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:20.000 Jessica lived and where she died, or at least where 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:24.840 her body was found. With a freshly printed stack of flyers, 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:29.240 they move from street signs to telephone poles, hanging them 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.720 one at a time in Jessica's name, making sure that 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:37.520 people here don't forget about her. The flyers read what 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:43.640 Happened to Jessica Easterly. Jessica's family has always been of 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:48.400 the belief that someone in this neighborhood has information that 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:53.000 could help solve her mysterious death. Since day one, the 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.800 family has done everything in their power to keep this 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.839 case alive. They're a dedicated group, and it's their dead 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.560 vction that brought me to Biloxi, Mississippi, where Jessica was 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:10.720 born and where our story begins. Fifteen. To understand more 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.959 about Jessica and her life, I started with those who 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:19.600 knew her best, Jessica's sisters, Amanda and Audrey. 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.480 I'm Amanda Barnes, I am Jessica's little sister. 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.320 I'm Audrey, and I'm Jessica's older sister. 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:34.640 Audrey and I are half sisters. Our father married Jessica's mother. 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:36.160 Jessica's our stepsister. 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.120 But in our family, if we don't say half sisters. 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:43.120 That's not our thing, Mamma day. 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:46.720 I got married in April of eighty nine, just before 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.720 I turned ten. They were only together for about a 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:51.520 year before they got married. 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:53.960 So we'll just say I was sixteen, so that would 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:58.720 have made Jessica eleven or twelve at the time. A 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:02.600 photo of the three sisters together depicts this day of celebration. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:07.600 They're all smiles and we're matching formal lace dresses with 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:11.960 poofy sleeves. While becoming a blended family is etched into 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:15.000 their memories the first time the sisters met. He is 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.959 a little bit hazy, But one thing Audrey also known 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:23.480 as Audre, does recall is Jessica couldn't take her eyes 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:25.840 off her I used. 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.880 To wear black lipstick, holy jeans, and my hair stick 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:30.600 up away high. 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:32.680 All she ever did was stare at me. 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.360 I think she might have said hi, but she just stared, like, 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:38.439 oh God, what is that? 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.400 Growing up, Audrey was admittedly a rare sighting at the house. 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.280 I didn't really stay home. I was always out and 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.360 about I was a teenager, I was gone. I just 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:52.640 want to get the hell off the house and go 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.680 be with my friends. Amanda and Jessica were only a 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:00.000 couple years apart and had a closer relationship at the time. 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.360 She was my older sister in high school whenever I 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.439 was just getting into high school. Didn't have a lot 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.280 of the same friends because of the age difference. But 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.800 if she had someone over, I was welcome to go 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.120 hang out with them. You know, as you get older 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:19.000 and you're not that pesky little sister anymore. And said, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.360 you're someone that she could show me how to do 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.880 my makeup, because God knows that I had no idea 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.400 how to do any of that, you know, getting dressed 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.240 for like homecoming or something. She would help pick out 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.360 that type of stuff. She was a typical older sister. 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:38.720 Eventually they meshed as blended families often do, but it 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:39.600 was deeper than that. 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:42.240 It was love. 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.320 There was love there, like you could tell you know 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:44.920 what I'm saying. 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.040 I mean, no family is perfect. I'm not trying to 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.840 say that we're the white picket fence to story house 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:54.319 kind of people, but it was pretty typical childhood. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:01.800 After graduation, Jessica started her journey into adulthood. In the 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.040 summer of nineteen ninety four, she left home to attend 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:09.920 the university of South Alabama for speech pathology and audiology, 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.200 and that's when Maria, her friend of twenty five years, 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:15.600 came into the picture. 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.199 My name is Maria Kreole, and I was Jessica's best friend. 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:25.199 We met when Jessica was in college. She was dating 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.200 the boy that lived across the street from me, whose 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.280 younger sister I was best friends with at the time. 