Speaker 1: Hey listeners Jessica here, be sure to check out new
Speaker 1: episodes of Undetermined every Tuesday for free wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. For early and ad free listening, check out
Speaker 1: Tenderfoot plus on Apple Podcasts. The views and opinions expressed
Speaker 1: in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed
Speaker 1: and participating in the show, and do not represent those
Speaker 1: of Tenderfoot TV and resonate recordings. All individuals described or
Speaker 1: mentioned in the podcast should be considered innocent until found
Speaker 1: guilty in a court of law. This podcast contains subject
Speaker 1: matter such as violence and graphic descriptions, which may not
Speaker 1: be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Jessica's sister, Audrey,
Speaker 1: has never forgotten a sit down she had with three
Speaker 1: n OPD detectives back in January twenty twenty, a meeting
Speaker 1: that lit a fire in her which still burns to
Speaker 1: this day.
Speaker 2: So, in this meeting, they told me and my dad
Speaker 2: that it was a cold case and that there was
Speaker 2: nothing that homicide.
Speaker 3: Could do about it.
Speaker 2: And I got really upset and I slammed my fist
Speaker 2: down on the table. I stood up and I said,
Speaker 2: how can it possibly be a cold case, and then
Speaker 2: that was really just about all of it, because by
Speaker 2: that time I was just like, I'm done. I'm fucking done.
Speaker 2: This means war.
Speaker 1: Growing up, Audrey was always the self proclaimed rebel out
Speaker 1: of the three sisters, the one who spoke out, stood out,
Speaker 1: and stood up. And since Jessica's death in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: Audrey's been a rebel with a cause because getting justice
Speaker 1: for her Jessica. No matter what it takes, it's just.
Speaker 2: A fucked up situation and it has me questioning life
Speaker 2: and just everything in general. We were always taught, you know,
Speaker 2: if you need help, then you ask the cops for help.
Speaker 2: But this is just opened my eyes and it's like
Speaker 2: they're not doing anything. Why would we How can we
Speaker 2: even trust someone that's not even doing their job?
Speaker 1: Believe it or not, Audrey's actually been fighting two separate
Speaker 1: battles since losing Jessica, one of course, with the NPD
Speaker 1: over the lack of resolution in her sister's case, but
Speaker 1: another with the Corner's office over her sister's remains, which
Speaker 1: have been stuck there since her family discovered her body
Speaker 1: on August twenty second, twenty eighteen. But come early twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, the family was finally given some hope, though
Speaker 1: for Audrey this still loved one unnerving question.
Speaker 4: I felt like, oh my god, finally they're releasing her
Speaker 4: to us.
Speaker 2: But then I was also upset because I was like, well.
Speaker 4: Why did they give him five hundred and thirty days
Speaker 4: before they actually told us we.
Speaker 3: Could have her.
Speaker 1: Inside Jessica's mother's home, there's a memorial set up on
Speaker 1: a table. White angels perched on wooden pedestals keep over
Speaker 1: a photo of Jessica that's placed inside a small bible
Speaker 1: propped open, along with a white tapered candle standing tall
Speaker 1: in a gold holder. A silver and white pearl rosary
Speaker 1: is draped nearby. All of it centered around a glass cross,
Speaker 1: which sits on top of Jessica's round marble urn with
Speaker 1: stars and a large crescent moon etched on the top.
Speaker 1: For her love of astrology and celestial beauty. It reads
Speaker 1: Jessica Renee Easterly Heaven's Melody Starlit Cosmic Dancer crossing the Universe.
Speaker 1: Born August seventeenth, nineteen seventy six, deceased August twenty second,
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. Many loved ones have written their memories of
Speaker 1: Jessica in an online obituary, like her best friend Maria,
Speaker 1: whom Jessica called low, who wrote, I don't know how
Speaker 1: to accept this theft of light from the world. I
Speaker 1: miss you like crazy. I hear the music you send me.
Speaker 1: I love you always and forever. And our mother Donna,
Speaker 1: who wrote, you are worth every day, every prayer, every
Speaker 1: fear and every tear I shed those four months in
Speaker 1: bed waiting for you to grow to term. I love you,
Speaker 1: Jessica Easterly. Audrey thinks about her younger sister Jessica every
Speaker 1: single day. Inside her home hangs a beautiful silver wind
Speaker 1: chime that Jessica had given to her. It reminds Audrey
Speaker 1: of her sister each time a gentle breeze passes through.
Speaker 1: The top is a full sun linked to a series
Speaker 1: of metal chimes, holding all the pieces together. Dangling by
Speaker 1: a thin wire. Just below the chimes is a moon
Speaker 1: holding a Audrey remembers the day Jessica bought it, and
Speaker 1: she told Audrey that it reminded her of the bond
Speaker 1: they shared. The two even had matching astrology themed tattoos,
Speaker 1: Audrey with the sun and Jessica with the moon and
Speaker 1: a star. It's the wind chime blowing softly in the
Speaker 1: southern breeze. Each time Audrey opens the door that reminds
Speaker 1: her family. With every twist and turn throughout Jessica's story,
Speaker 1: there was a reason, a purpose. Take Jessica's urn for example,
Speaker 1: the one in the middle of that elaborate memorial back
Speaker 1: at her mother's house, a symbol of closure, but for
Speaker 1: this family, so much more than that. Jessica may be
Speaker 1: at rest and at home now, where she should be,
Speaker 1: but she didn't get there through normal circumstances, not even close,
Speaker 1: I'll explain. From August twenty nineteen to February twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: Jessica's body sat in the morgue unclaimed. Throughout that time,
Speaker 1: Audrey remained persistent with the coroner's office, but ultimately it
Speaker 1: was out of her control. The family was stuck hopeless.
