WEBVTT - Dragonfly | 10 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 --> 0:00:24.640 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 --> 0:00:54.520 be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Through 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:57.840 all the twists and turns in the three years since 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.800 losing Jessica, the one thing her family has always managed 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:02.400 to cling. 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:04.480 To is hope. 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.080 For Audrey, all she needs is a small token from 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.480 Mother Nature to remind her she's not alone in all 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:16.039 of this. Dragonflies are often revered as a symbol of 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:21.760 transformation and rebirth. In some cultures, they're even believed to 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:26.440 symbolize a link between this world and the next. Audrey 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.280 tells me that the day she found her sister's body. 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.679 She remembers seeing a dragonfly right there in that overgrown 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:35.880 patch of land near the train tracks. 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.679 If I'm standing right here, my sister was right there 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:40.640 where that blue cover was. 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:41.960 That's how close I was to her. 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:48.520 And I've just seen the most beautifulest blue dragonfly. I've 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:50.120 never seen a ballooon like that before. 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.120 Ever. Audrey didn't make much of it at the time. 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.240 It wasn't until one night after returning home to Mississippi 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.720 that it sank in. As she sat on her porch 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:05.920 that evening thinking about her sister, she heard a buzzing sound. 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.560 It was another dragonfly, and it didn't just pop in 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:14.720 for a visit. It stuck around for some time. It 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.880 was as if that little blue insect was trying to 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.960 communicate with her. Audrey felt it had to mean something, 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.800 and looking back on it now, she's even more convinced 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.280 because these run ins have become a regular occurrence. 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:32.480 One time I woke up and I was crying and 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:36.800 there was literally twenty or thirty dragonflies in my ard. 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.400 They were nowhere else, they were just in my art. 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:43.320 And I don't know if that's just me holding on 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.440 to hope or whatever, but I mean, I believe that 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:47.440 that was my sister. 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.320 For Audrey, the dragonflies are a reminder that her sister, 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:59.480 Jessica is always with her, she always has been. That 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:04.320 gives her hope and strength to keep fighting. Momentum had 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.600 now shifted in the family's favor. Jessica was finally laid 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.440 to rest, and her case had moved into the hands 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.359 of the Die's office, who were investigating it as a homicide. 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:17.200 Things were looking up. 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:19.960 Now it was. 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.720 Time to try and put Jessica's case to rest once 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:58.440 and for all. We don't know how long he saw 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.920 her before twelve thirty. They talked about bills, They talked 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:05.280 about this, They talked about that. Our time in New 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:10.839 Orleans has been quite the roller coaster. Days of phone calls, interviews, 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:15.080 and debriefs. We've learned a lot about Jessica's case its 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:18.600 own roller coaster of sorts, and at this point we 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:22.760 feel we've discovered most everything we can. Now it's time 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.320 we take a step back and examine all the pieces. 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.680 Sitting inside our fringe Quarter hotel room, Todd and I 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:35.040 start creating a timeline board on Jessica's case, starting from 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:39.279 January twenty nineteen, when that first message was sent to 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:45.080 Maria from Jessica saying she was scared. We grab the 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.240 biggest bulletin board we can find and prop it up 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:52.440 on an easel against the white brick wall with a 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.039 slew of brightly colored index cards and post its in 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.880 hand and a old black sharpeat. We get to work 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:04.120 about up pinning cards to the board for each and 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:10.000 every notable event, along with the corresponding date and time. Visually, 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.560 the timeline board helps Todd and I organize and connect 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:16.720 the dots, allowing us to really zero in on some 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:21.200 key points along the way based on the timeline. Here's 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:24.599 what we know, so let's start laying it out. So 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:30.680 we're going to start with January sixteenth, twenty nineteen, and 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:38.880 this is eight months before Jessica goes missing. That's the 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:43.840 day at three o'clock in the afternoon she texts her 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:48.000 friend Maria, and Maria is supposed to come and visit 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:51.720 and stay with her and Justin, and she texts her 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.760 and apologizes that she can't stay with her because they're fighting, 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:57.039 and she's. 