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.840 You couldn't not hit it off with Jessica. She was 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.800 just such a quick wit, like she always had something 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.920 funny to say, like just off the cuff, like quick, quick, quick, 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:44.400 like if you had something to say, she had a 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:48.960 funny response, and you couldn't just not enjoy being around her. 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:53.000 She was four or five years older than me, so 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:56.640 maybe not so much in common, but maybe I was 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:00.360 just like the annoying little kid. Well we first met, 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.040 you know, she was in college and it was like 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:07.120 fifteen or sixteen, so she tolerated me, and she was 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.440 like the cool, you know, college chick that I was 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.200 just like, you know, I just wanted to be like her. 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:13.640 She's funny. 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.360 She could just be so polished, just like in an instant, 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:21.360 like pretty updoo and pearls, just so quick. She could 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.439 turn around on Audrey Hepburn looks so fast. She was 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.640 always down for like a little adventure. She was quick to, 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.800 you know, grab a bottle of Frensia or a box. 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.280 That was a running joke. Hey, I got a box 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:35.320 of wine with your name on it. 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.239 Jessica was already in college and living with her boyfriend 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.559 when she took in the then rebellious teenager low as 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:50.319 Jessica lovingly nicknamed her. Maria lived with Jessica for about 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:53.920 six months before making a college cheer squad and moving 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:58.480 into the dorms. After a year and a half in Alabama, Jessica, 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.600 now twenty three years old and single, moved back to Mississippi. 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:05.959 She began working at the nearby casinos as a server, 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:11.320 bringing her and her younger sister Amanda closer together, and 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:15.680 shortly after the two sisters moved in together in New Orleans. 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.160 Jessica found work on casino boats along the coast and 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:24.360 did well with her outgoing personality, and it wasn't long 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.640 before she locked eyes with a man named Justin Derning. 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:33.120 At the time they met, Justin was married to Jessica's 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:34.240 friend Lauren. 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:39.680 She was talking about Justin and her friend about them 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:43.120 having problems whenever I was still living with her. Part 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:48.040 of our problem with piecing together Jessica's timeline about exactly 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:52.320 when and how Justin and her were together. She kept 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:55.400 a lot of things secret for a very long time. 0:14:56.200 --> 0:15:01.920 She painted things in positive ways that as we learn 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:06.240 things from her, either we thought this doesn't sound like 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:10.360 it quite adds up all the way over to oh, 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:11.280 this is bullshit. 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:16.320 Her sister says. Something in Jessica changed after she met Justin, 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:21.920 But what that was they couldn't quite put their finger on. 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.160 One thing was for sure. They had some pretty serious 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.160 reservations about Jessica being with Justin from the beginning. 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:34.040 The beginning of their relationship was shrouded in mystery for 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:35.920 a long time, and a lot of things we did 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:39.840 not know the truth of until after she died. Whenever 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.760 I first met him, shook his hand, he seemed okay. 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.840 Within about thirty minutes of us sitting in there is 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.280 when I started getting the this isn't right. There's something. 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.000 I don't know what it is, but my hackles are up. 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:57.320 I don't know why, but you know what they say, 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:02.320 love is blind and had found her prince charming. She 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:06.840 was ready to settle down. She wanted a family. On 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:11.360 July fifteenth, twenty eleven, Jessica announced on Facebook that she 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.880 and Justin had moved in together. She joined the home 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:18.680 he shared with his elderly father, Justin Senior, and teenage 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:22.360 daughter Grace. Jessica posted a photo of the two of 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.200 them with the caption it was love at first sight. 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:28.400 We met on a boat and have been together ever since. 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:34.440 I think that Jessica hit a point in her life where. 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:35.880 She wanted to believe in love. 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:40.720 Does she feend love Love conquers all and everyone's yay? 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.880 And she'd be the stay at home mom bringing her 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:47.160 kids up and the husband high honey, how was your day? 