Speaker 1: Not only was Jessica's case in limbo, Jessica herself was
Speaker 1: also in limbo. That was until January of twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: when out of the blue, Audrey received a call she'd
Speaker 1: been waiting on for a long time.
Speaker 2: So January fifth, the coroner called me and asked me
Speaker 2: if my name was Audrey Schmidt, and I said yes,
Speaker 2: And I said, can we have Jessica? He said, well,
Speaker 2: he goes, I'm going to have to make it legal
Speaker 2: and send justin legal notices. I was like okay. I
Speaker 2: was like, well, can you give me a timeline? He said,
Speaker 2: I cannot give you a timeline.
Speaker 1: Fortunately for Audrey, it didn't take long to hear something
Speaker 1: more definitive. She remembers the wave of emotions excitement, of course,
Speaker 1: but she felt conflicted.
Speaker 2: I felt like, oh my god, finally they're releasing her
Speaker 2: to us. But then I was also upset because I
Speaker 2: was like, well, hawkm it took.
Speaker 4: Five hundred and thirty days. Why did they give him
Speaker 4: five hundred and thirty days before they actually told us we.
Speaker 3: Could have her.
Speaker 1: Audrey immediately reached out to her cousin, Doug, who, if
Speaker 1: you remember, works in the funeral home industry.
Speaker 5: It took about what a year and five months before
Speaker 5: the chain of custody moved to the next link. And
Speaker 5: that was a bittersweet moment because right of custody and
Speaker 5: right of disposition are two different things, and it was
Speaker 5: both frustrating and a relief at the same time, because
Speaker 5: it's still left open for one important invariable because naturally
Speaker 5: an next of kin would still be justin. He's the spouse,
Speaker 5: but we had to try to make attempts to contact
Speaker 5: him throughout a ten day period in order to see
Speaker 5: if there's any objection on his part before the next Mexicican,
Speaker 5: which is Jessica's mom, can take the right of disposition.
Speaker 6: And that was a.
Speaker 5: Hard ten days because you just don't know. We didn't
Speaker 5: know if he was going to object, and he did not.
Speaker 5: Ten days passed. On the eleventh day, we made arrangements
Speaker 5: for Louisiana Funeral Home to drive to pick her up.
Speaker 1: After five hundred and thirty days at the Corner's office,
Speaker 1: Jessica was finally coming home. As Audrey made arrangements to
Speaker 1: pick up Jessica's body from the Corner's office, she had
Speaker 1: just one important request when.
Speaker 5: She told me that, hey, you know, I have custody
Speaker 5: and I want to get a second autopsy. I immediately
Speaker 5: asked one of my line balmer coworkers and friends. I said, hey, man,
Speaker 5: they said that there's not much left to do an autopsy.
Speaker 5: You know, she's been in a cooler. She wasn't involved
Speaker 5: for a year and five months, he said, and he
Speaker 5: was able to paint a picture for me of what
Speaker 5: to expect at that level of dcom.
Speaker 1: The picture he described Doug was disturbing, to say the least,
Speaker 1: but it at least left room for optimism when it
Speaker 1: came to the possibility of a second autopsy. But when
Speaker 1: they finally received her remains.
Speaker 5: It was a little box of bones and they looked
Speaker 5: like they were perfectly cleaned, organized in a box, complete
Speaker 5: opposite of what I was expected from these guys who
Speaker 5: have been doing this upwards of twenty years. They couldn't
Speaker 5: explain while it was a box of bones. They say, so,
Speaker 5: did did y'all want this thing like cleaned and organized
Speaker 5: or something really and give them any instruction to do
Speaker 5: any of that? We didn't even know that was an option.
Speaker 5: And that is one question, the biggest question I have,
Speaker 5: just because of my profession. What did y'all do to
Speaker 5: these remains to reduce it to this? Because from what
Speaker 5: I understand that this is not a normal thing. It
Speaker 5: blew my mind because I'm like I work here. I've
Speaker 5: personally gone and picked up people who have been sitting
Speaker 5: in corners office, medical examiners offices, or crime labs and
Speaker 5: Jackson that have been there for a long time and
Speaker 5: they're still intact. But dcomp obviously still happens. Never seen
Speaker 5: it like that, Absolutely not.
Speaker 3: Boons.
Speaker 1: That's all that was left of Jessica. To make matters worse,
Speaker 1: no further medical examinations can ever be performed on her body,
Speaker 1: no more answers when it comes to her death, at
Speaker 1: least not from a medical perspective. The unfortunate news was
Speaker 1: like a punch in the gut for Audrey, who was
Speaker 1: really hinging on the idea of a second autopsy, but
Speaker 1: she did her best to remain strong and focused on
Speaker 1: the positive. At this point, she was ready to bring
Speaker 1: her sister home, and on February second, twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: she and Doug made the drive to New Orleans to
Speaker 1: do just that.