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.200 Come hiding in the bathroom right now, So Justin doesn't 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.960 hear me. We've been fighting like fighting for the past 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.360 three days about everything. He's threatening to kick me out, 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:08.560 put me in jail. He's hit me. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:09.799 It's bad. 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:12.200 He told me you guys can't come, or it's going 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:13.039 to be worse for me. 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:14.200 Lo. 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:17.120 I'm so sorry. I know it's last minute and I 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.680 feel awful. I don't know what to do. I can 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.839 recommend somewhere that's reasonable and nice, the Beyond Canal. We 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:30.280 stay there a lot, or we used to. Lo I'm scared. 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.480 And Lo is the nickname she uses for Maria. Right, 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:41.839 So then fast forward to August twelfth, twenty nineteen. This 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:46.760 day starts with an eleven oh seven am call from 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.440 Jessica to Maria, and she calls her and Maria misses 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:54.120 the call, and she does this through Facebook messenger. She 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.960 calls the second time, there's a three minute and eleven 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:00.760 second conversation. She calls a third time and there's a 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:05.320 fifty two second conversation, and then at two forty three 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:10.080 pm that same day, August twelfth, twenty nineteen, a Facebook 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:15.120 message from Jessica's Facebook messenger is sent to Maria. We 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.120 have no way of verifying who is sending any of 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.680 these messages. I want to make that clear, and she 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:26.160 essentially in that message on Facebook to Maria is asking 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.440 her to come and get her in that very moment, 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:36.120 and Maria can't come right then, so they actually make 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:40.680 plans for Maria to come the next morning and get Jessica. 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:45.440 And the last thing that Jessica says in those Facebook messengers. 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:48.600 Okay, just hang on. I don't know what's going to 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:49.520 happen when I get home. 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:54.320 And that is the last time that Maria ever heard 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:59.760 from Jessica. So moving into August thirteenth, the next day 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.440 to TWI I was in nineteen. That's the morning that 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:07.000 Maria had planned with Jessica to come and get her, 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:14.080 but Maria never hears from Jessica. The following day, August fourteenth, 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:18.800 twenty nineteen, Jessica's family and her friend Maria start calling 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:23.680 local shelters, hospitals, anywhere they think Jessica could be, but 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:30.280 have no luck finding her. It's not until nine pm 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:38.679 that night that Justin gets on Jessica's Facebook messenger and 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:43.640 sends a message to Maria asking if she knows where 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:44.440 Jessica is. 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.520 Is jess with you, Grace and I are worried. If so, 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:49.600 that's fine, We just don't know where she is and 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.160 Grace can't handle stress like this right now. 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:53.560 No, she's not. 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.000 When was the last time you spoke to her? 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:01.440 About noon today? And she left everything here? Keys, car, money, 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:07.400 what about her phone here too? Fucking weird, worried She's 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.880 never done this. I have no idea, checked everything and 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:11.640 everyone I know. 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:14.480 Okay, Well, I'm sending the police over there. 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.440 Maria does in fact call in a wellness check at 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.480 this time, and police confirm they'll be heading to the 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:30.320 Dernings residence. So sometime after ten pm, the first unit 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.760 of the District three Police Department show up for a 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:39.240 wellness check based off of Maria's call to them out 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:43.160 of concern that something has happened to her friend. Now, 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.760 when they show up, they don't seem armed with that information. 