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:48.680 The beaver cleaver type thing. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:50.560 Yeah, that's what she wanted in life. 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:56.960 On February twenty fifth, twenty fifteen, at sunset, Justin and 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.960 Jessica tied the knot at the hard Rock Cafe Hotel 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:04.919 and Casino in her hometown of Biloxi, wearing a halter 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:08.720 top white satin dress adorned with a silver jewel embellishment. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:12.720 It was the day Jessica had dreamed of, the day 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:18.000 she became a wife and a stepmom, Jessica's friend since childhood. 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:21.760 Erica Badard Russell, was one of the few invited to 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:26.160 the intimate nuptials and described the tone of that day. 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.359 It was very small, not plan. The only thing plan is. 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:36.320 They rented a room. It wasn't even like a ballroom 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.240 or anything. It was like a suite with a little 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:43.119 living room and a kitchen. She wasn't even ready for it. 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:47.800 They had a preacher. I helped her make her bouquet 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:52.000 when I got to the room before the ceremony even started. 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:56.200 I believe that was her only friend there. It was 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:58.720 a weird day. How they got married on the little 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:01.960 balcony and then that was it. I don't even remember 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:05.320 an official ceremony. I don't remember a wedding cake. It 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:09.119 may have been, but I don't remember it. I just 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:10.480 remember feeling uncomfortable. 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.919 Erica remembers that Justin seemed nervous and didn't seem to 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:20.560 share the same enthusiasm as Jessica, which makes sense. For 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.920 Jessica it was her first marriage. Justin, on the other hand, 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:29.160 had been married twice before, but all that was easily 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.880 overshadowed by Jessica's sheer joy. 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:39.960 She was giddy she was absolutely giddy. Her mom was quiet. 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:42.440 She was like, I can't believe I'm going to marry 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.199 the love of my life. I'm so lucky. 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.560 And just like that, Jessica had her own little family. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.480 In the days following the wedding, Erica got to know 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:03.000 Justin a little better. 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:08.320 It was just I mean, the way he acted, the 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:14.280 way he tried to control everything, the way he would 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:19.920 talk down about her family to make her hate them more. 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.640 I feel like he was the reason why her mother 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.760 became a little bit different. I mean, he would tell 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:33.000 her things that would make her so angry. A lot 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.840 of times he would answer her phone and start talking. 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:40.320 I'm like, well, where's Jessica. Well, she just ran out 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:42.080 to go get Gracie. She ran out to do this. 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:45.560 She ran out to do that. Okay, I don't know 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:50.320 why he had her phone. He wouldn't necessarily call me. 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:54.720 We would end up talking because I would be calling 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:58.359 for Jessica or I would be talking to Justine. He 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:00.879 takes the phone. 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.199 Towards the end. This is how Erica remembers many of 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:07.359 their calls going. It made her miss the way it 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:08.000 used to be. 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.040 I loved our little talks. She always would tell me 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:17.159 love me. She'd just say love you, my Erica. I 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:18.640 would tell her love you to my chest. 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:21.040 I wish I could go back. 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:25.280 I wish I wish I could relive one of those moments, 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:27.920 I mean, some of the good times again. 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:33.640 And as the years passed, friends and family felt more 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:38.320 and more distant from Jessica. Their concerns about her mounted, 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:41.320 and it would all come to a head in August 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:46.600 of twenty nineteen. From here everything would start to unravel. 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.679 She contacted me on the twelfth, The thirteenth came and 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:57.160 went without contact. So then on the fourteenth she didn't 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.800 call me, and I didn't hear from her. My phone 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:05.200 dinged it's justin but it's from Jessica's account, and he's 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.159 saying he doesn't know where she is. And like, my 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:10.719 whole body just went cold. I don't know how to 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:13.240 describe it other than that, but I just felt a 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:17.280 chill all over. And so I texted him back and 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:21.199 I was like, okay, well, what about her phone like 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:24.920 and he was like, nope, phone, ID everything, it's here 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:28.920 with me. I was like, okay, well I'm calling the police. 