Speaker 5: That was the first victory in all of this, the
Speaker 5: first of this whole chain of events, this whole discovery,
Speaker 5: this whole thing that was the one thing only because
Speaker 5: it relied on him being the exact person that he
Speaker 5: is to not be smart enough to say I can
Speaker 5: object and then they can't do anything. Well, that's exactly
Speaker 5: what we were hoping. It wouldn't happened because it was
Speaker 5: a very real possibility. He had a very important card
Speaker 5: that he didn't play. We're thankful he didn't do it.
Speaker 1: This was the family's first real triumph. They had Jessica.
Speaker 4: It felt amazing, It felt like a win, like of
Speaker 4: nothing but losses and this haunt ore thing.
Speaker 3: It was totally awesome.
Speaker 1: With only a box of her bones, Jessica's family has
Speaker 1: her cremated, and shortly after Valentine's Day, Audrey, Amanda, and
Speaker 1: their parents gathered in Mississippi to say their goodbyes to Jessica.
Speaker 1: With Jessica at home and at rest, there was now
Speaker 1: just one thing to focus on, finding out what really
Speaker 1: happened to Jessica. So Audrey, more energized than ever before,
Speaker 1: got to work. She went on the Internet and made
Speaker 1: a website, Justice for Jessica dot org, dedicated to her
Speaker 1: sister's case, and also created a Twitter page to share
Speaker 1: related information. And then in April twenty twenty one, she
Speaker 1: drafted an online petition on change dot org designed to
Speaker 1: nab the attention of newly elected New Orleans District Attorney
Speaker 1: Jason Williams, whose Twitter handle is the People's DA. The petition,
Speaker 1: which included a timeline Audrey created started with a very
Speaker 1: straightforward ask at the top, requesting DA Jason R. Williams
Speaker 1: to investigate the death of Jessica Easterly dearning, it goes
Speaker 1: on to read, in part.
Speaker 7: We fully believe that this case has not been taken
Speaker 7: seriously by local authorities from the beginning, and this impression
Speaker 7: is based on the following elements of Jessica's story and
Speaker 7: the collective solid information that we have obtained over the
Speaker 7: course of its investigation. It is our firm belief that
Speaker 7: once you examine the information we have gathered, you will
Speaker 7: agree that the evidence pointing to Jessica's murder is palpable,
Speaker 7: and the fact that it has been blatantly ignored by
Speaker 7: the law is nothing short of derelict to their duties
Speaker 7: to protect and seek justice for all members of their community.
Speaker 7: We love and miss Jessica more than we can put
Speaker 7: into words. She was a human being who did not
Speaker 7: deserve to die so young, much less by the hands
Speaker 7: of another person. Jessica was a living, breathing life, and
Speaker 7: she had dreams, a favorite food, a favorite song. She
Speaker 7: was smart and funny, and she loved with all of
Speaker 7: her heart, sometimes to a fault. We implore you, the
Speaker 7: People's DA Jason R. Williams, to please commence your own
Speaker 7: investigation of the death of Ja Jessica easterly darning and
Speaker 7: bring charges and retributions to the individuals responsible. Thank you
Speaker 7: for your time and I look forward to working with
Speaker 7: you to finally resolve my sister's case.
Speaker 1: The virtual signature steadily grew by the hundreds and then
Speaker 1: the thousands. Eventually the petition garnered the attention of true
Speaker 1: crime YouTuber Kindle Ray for.
Speaker 6: Jessica because they deserve answers. Jessica deserves justice. This case
Speaker 6: just tore my heart apart. So again I'll put all
Speaker 6: that information below. You can follow Justice for Jessica, you
Speaker 6: can fign the petition, and you can make a short
Speaker 6: phone call in an email. It's going to make a
Speaker 6: huge difference.
Speaker 1: So I reach out to Kendall to talk about how
Speaker 1: an internet community helped stretch Jessica's village by the hundreds
Speaker 1: of thousands. In fact, it was on Twitter where she
Speaker 1: first learned about Jessica's case with a tweet by you
Speaker 1: Guessed It. Audrey seen tweets from Audrey about the case,
Speaker 1: and I reached out to her and then she followed
Speaker 1: me and we connected via DM and then I kind
Speaker 1: of got her email from there, And when I really
Speaker 1: started to dive into the case and go over all
Speaker 1: the information that was available, I was just blown away
Speaker 1: that there wasn't any movement in the case and there
Speaker 1: was very minimal coverage from what I was seeing. So
Speaker 1: I just wanted to be of help in some way
Speaker 1: and get some traction going and hopefully work towards justice.
Speaker 1: And I mean I was just blown away by the
Speaker 1: strength of their family and after all the trauma that
Speaker 1: they had been through, for them to still be fighting
Speaker 1: and doing everything they can with minimal help and resources.
Speaker 1: I just really wanted to be part of that. This
Speaker 1: wasn't the first time Kendall has used her social media
Speaker 1: prowess for good. She's well aware of the impact the
Speaker 1: public can make in a case like Jessica's.