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.840 They think it could be an elderly person living alone 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.760 or a sick person, and they meet with Justin at 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:59.439 this time. Some notable information from that initial conversation with 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:04.360 Justin with the two officers are that he tells them 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.040 that we know that Grace likely came home from school 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.440 at three pm. Grace is there when he gets up, 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.200 she tells him she hasn't seen Jessica. 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.400 That's his statement. Yeah, right, when you walk up at four, 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.360 she's not there. He noticed that there was a pizza 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.160 maid and that she was wearing jeans and. 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:26.360 A T shirt sometime prior to noon that day, before 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:28.880 he goes and takes a nap. He tells police that 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.320 he and Jessica sit down, they're having a conversation. They 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:34.800 talk over their bills, what they're going to have for dinner, 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:37.520 things like that, and then he goes and takes his nap. 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:38.840 Yeah, and lists. 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.360 That's where we first find out that all these articles 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.640 a person would normally leave the house with were left behind. 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:50.000 Her ID, her phone, all her medications, her wallet, and 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:53.160 the car and car keys all there right. 0:10:55.200 --> 0:11:00.360 The officer admitted that the circumstances seemed suspicious, but it's 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.800 important to note that police never entered the home during 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:08.720 this first visit. The visit lasted about fifteen minutes, and 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.199 as the officers were leaving, they told Justin to expect 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.040 a call as they'd be sending out another unit to 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.959 do a missing person's report. That second unit arrived just 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:23.360 a couple hours later. It's past midnight, so we're in. 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:27.280 We're still in the same timeframe, but it is now 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.640 the next day before the next officers come to the 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:35.840 house and meet with Justin. It's about one am when 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:40.719 Officer Gatner and Officer Griffin arrive at Justin's house to 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:45.600 do the missing person report. He again meets them outside 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:51.040 and they go to the driveway side of the house 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:56.000 and they go inside this time, Yeah, they walk. 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.600 Through the house as far as the open area when 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:01.520 you meet idiately entered from that side of the house. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:06.599 They're seeing the living room in the kitchen at that point. 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.400 And also at this point he lets them know that 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:13.880 his daughter Grace and father, Justin Sr. Are sleeping. He 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:19.040 offers to wake Grace up to talk to officers about Jessica, 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:23.320 but they tell him that's okay, she's got to sleep. 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.600 Justin gives his phone number to police. It is the 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:32.000 same phone number he gives at the first stop with police. 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.760 He reiterates all the things that she's left behind, which 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:41.040 is ID, phone, medication, wallet, car keys, and they ask 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:45.800 to see her ID that she has left behind, and 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.080 at that time he goes to the side of the 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.200 bed that is opposite of the officers at the far 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.000 end of the bedroom that they're standing in and seemingly 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.960 picks up Jessica's wallet from the floor. He brings it over, 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.960 pulls out her ID and we can see clearly in 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:08.960 the bodycam footage we obtained, you can clearly see that 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:12.560 it is a Louisiana State ID. The card is vertical, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:17.120 unlike their driver's licenses, which are horizontal. We can't make 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.560 out all the details on it, but the officer does 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:23.240 comment that their last names are different, implying the card 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:29.800 reads Jessica Easterly rather than Darning. Then he starts telling 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:35.240 them the same information of timeline to these officers that 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:40.480 they had a conversation that he took a nap around 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:46.079 noon twelve thirty, woke up at four. However, he says 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.480 when he woke up around four, she was missing, but 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.480 he did notice that there was and he couldn't remember 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:53.120 what they're called. 