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:31.800 He was like, well, uh, you're just gonna freak grace 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:36.199 out as like you just said. She was already worried, 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:37.760 Like what is there to freak out about? What do 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:42.600 you mean her mom is missing? She's already freaked out. 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:48.439 And I said, if Jonathan came home and my cell phone, 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:51.040 ID vehicle was here and I was missing, and the 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:53.960 kids were here by themselves, he would already be talking 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:55.920 to the police, Like right now, I'd be standing in 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:58.199 the yard talk to the police, Like I shouldn't have 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.520 to send them to your house. So I called the police, 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:06.040 and the dispatcher that answered I was trying to explain 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:07.680 to her. I was like, look, I need y'all to 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:11.120 go over there and figure out what's going on. And 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:13.920 then I got like a message from him came down, 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:16.360 and I was like, he just told me that he 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:18.600 called y'all, but I'm on the phone with you. He 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:20.320 just said he called y'awn and you said you had 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:23.040 he had to wait to file a missing person. I 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:24.879 was like, but I'm not saying file a missing person. 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:26.679 She was like, oh, hang on, because we wouldn't tell 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:29.720 him that. She suddenly was hearing me loud and clear, 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:43.880 and so she was like, Okay, we're on the way. 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:49.640 It's Wednesday, August fourteenth, twenty nineteen, just after ten pm. 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:54.760 Two officers pull up to the Derneys home. This is 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:58.960 audio from the ENERPD body cam footage we obtained from 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:04.200 Jessica's family. As the officer approaches the one story brick house, 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:08.400 he shines a flashlight ahead of him to light his way. 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:13.720 He cautiously approaches and illuminates the front storm door, but 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:20.919 an interior door blocks any view inside. Shifting to the left, 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:25.320 he sheds light onto the brick, revealing the address placard, 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:29.720 verifying he's in the right place. But before he can 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:33.120 knock or ring a doorbell, a man walks over from 0:23:33.119 --> 0:23:36.080 the side of the house to greet the officers, along 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:37.880 with his leashed German shepherd. 0:23:41.480 --> 0:23:46.480 Oh did you live here? We're told? Is no one 0:23:46.600 --> 0:24:01.400 ill here? Someone sick here? He'll we got a call though, Yeah, 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:02.680 I know my. 0:24:02.600 --> 0:24:08.480 Wife, Justin's dog is inconsolable the moment he sets eyes 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:08.880 on them. 0:24:10.280 --> 0:24:11.879 Let him just say hi. So he's not far to 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:12.440 these you guys. 0:24:12.520 --> 0:24:13.360 You go see how over? 0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:15.600 Okay, So all right, we're just exciting. 0:24:16.600 --> 0:24:19.359 Hey baby, Yeah, he's rambling. 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:22.160 He's going through a bunch of training right now. Yeah, 0:24:22.800 --> 0:24:24.159 basically service anyway. 0:24:24.200 --> 0:24:31.800 Yeah, so, yes, So what's going on with my wife? 0:24:32.200 --> 0:24:34.720 About twelve o'clock I came home and we sat and 0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:36.480 talked and I lay down to good nap. 0:24:37.240 --> 0:24:41.440 And the car's here, her wallet's here, everything's here. And 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:44.160 I'm not trying to freak my daughter out because. 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:50.280 She's fifteen, just started anyway, I'm freaking because this is 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:53.000 not indicative of my wife. So I called everybody I know, 0:24:53.560 --> 0:24:55.720 and I know I know called for the well check 0:24:56.520 --> 0:24:58.719 a friend of hers in Alabama. 0:24:58.720 --> 0:25:00.600 And I mean, you guys are well, come in if 0:25:00.600 --> 0:25:01.399 you want to take a look. 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:04.840 At Sure you called? No, they call because she's what 0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:08.840 are missy? I'm sure your wife she's gone, her car's going. 0:25:09.119 --> 0:25:11.600 Now, cars here, a wall, it's here. How long ago? 0:25:11.640 --> 0:25:12.640 How long she's been going? 0:25:12.920 --> 0:25:16.120 Like twelve thirty, twelve, fifteen, day thirty. I fell asleep, 0:25:16.200 --> 0:25:18.240 So I don't today. Yes. 0:25:19.920 --> 0:25:25.520 Initially, Justin describes a situation as unusual, not indicative of 0:25:25.600 --> 0:25:30.159 his wife, but as their conversation continues, he starts to 0:25:30.200 --> 0:25:31.120 switch gears a bit. 0:25:31.680 --> 0:25:34.439 She's depressed, bipolar, but she saw meds and stuff and 0:25:34.440 --> 0:25:35.479 it's it's normal. 0:25:35.520 --> 0:25:40.760 I mean, she she handles it. She's five five six 0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:46.600 five seven, one hundred and fifteen pounds, dark brown hair, preddy. 0:25:47.240 --> 0:25:48.280 Her birthday Saturday. 0:25:48.440 --> 0:25:49.280 She's taking medics. 0:25:49.640 --> 0:25:50.640 Yeah, she's on medicine. 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:53.679 But I mean it's not even it's not like I mean, 0:25:53.680 --> 0:25:55.480 we've been through the ring with the sex stuff with her, 0:25:55.800 --> 0:25:59.560 and she's a psychologist by trade, so not to show. 0:26:00.400 --> 0:26:03.000 Yeah, she says she left before like this is the 0:26:03.040 --> 0:26:03.800 length of time. 0:26:03.840 --> 0:26:05.800 Never, never, and that's what's got me concerned. 0:26:06.440 --> 0:26:07.919 But I mean since twelve thirty dight. 0:26:08.000 --> 0:26:11.200 She just apparently warned it off and we're just now 0:26:11.200 --> 0:26:11.760 getting a call. 0:26:11.800 --> 0:26:13.520 I mean, well, no, what happened was is I woke 0:26:13.600 --> 0:26:15.920