Speaker 8: We have done several petitions over the years, and sometimes
Speaker 8: we have luck with them, sometimes we don't. Normally, when
Speaker 8: we pair it with a calling and email campaign, that
Speaker 8: really gets things going. But the petition was basically an
Speaker 8: easy way for anyone to participate if they didn't want
Speaker 8: to take the extra step to email and call. We
Speaker 8: just kind of came up with the idea to really
Speaker 8: go after Jason Williams and get him to step up
Speaker 8: to the plate and be the people's DA that he
Speaker 8: claimed to be and investigate the case and basically get
Speaker 8: any movement going. And basically I've realized that the power
Speaker 8: of the masses is real and that we can really
Speaker 8: make a change if enough people demand. It just really
Speaker 8: takes enough people demanding justice, demanding action to actually get
Speaker 8: people to do things sometimes, and there's been so many
Speaker 8: cases that I've worked on where we've sent people to
Speaker 8: call an email and sign petitions and it really just
Speaker 8: works wonders because when they start feeling the pressure, then
Speaker 8: action is actually taken.
Speaker 1: Once Kendle Ray's video hit the Internet, the signature skyrocketed
Speaker 1: to over one hundred thousand between the now largely supported
Speaker 1: petition and all the retweets tagging the DA with the
Speaker 1: hashtag justice for Jessica. Less than a month later, on
Speaker 1: May fourth, twenty twenty one, District Attorney Jason Williams made
Speaker 1: a public announcement on his Twitter page using the same
Speaker 1: hashtag Justice for Jessica.
Speaker 9: District Attorney Wims is absolutely willing to meet with the
Speaker 9: family of Jessica Easterly Derning to discuss this horrible matter.
Speaker 9: He is also committed to re examining this matter with
Speaker 9: fresh eyes and revisiting all facts and evidence involved with
Speaker 9: this case in any other in New Orleans. DA Wims
Speaker 9: is dedicated to seeking justice.
Speaker 1: And the DA followed through on his promise. In May
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty one, less than a month after Audrey
Speaker 1: created the petition, DA Jason Williams sat down with the
Speaker 1: family to talk about Jessica's case. Audrey shared the update
Speaker 1: on the change dot org page on May sixteenth, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one.
Speaker 7: We have met with the People's DA Jason Williams. At
Speaker 7: this time, we are unable to comment regarding this meeting.
Speaker 7: The world is watching and I hope this injustice is
Speaker 7: taken seriously and accountability and justice will be served. Thank
Speaker 7: you to everyone who has taken an interest in getting
Speaker 7: Jessica the justice she deserves. It takes a village, and
Speaker 7: I'm so thankful that you are part of Jessica's village,
Speaker 7: demanding answers and accountability. Today, I leave you with one
Speaker 7: thought said by doctor Martin Luther King, injustice anywhere is
Speaker 7: a threat to justice everywhere.
Speaker 1: Audrey shared a glimpse of their three hour meeting. When
Speaker 1: we spoke over the phone.
Speaker 10: It was me, my sister, Amanda, Maria, my dad, and
Speaker 10: we all went down there and we met with them,
Speaker 10: and it was the DA. It was Alison Morgato, the
Speaker 10: head of homicide was in there. He sounded very interested.
Speaker 10: He said that he was sorry for what has happened
Speaker 10: and how NPD have I handled this, And we just
Speaker 10: talked to him about everything that we had and then
Speaker 10: he was telling me that, you know, basically they were
Speaker 10: going to look into it. And then I don't know, probably,
Speaker 10: like I want to say, maybe a week or two later,
Speaker 10: we heard from Alison Morgato and she said that Investigator
Speaker 10: Joe Lorenzo was going to be handling the case.
Speaker 1: Detective Joe Lorenzo is an investigator with the DA's office.
Speaker 10: I sent him over everything. I mean, he does keep
Speaker 10: in contact with me if I have a question and
Speaker 10: he'll answer it.
Speaker 1: The case is now in the office's hands, and Audrey
Speaker 1: admits that after their initial meeting, she felt optimistic for
Speaker 1: what seemed like the first time.
Speaker 10: I felt very hopeful, like he actually cared, like he
Speaker 10: is fixing to solve this case. We're going to find
Speaker 10: out exactly what happens to.
Speaker 3: My sister Jessica.
Speaker 1: And just as momentum started to swing in the family's favor,
Speaker 1: Audrey's hope was further manifested an announcement from the DA himself.