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:53.680 He was doing. 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.000 He was showing with his hands, you know the pizza 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.559 things that they're frozen, you cook them, and they say 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:00.360 the pizza roles, and he said, yeah, there were pizza 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:04.079 roles when I woke up. So they continue speaking to him. 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:10.200 He shows them the Facebook messenger messages that he and 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:14.640 Maria shared on Jessica's Facebook page. He pulls out the 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:19.760 tablet shows the officer that conversation. He had told them 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:21.920 the last thing he saw her wearing was jeans and 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.400 a T shirt. She asks him, do you remember the 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:28.640 color of her T shirt? He tells her, I don't 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.720 remember the color of her T shirt because we were 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:35.800 laying in bed together. After the officers finished gathering information 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.360 and filling out their report, they returned to their cruiser. 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:45.000 Officer Gantner calls her superior, Detective Anthony Lunn, to voice 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:49.600 her concerns over Jessica's disappearance, and this essentially gets the 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:53.880 ball rolling on a missing person's investigation. So at about 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:58.240 one fifty three am, the second unit of officers, who've 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.320 now taken his missing person's rep for Jessica, leave his house. 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:08.200 Two days later, August seventeenth, twenty nineteen, is Jessica's forty 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.160 third birthday. Still no one has heard from her at 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:16.160 this point, eight days later from the time that she 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:21.680 went missing. August twenty second, twenty nineteen, her family is 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.200 in town and they're mapping out a search area within 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:26.880 the Lakeview neighborhood, which they hope to be able to 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:32.040 give to police. At twelve thirty four pm, her family, 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:36.560 her two sisters and her cousin discover Jessica's body in 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.280 an overgrown area about two and a half blocks from 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:44.640 her home. It's about a two minute drive from her residence. 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:50.640 She's found wearing a black tank top, black shorts, and 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:55.360 black shoes at thirteen hundred five hours or one oh 0:15:55.520 --> 0:16:01.520 five pm. She's pronounced dead on the scene. So when 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:06.240 the family found Jessica, she was laying on her side 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.320 in an overgrown area just on the other side of 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:10.320 this overpass. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.560 And we also know from a source that was at 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.560 the scene who makes their living dealing with dead bodies, 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:20.480 she had liver mortis on the outside of her knee 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.320 that was the opposite knee of the knee that was 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:25.640 touching the ground. 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:30.080 This would imply that Jessica died laying on one side 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.160 of her body, but was found on the opposite side, 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.440 which brings up an important question. Could she have been 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:41.800 moved to the spot sometime after her death? Just days later, 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:46.160 on August twenty fourth, twenty nineteen, the corner's autopsy report 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:52.040 would reveal other suspicious findings. In that corner's report, they 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:56.920 documented she had a broken nose, a broken jaw, a 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.960 post mortem broken sea four vertebrae, and a broken rib 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:01.880 post mortem. 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:04.960 We also know from the toxicology report that was included 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.200 in the Corners report that they did tissue samples from 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:14.000 her liver and found measurable levels of methemphetamine, m fetamine, 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:18.800 while bututrin which is antidepressant, and ethanol or drinking alcohol. 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.080 And the reason they could only at this point test 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:26.400 her liver was because when her body was recovered, she 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:33.640 was in advanced decomposition stage. Then, on January fifteenth, twenty twenty, 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.840 the corner gave their ruling on the cause and manner 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:42.040 of Jessica's death undetermined, and then things go quiet for 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:48.560 a stretch. During this time, Audrey remains steadfast hounding the NPD, 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:53.520 hoping for any new information, when out of nowhere, she 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:56.560 gets a call from a couple in Jessica's Lakeview neighborhood. 