Speaker 1: He was planning to hold a press conference about Jessica's case,
Speaker 1: So on August twenty fifth, twenty twenty one, I hopped
Speaker 1: on a flight and headed back to New Orleans. The
Speaker 1: press conference is scheduled for four o'clock in the Lakeview neighborhood,
Speaker 1: near the area where Jessica's body was found. There's a
Speaker 1: podium set up on top of a hill next to
Speaker 1: the train tracks. The air is thick and the heat
Speaker 1: is almost unbearable. Moisture balls up and slowly drips from
Speaker 1: my nose onto the blank pages of my notebook. Local
Speaker 1: media starts shuffling in, setting up their tripods and cameras
Speaker 1: as reporters hold their recorders and notebooks. Everyone has their
Speaker 1: phone out ready to snap photos. Jessica's mom, Donna Schmidt,
Speaker 1: stands just to the side of the podium along with
Speaker 1: her father, who's holding a white homemade sign with Jessica's
Speaker 1: photo and the hashtag Justice for Jessica. The sign reads
Speaker 1: we are not going to rest, We are not going
Speaker 1: to give up on this. We are not going to
Speaker 1: wash our hands of this or back down at all
Speaker 1: until justice is served in this case. Behind them, more
Speaker 1: family members hold neon pink signs in support of Jessica.
Speaker 1: Her sister, Audrey, is wearing a purple T shirt, and
Speaker 1: her fingernails peeking around the corner of a sign she's
Speaker 1: holding are also perple, Jessica's favorite color. Audrey holds steady,
Speaker 1: a face of grit and determination as the clock ticks
Speaker 1: past four. Then a hush comes over the small crowd
Speaker 1: as a suited man walks to the microphone, puts on
Speaker 1: a pair of tortoiseshell glasses, and clears his throat. District
Speaker 1: Attorney Jason Williams of Orleans Parish kicks off the press
Speaker 1: conference by welcoming the family to the site where they
Speaker 1: found Jessica's body just two years earlier.
Speaker 11: First of all, let me just say to the family
Speaker 11: of Jessica, I want to thank them for being at
Speaker 11: this place, at this site. I know it is not easy.
Speaker 11: I know every time they come anywhere close to this area.
Speaker 11: They are reliving the worst moment of their lives. As
Speaker 11: you know, two years ago, we unfortunately lost Jessica after
Speaker 11: going missing. Jessica's sisters found her deceased just steps away
Speaker 11: from where we're standing right now. And since that day,
Speaker 11: this family has had absolutely no closure in this case.
Speaker 11: They've gotten no answers in this case. Each of these
Speaker 11: strong family members behind me is a constant reminder of
Speaker 11: the work that this office has to do. Frankly, the
Speaker 11: entire criminal legal system at large must do to solve
Speaker 11: cases like this one and many other cases across the
Speaker 11: city that remain unsolved after two years. Unsolved, a case
Speaker 11: is considered cold, and we all know that for far
Speaker 11: too many decades, too many murder cases is in the
Speaker 11: Parish of Orleans have gone unsolved, and every single day.
Speaker 1: That goes the DA announces he's starting a cold case unit,
Speaker 1: using Jessica's case as a segue to discuss the bigger picture.
Speaker 11: Since nineteen sixty four, approximately five thousand, four hundred and
Speaker 11: thirty two cases murder cases have gone unsolved in our city.
Speaker 11: And when you add the numbers of those loss lives
Speaker 11: to the family and friends, impacted by these unsolved murders.
Speaker 11: You can easily understand the cycle of trauma and violence
Speaker 11: in our communty. Solving cold cases is a hard job.
Speaker 11: It is difficult. It is an uphill battle. But I
Speaker 11: ran for DA so that this office could lead and
Speaker 11: be a partner with the rest of the criminal legal
Speaker 11: system doing the hardest things, doing the difficult task. This
Speaker 11: cold Case Unit will specifically and strategically target and review
Speaker 11: cases that have not been resolved. This unit is going
Speaker 11: to revisit past data and put fresh eyes on the evidence,
Speaker 11: put fresh eyes on the people and persons of interest
Speaker 11: that first peaked law enforcements curiosity, so that we can
Speaker 11: do everything within our power, everything within our distress and
Speaker 11: authority to bring closure and resolution to these families.
Speaker 1: The DA's newly created Cold Case Unit will tackle thousands
Speaker 1: of cases that have remained unsolved in the city for
Speaker 1: far too long. Williams admits tall task for a single unit.
Speaker 1: So Williams makes a plea to the city and more directly,
Speaker 1: to the Lakeview neighborhood.
Speaker 11: The purpose of today's press conference on these railroad tracks, however,
Speaker 11: is to make a very clear and a very direct
Speaker 11: public appeal to this community, because we cannot do this
Speaker 11: work alone. We need you, the members of the public.
Speaker 11: We need you to help us. We need you to
Speaker 11: speak up, because in order to solve cold cases and
Speaker 11: unsolved murders, all of the law enforcement community needs your help.
Speaker 11: This city, the five thousand plus unsolved cases, needs your help.
Speaker 11: This family needs your help. I need your help. If
Speaker 11: you have any information whatsoever about Jessica's last moments, about
Speaker 11: Jessica's last day, about Jessica's death, I'm begging you to
Speaker 11: come forward. I am pleading with you to provide any information,
Speaker 11: no matter how small you might think it is. Today
Speaker 11: I have with me.
Speaker 1: Williams wraps his speech by introducing the Chief of Victim
Speaker 1: Witnesses Services, Alison Legato, from his office. She leads what
Speaker 1: he calls an integral team of sixteen. Since recently taking office,
Speaker 1: he says he's doubled the size of her team because
Speaker 1: there wasn't enough time and attention given to witnesses, victims,
Speaker 1: and survivors, providing them not only with mental health support
Speaker 1: but also safety as he takes cases to trial. In closing,
Speaker 1: Williams makes one final plea to the public, and I.
Speaker 11: Want to say to this family. Just like I said
Speaker 11: to Jessica's mother, you have our thoughts and prayers and
Speaker 11: you know that. But this family needs more than that.
Speaker 11: This family needs us to work and work together. This
Speaker 11: family needs us to be a team. This family needs
Speaker 11: closure and deserves justice. And in the world, the way
Speaker 11: that we could achieve that is for private citizens to
Speaker 11: get involved in this fight. To not sit down and
Speaker 11: take information to bet with you at night, or take
Speaker 11: it to your grave, but to speak out and tell
Speaker 11: us what you know. Tell us what you saw, no
Speaker 11: matter how insignificant you might think it was. If you
Speaker 11: think you saw someone who matches Jessica's description on this
Speaker 11: faithful night, give us at information on the day before,
Speaker 11: get us at information. This is how we solve cold cases.
Speaker 11: This is what we need to move this investigation forward.
Speaker 11: So at this time, I would please like.
Speaker 1: To welcome Darlene Constanza, the President and CEO of Crime
Speaker 1: Stoppers in New Orleans, has led the anonymous tipline efforts
Speaker 1: in Jessica's case.
Speaker 12: From day one, we got calls and requests for help
Speaker 12: in Jessica's case, and they wouldn't give up. They knew
Speaker 12: that there was something that more that could be discovered
Speaker 12: there was more to the story and for crime Stoppers,
Speaker 12: and we have to take our leave from law enforcement
Speaker 12: and where a case would stand.
Speaker 3: So I can just say that we're here.
Speaker 12: Crime Stoppers doesn't go away.
Speaker 3: But all we do.
Speaker 12: Is step up in front of the victims' families and say,
Speaker 12: let us be your voice. Let us be that anonymous
Speaker 12: way for people in the community who may be fearful
Speaker 12: to get involved. Yes there's a reward, Yes we do that,
Speaker 12: it's twenty five hundred. But more importantly, it's time now
Speaker 12: to say enough is enough. I'm not gonna let another
Speaker 12: family go through this. I would not want my family
Speaker 12: to go through it. And I can tell you whatever
Speaker 12: information you have, don't think it's too small.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: As Darlene leaves a podium, I notice a petite woman
Speaker 1: start to wade through the large chunks of gravel towards
Speaker 1: the top of the hill overlooking the Lakeview neighborhood. It's
Speaker 1: just Pscka's mother, Donna. She's about to speak publicly for
Speaker 1: the very first time. Donna's wearing a charcoal gray sleeveless
Speaker 1: romper with a sheer black veil softly draped over her
Speaker 1: silver hair. A small pair of round black sunglasses shade
Speaker 1: her from the sun and conceal her eyes. Already welling
Speaker 1: up with sadness and anger, She cautiously approaches the podium
Speaker 1: with numerous microphones pointed at her in anticipation. The silence
Speaker 1: is palpable. She removes her sunglasses and hangs them gently
Speaker 1: from her scarf. As she begins to speak, her voice quivers.
Speaker 13: She is my only biological daughter. I have vivid memories
Speaker 13: from the day that she was born, and she was
Speaker 13: a very vibrate, talented, loving woman. I do not believe,
Speaker 13: and I will never believe, my daughter died at the scene.
Speaker 3: My daughter was dumped.
Speaker 13: This investigation was handled poorly. All efforts within the department
Speaker 13: was shut down.
Speaker 3: She was a cold case.
Speaker 13: Her death undetermined. My daughter was dumped two blocks.
Speaker 3: From her resident in a wooded area.
Speaker 13: Fractures of the neck and cervical spine and ribs occurred
Speaker 13: after she died. I believe justice will be served.
Speaker 3: Justice is always served.
Speaker 13: It may not be served in this world, but it
Speaker 13: will be served in the next.
Speaker 3: And her predator will receive that justice.
Speaker 13: But it is not until people come forth and tell
Speaker 13: their stories and have the courage to at least say something.
Speaker 13: People are so fearful, but you have to put yourself
Speaker 13: into situations that families have put in when unsolved murders occur.
Speaker 13: When that precious daughter that you held in your arms,
Speaker 13: that you nurtured all those years, that you have vivid
Speaker 13: members of night in and night out, that.
Speaker 14: She's in a war, she is in a mor for
Speaker 14: almost two years, two years. Please come forward, Please have
Speaker 14: that courage to do what is necessary to solve this case.
Speaker 3: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Speaker 13: I will remember each and every face here today for
Speaker 13: your support.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Donna stepped somberly away from the microphone and back out
Speaker 1: of the spotlight as da Williams approaches the podium once more,
Speaker 1: making one final appeal following Donna's cry for help, I.
Speaker 11: Want to take this podium and be in these shoes.