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:02.960 March fifteenth, twenty twenty, nearly six months after Jessica's body 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:08.920 is recovered, a couple named Chuck and Margaret find Jessica's 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:13.760 ID in the area where her body was discovered. The 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:22.560 ID is also a Louisiana State identification card that is vertical, 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:27.840 not horizontal as a driver's license would be. It also 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:32.880 states her name as Jessica Easterly, her maiden name, and 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:38.680 this identification expires in twenty twenty three. The ID, when 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.960 they find it, appears to have been run over by 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:46.119 a lawnmower, so when they find it, it's crumpled and 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:52.440 a little torn, but completely legible. After police obtain the ID, 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:56.919 the family is left wondering its significance and how this 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:01.919 wasn't found until some seven months after Jessica's body was discovered. 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.919 But after some time, the family starts to feel like 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.720 this could be yet another dead end. That is until 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:16.480 they hear from another Lakeview neighbor, Jay Royce. October fifteenth, 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:21.920 twenty twenty. More than a year later, a man named 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:28.959 Jay Royce notices that Justin Derning on a neighborhood app 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:36.639 or someone using Justin's account and photo is posting about 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:41.199 neighborhood stuff. But in those posts that he's putting into 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:47.399 this neighborhood app, he's also posting his phone number. It 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:51.520 is the same phone number that over a year earlier, 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:54.879 the night he reported Jessica missing to police. It's the 0:19:54.920 --> 0:20:01.040 same phone number that he gave to them. This brings 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.479 us to that text exchange between Jay Royce and an 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:09.040 unknown individual who he believed to be Justin. As you 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.639 heard in a previous episode, the text conversation got pretty 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.840 volatile and near the end of it, Jay makes some 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:21.280 strong accusations and this pretty much summarizes the timeline. But 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:25.280 after stitching together this immense timeline board, we look at 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.440 one of the final pinned index cards, Jay Royce text 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.919 October fifteenth, twenty twenty. There's been a lot of question 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:37.800 about who may have sent those texts to Jay Royce 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:41.199 and whether they are a critical piece of evidence that 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:45.680 could help solve Jessica's case or merely a random coincidence. 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:50.040 To this point, there's not been any clear answers provided 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:54.480 that we know of. These are important questions and their 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:59.639 answers have an expiration date. Todd remembers that the service 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:03.240 provides for the number in question only keep phone records 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:08.680 with historical location for two years. After that they are purged, 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:12.520 meaning authorities only have until October of twenty twenty two 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:17.440 to preserve the records before this evidence is gone forever, 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:23.800 along with any chance of ever identifying who sent those messages. So, 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:26.280 knowing Jessica's case had moved into the hands of the 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.200 DA's office, we decide it's time to reach out to 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:33.960 Jason Williams with an urgent recommendation. While we did not 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:38.080 record our conversation with the DA per his request, I 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:40.720 can share with you the context of it in very 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:45.840 general terms. Most of our conversation was, of course, centered 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:50.960 around those text messages from October of twenty twenty. Obviously, 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:54.520 these text messages are very concerning in nature, but they're 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:58.960 even more concerning when compared to Jessica's case and more specifically, 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:04.720 her death. Here's why. We know from the coroner's report 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:08.600 that Jessica received a broken nose and fractured jaw while 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:13.080 still alive. This could be indicative of injuries that would 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.000 occur from a fall in the bathroom, which is exactly 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:20.080 what the individual described in their text message. She had 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:23.000 liver mortis on the outside of her leg facing the sky, 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.240 indicating she died elsewhere and was later dumped in the 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:31.160 spot she was found. And in those text messages, when 