Speaker 11: No father ever wants to be in these shoes. I
Speaker 11: am pleading with the members of this community, no matter
Speaker 11: how small or slight you believe your information might be,
Speaker 11: no matter how scared or nervous you might be, for
Speaker 11: coming for you. We have systems in place to protect
Speaker 11: your dinner. We have systems in place to help and
Speaker 11: protect you. I'm asking that if you know anything about
Speaker 11: Jessica's disappearance, her death, or her final days, please get
Speaker 11: that information to crime stoppers or get that information to
Speaker 11: the DA's office. At eight two to two two.
Speaker 1: After wrapping up, William starts taking questions from reporters, and
Speaker 1: I jump at the chance. I've been eager to ask
Speaker 1: a very specific question ever since he made the announcement
Speaker 1: that he'd be looking into Jessica's case.
Speaker 3: The cold case unit.
Speaker 15: You spoke a lot of about homicide victims and the
Speaker 15: many cases that are here in the city. The coroner
Speaker 15: has ruled her cause and manner of death as undetermined.
Speaker 15: Is your investigator looking at this case as a homicide?
Speaker 1: How are you investigating her death?
Speaker 11: You never put the cart before the horse and say
Speaker 11: what you're gonna find, But when you have a suspicious death,
Speaker 11: I think you investigated. My office is investigating any death
Speaker 11: like this as a homicide, looking for any answers, looking
Speaker 11: for any evidence, And today we're begging with the public
Speaker 11: to come forward with more information, more witness testimony, and
Speaker 11: more evidence.
Speaker 1: This is the first time anyone in any investigative official
Speaker 1: capacity has ever said that Jessica Easterly Derning's case was
Speaker 1: going to be investigated as a homicide. While the coroner
Speaker 1: has deemed Jessica's cause and manner of death as undetermined,
Speaker 1: william says the corner's office doesn't have all the information.
Speaker 11: Each case is different, Each case has a unique set
Speaker 11: of circumstances, and frankly, you know what, how a coroner
Speaker 11: classifies the death is based upon a very limited set
Speaker 11: of facts. Corners aren't looking at all of the interviews.
Speaker 11: Corners aren't looking at all the police supports. Corners don't
Speaker 11: get all the evidence. They are really faced with a
Speaker 11: limited set of facts that's before them, and that it
Speaker 11: should not and cannot be the end of the termination.
Speaker 3: Got any other question?
Speaker 1: I just had one more.
Speaker 15: Sure, are you looking at any one particular person of
Speaker 15: interest at this time?
Speaker 11: I certainly cannot answer that question with you.
Speaker 1: He assures the public that at this point in his
Speaker 1: office's investigation, nothing is off the table.
Speaker 11: I haven't taken anything off the books, and I cannot.
Speaker 11: I cannot take anything off the books. We have to
Speaker 11: investigate any and every lead that comes to us. That
Speaker 11: is what an investigation is. If you have predetermined something,
Speaker 11: then you are not doing a thorough investigation, so we're
Speaker 11: looking at every single leap. All right, thank you guys,
Speaker 11: thank you.
Speaker 1: For Following the press conference, we move into Audrey's cousin,
Speaker 1: Stephanie's air conditioned car, to cool off and talk about
Speaker 1: how they felt everything went and where they go from here.
Speaker 1: He said the words today that his office is investigating
Speaker 1: this as a homicide.
Speaker 3: That makes me happy. That makes me real.
Speaker 15: Happy, considering it's classified as unclassified with n OPD classified
Speaker 15: as undetermined with the coroner's office. To have someone in
Speaker 15: a high power investigating her case as a homicide.
Speaker 16: Correct, Yes, yeah, that makes me happy that he's now
Speaker 16: considering it as a homicide.
Speaker 15: Do you have some thing that you haven't had in
Speaker 15: the last two years?
Speaker 3: Hope and faith that this will be resolved, hopefully soon.
Speaker 1: I asked Audrey how she felt listening to her mom
Speaker 1: speak publicly for the first time.
Speaker 3: I think it's great that she spoke that.
Speaker 16: And I don't know if you know, but my mother
Speaker 16: has a medical background, so all those injuries that my
Speaker 16: sister suffered, she has seen that before, so she knows.
Speaker 3: What she's talking about.
Speaker 16: I mean, I'm glad she said it, but I feel
Speaker 16: sad because my mother shouldn't have to do that.
Speaker 3: No mother should ever have to do that.
Speaker 16: And ask for the public's help in a cold case.
Speaker 15: Do you think that the DA's words, crime stoppers words,
Speaker 15: your mom's words resonated today with someone.
Speaker 3: I hope so I'm praying and that they'll call crime
Speaker 3: stoppers and give us that one little piece of the
Speaker 3: puzzle that we need.
Speaker 15: You said you had faith, and you have hope.
Speaker 17: I always have faith in hope, no matter what, I
Speaker 17: always have faith in hope.
Speaker 1: Audrey tells me the family had finally laid Jessica to
Speaker 1: rest with a funeral just a few weeks ago. The
Speaker 1: pandemic had sort of put that on hold. She thinks
Speaker 1: the timing of that with today's press conference is what
Speaker 1: finally propelled Jessica's mother to speak out for the first time.
Speaker 16: I think maybe after Jessica's funeral on Saturday, I think
Speaker 16: she fills like she needs to say something.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 15: Can you tell me a little bit about it?
Speaker 3: Was August twenty first?
Speaker 15: Was that when you had the funeral?
Speaker 16: Yes, it was August twenty first. It was in Alabama.
Speaker 16: It was that Saint Margaret of Scotland Catholic.
Speaker 3: Church and it was a beautiful, beautiful church.
Speaker 16: It's the surech that my parents go tom but.
Speaker 3: We had a service there for Jessica.
Speaker 17: It definitely made me realize that my sister's no longer here,
Speaker 17: Like I knew that she wasn't here before, but I
Speaker 17: think that that just like I finally realized that my
Speaker 17: sister really is gone. And I don't want to say
Speaker 17: closure because I hate that word, but.
Speaker 4: It made me accept that Jessica really has gone.
Speaker 1: Stephanie explains what the journey and the struggle have been
Speaker 1: like for Audrey a two year battle in counting it's
Speaker 1: been a roller coaster ride of emotions, hope given, hope
Speaker 1: taken away over and over again, which is why this
Speaker 1: new investigation means so much to her.
Speaker 18: She needed to believe in the DA and what the
Speaker 18: DA was saying and that it wasn't this same song
Speaker 18: and dance that NPD had sold. And once she can
Speaker 18: believe that they are doing what they're saying they're doing
Speaker 18: and put the faith in them, then she will be
Speaker 18: able to back off of it a little bit because
Speaker 18: she understands they have their role to do and that
Speaker 18: she can't know everything they're doing because we've talked about this.
Speaker 16: Yeah, it's just hard for me to trust because for
Speaker 16: a year and a half I have heard, oh, yeah
Speaker 16: we're going to do this, so, yeah, we're going to
Speaker 16: do that, and nothing was ever done.
Speaker 3: So in that regards, yes, I do have faith because
Speaker 3: I do know that some things have been you know,
Speaker 3: been done.
Speaker 15: Do you think the DA's office is going to be
Speaker 15: the ones who solve her case?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 13: I do.
Speaker 15: What does solving her case? What does justice for Jessica
Speaker 15: look like for you? What does that day look like
Speaker 15: for you?
Speaker 17: The day that the judge says guilty, that would.
Speaker 3: Be justice for Jessica, and then.
Speaker 17: That person or person's will be in prison.
Speaker 3: That would be justice. That has to happen. It just
Speaker 3: has to happen.
Speaker 1: One thing is for certain. If justice is ever going
Speaker 1: to happen, someone must investigate her case. And while there's
Speaker 1: a renewed sense of interest and urgency by the DA,
Speaker 1: it's still hard for the family and at this point
Speaker 1: for us to sit back and trust that everyone is
Speaker 1: doing what needs to be done. So Todd and I
Speaker 1: make a call. We believe we have some important information,
Speaker 1: a recommendation we want to share regarding those text messages
Speaker 1: from a concerned neighbor which we covered in our last
Speaker 1: episode and what could be a vital piece of evidence
Speaker 1: in this case, but it has an expiration date and
Speaker 1: right now the clock is ticking.
Speaker 19: So there was a neighbor of Justin Derney's by Jay Royce.
Speaker 19: He had communicated with a phone over the next door
Speaker 19: app and he says during the text thread it was
Speaker 19: an accident and he said she slipped and fell in
Speaker 19: the bathroom. Just so you know, location information for that
Speaker 19: phone service provider are purged in two years, so unless
Speaker 19: someone sends in a preservation request to the service provider,
Speaker 19: if you don't get them by October of twenty twenty two,
Speaker 19: they will be purged.
Speaker 1: Forever Undetermined is a production of Resonate Recordings and Tenderfoot
Speaker 1: TV in conjunction with Cadence thirteen, written and hosted by
Speaker 1: me Jessica Nole and produced by Dennis Cooper and Todd McComas,
Speaker 1: with additional production by Whitney Bozart. Executive producers are Dennis Cooper,
Speaker 1: Mark Minnery, Jacob Bozart, Donald Albright, and Payne Lindsay. Our
Speaker 1: senior producer is John Street. Editing mixing, mastering and sound
Speaker 1: design by Caleb Milton, Dayton Cole and Pat kit Glider
Speaker 1: of the Resonate Recordings team. If you have a podcast
Speaker 1: or are looking to start one, check us out at
Speaker 1: Resonate Recordings dot com. Our theme song and original score
Speaker 1: is by Dirt Poor Robbins with additional scoring by Dayton Cole.
Speaker 1: Our cover art is by Station sixteen. The voice acting
Speaker 1: by Tina Willis and Al Peterson. Thank you to Kindle
Speaker 1: Ray and Mile Higher Studios for your contributions to Jessica's
Speaker 1: Case and to this podcast. You can follow Undetermined Podcast
Speaker 1: on Facebook and on Twitter at Undetermined Pod. Show notes
Speaker 1: as well as bonus content can be found on our website,
Speaker 1: undetermined pod dot com. If you enjoyed this episode, please
Speaker 1: take time to subscribe, rate, and review. Your feedback is
Speaker 1: greatly appreciated. And finally, if you have any information about
Speaker 1: this case, call crime Stoppers at one eight seven seven
Speaker 1: nine zero three seven eight sixty seven