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:34.640 the individual was asked how she ended up there, they 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:38.280 said they panicked and drove her there. Both of these 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:42.600 statements are consistent with crime scene and autopsy findings that 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:46.400 were not released to the public. Now, again, no matter 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:51.040 who sent these texts, this is considered circumstantial evidence, which 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:54.159 is fine, but in this case it also has potential 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:59.359 to lead to physical or direct evidence. If Jessica really 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:02.840 did fall in the bathroom, breaking her nose as a result, 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:06.560 and then laid their dead for an extended time, there 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:09.800 could still be blood present in whatever bathroom the incident 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:13.920 occurred in. There could also be blood in the individual's vehicle, 0:23:14.400 --> 0:23:17.680 as they admitted to moving her body. But police would 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:21.280 need probable cause to obtain a search warrant, which means 0:23:21.320 --> 0:23:24.680 they need to determine who sent those text messages through 0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:29.760 historical records for that phone number. But for now, their 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:33.719 priority should be to simply preserve these records before they 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:37.199 are purged. That's why we refer the DA to an 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:41.800 expert who Todd knows personally in their area. Dealing with 0:23:41.840 --> 0:23:44.719 service providers can be tricky. You have to know what 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:47.760 you're doing in this line of expertise, so it was 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:52.520 important that we referred someone we knew was properly qualified. 0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:57.680 But about six months later Todd ran into that very 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:01.119 expert whom he had recommended to the D at a 0:24:01.160 --> 0:24:06.160 conference he was attending. Unfortunately, when Todd asked him how 0:24:06.200 --> 0:24:09.800 this case was going, he discovered that the DA never 0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:14.560 contacted him. So in January of twenty twenty two, more 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:16.399 than a year since we spoke to the DA on 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:20.600 the phone, and five months after his press conference announcing 0:24:20.600 --> 0:24:23.440 his cold case unit, we reached back out to him 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:27.000 to find out if there's been any movement on Jessica's case. 0:24:28.119 --> 0:24:31.560 You've reached Curtis Almo, the third Communications director of the 0:24:31.600 --> 0:24:35.359 District Attorney's Office of New Orleans. Unfortunately, I'm away from that. 0:24:35.680 --> 0:24:39.240 Since leaving a voicemail, we've yet to receive a callback. 0:24:40.760 --> 0:24:43.680 Aware of the clock, we're up against what the text messages, 0:24:44.359 --> 0:24:47.400 we reach out to the NPD to relay the same 0:24:47.440 --> 0:24:53.119 information regarding phone records, now with even more urgency, hoping 0:24:53.160 --> 0:24:57.000 maybe they will heed Todd's advice, just in case the 0:24:57.080 --> 0:25:01.000 DA hadn't. We make a call to Lute Ernest Luster, 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:05.439 whom you may remember from a previous episode. This call 0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:08.120 was on January twenty fifth, twenty twenty two. 0:25:09.800 --> 0:25:14.360 Hi, Lieutenant Lester, this is Todd mccombus. Call on you back, Yes, yes, Hey, thanks. 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:16.040 First of all, thanks so much for taking time to 0:25:16.040 --> 0:25:20.199 talk to me. So basically, we found something that we 0:25:20.240 --> 0:25:23.000 feel like we have to pass on to you that 0:25:23.320 --> 0:25:25.960 could be important to your case. So if you got 0:25:25.960 --> 0:25:29.560 a second, maybe the ability to take some notes, I'll 0:25:29.600 --> 0:25:33.120 pass it on to you real quick. Okay, So there 0:25:33.200 --> 0:25:36.400 was a neighbor of Justin Deernes. 0:25:37.320 --> 0:25:39.040 He goes by Jay Royd. 0:25:39.040 --> 0:25:41.760 We go on to share the same recommendation with Lieutenant 0:25:41.840 --> 0:25:45.800 Luster that we shared with DA Jason Williams regarding the 0:25:45.800 --> 0:25:49.720 potential importance of the text messages and the urgent need 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:51.560 to preserve the records. 0:25:52.160 --> 0:25:55.880 Just to let you know, we've turned this active investigation 0:25:56.000 --> 0:25:58.600 over to the DA's office, so they're looking into it 0:25:58.640 --> 0:25:59.080 as well. 0:25:59.520 --> 0:26:02.679 Okay, well, this is information we did pass on to 0:26:02.760 --> 0:26:04.479 the DA as well. Whenever we had to have our 0:26:04.520 --> 0:26:06.119 meeting with them. I tried to get it to you first, 0:26:06.160 --> 0:26:07.879 and I think you were on vacation or something. I 0:26:07.920 --> 0:26:09.879 wasn't able to connect with you, so I had to 0:26:09.920 --> 0:26:11.600 provide this to them during that meeting. 0:26:12.040 --> 0:26:14.439 Yeah, send it to me, because what I'll do is 0:26:14.520 --> 0:26:18.000 I'll send it up to the digital forensics unit because 0:26:18.040 --> 0:26:21.399 we do have one and see where because they have 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:25.040 the technology that I can track cell phone data and 0:26:25.119 --> 0:26:29.119 locations and what towers. I'll ford this information to Digital 0:26:29.119 --> 0:26:30.720 Forensic can see if they can help us out. 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:33.680 Lieutenant you're a good man. I appreciate you for your time. 0:26:34.840 --> 0:26:37.600 Thank you, and I listen. Send me your email addresses. Well, 0:26:37.600 --> 0:26:39.160 I'll keep in the loop as to where we are 0:26:39.200 --> 0:26:39.439 with it. 0:26:40.080 --> 0:26:41.280 Hey, you're the man. 0:26:42.240 --> 0:26:46.120 For a long time, we waited patiently, checking in every 0:26:46.160 --> 0:26:49.640 so often for any sort of update, hoping to get 0:26:49.640 --> 0:26:53.120 confirmation the records from the phone that sent and received 0:26:53.160 --> 0:26:57.320