Part 1 | Silver MiniVan:The disappearance of Jessica Herringa

Special BONUS FOR EVERYONE Included in this podcast (Listen till the end).
In this podcast episode of "Unspeakable," KJ embarks on a mysterious journey surrounding the disappearance of Jessica Herringa, a gas station attendant who vanishes without a...
Special BONUS FOR EVERYONE Included in this podcast (Listen till the end).
In this podcast episode of "Unspeakable," KJ embarks on a mysterious journey surrounding the disappearance of Jessica Herringa, a gas station attendant who vanishes without a trace during her shift. Despite the absence of robbery signs and her personal items left behind, a faint trail of blood outside the store sends shockwaves through the investigation.
The police delve into the investigation of Jessica's vanishing, drawing attention to a witness sighting a silver minivan at the gas station on the fateful night. As the probe deepens, revelations surface about Jessica's tumultuous relationships and struggles with substance abuse, notably involving a figure known as Jay-Z. Despite exhaustive search efforts, Jessica remains elusive, leaving a lingering sense of mystery.
Timestamps
03:09 Suspicion Arises: Dakota's Relationship and Drug Use Concerns
09:41 A Silver Minivan and the Mysterious Disappearance
14:18 Dispatching Police: Investigating the Empty Gas Station
17:57 The Sign: Seeking Information on the Silver Minivan
26:17 Drug Use and Tensions: Uncovering Dakota and Jessica's Struggles
32:03 Stagnation in the Investigation: Proof-of-Life Searches
33:12 A Teenage Girl's Encounter: The Silver Minivan Resurfaces
35:48 The Danger of Politeness: MJ's Fateful Decision
38:27 Socially Awkward Situations
46:44 Connecting the Dots
51:11 Discovering the Toolbox
58:59 A Touching Encounter
01:10:02 Making Positive Changes
01:15:35 Impacting Lives
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Welcome to Unspeakable, a true crime
podcast where I tell stories of real crimes
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with real victims whose cases are so
shocking that many are left wondering how is
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this even real? I use my
experiences in law enforcement corrections, and combined
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with my years as a criminal justice
educator, dig deep into complex cases of
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evil acts, some so evil many
feel they are unspeakable. Warning. Unspeakable
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as intended for mature audiences. If
you are easily offended, then I'm not
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your girl. Listening discretion is advised. Hey y'all, kJ you're back with
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the other episode for Unspeakable, and
I am liking the one I have today
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for you. I've invested a whole
lot of time into this one, and
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I think you're gonna like it.
I got a couple of little things though,
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I want to tell you, because
I had some questions online and some
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private messages that came to me so
real quick. If you didn't know,
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there is a Patreon app on your
phone, so you just get on there,
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search your apps, find Patreon,
and then you can download it or
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upload it or whatever the word is. I'm not the computer people, but
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uh, and then you can follow
from there if you're looking for me.
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Also a couple of questions I had
about merch. You can go online to
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look for my merch. It's gonna
be at unspeakablethepodcast dot com. There is
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a merch tab. You click that
and it takes you right onto where you
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can go find shirts. And we've
got some new stuff on the website,
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some of the a little snarky sayings
and things. We're uploading and putting new
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things in. So keep checking back, you know, and if there's something
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you want, send me a message. A'll and I'll try to make that
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happen for you. Also, Springfest
if your local Springfest is coming up in
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Denim Springs, and that's gonna be
on April twenty seventh, which is a
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Saturday, and that's nine to four
thirty, and I will be there.
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I'm gonna have my whole tent set
up this time. I'll remember Sharpie's so
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that I can sign anything that you
want me to sign. We can take
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pictures. I love meeting with y'all. I'm also going to have a suggestion
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box this time for cases that you
want to hear. Drop those in and
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then I do go through them,
and I want to give the people what
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they want, so please come see
me, just come say hey, take
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a picture or whatever. I love
meeting y'all in person, and we can
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put some of our pictures online for
everybody. Last, but not least,
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guess what at the end of this
episode, don't cut it off all right
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after you hear me end this episode, don't go away, because there's gonna
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be a little bit of bonus content
for everybody that I'm attaching at the end.
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It's a pretty cool story, something
that happened in my life and with
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a student, and some of y'all
might like it. You might think that
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it might give you a little feel
good, right, So hang in there,
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hang on and listen in on the
end of it and see what you
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think. Give me some feedback.
And I know that my student would love
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your feedback on what he experienced.
So I do have a couple of shout
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outs though. I've got some new
people that have joined my vigilanies and my
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crime family, and I'm so happy
to have them, starting with miss Lorraine
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Brown. Hi, Lorraine, so
glad to have you join mister Jerry Gilchrist
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all the way from Orlando, Florida. Hey, there, you're in Casey
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Anthonyville. When I was in Orlando
the last time we went on vacation,
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I made my poor husband drive me
over to her original residence where Kaylee went
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missing, and I might need to
post some of that when I do that
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episode. I've had a lot of
people ask me to do that episode.
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But I'm so glad to have you, Jerry. Thank you for joining and
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welcome to the crime family. Another
Vigilanni, I have Hannah Leonard all the
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way from West Columbia, South Carolina. Like I'm calling my lineup, y'all,
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y'all are my roster on my team
here. So happy to have you,
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Hi, Hannah, Hannah Jade,
So happy to have you with me.
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And then Carrie Waterson from Logan,
Utah. Hi Carrie, I've been
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to Utah, not Logan, and
that's actually where I was whenever the Boston
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bombing happened. I was in Utah
and I remember watching that live. I've
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said that in the past episode before, but Hi there, happy to have
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you with me. And then certainly, last but not least, is miss
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Brooklyn Lewis from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. One exit over. Hi Brooklyn,
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thank you so much for joining in
and being a part of my crime family.
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Y'all are the difference. You are
the ones that make this job possible,
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because y'all know mama works hard and
I got lots of jobs. So
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let me jump into this episode.
And it's going to take place on April
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twenty sixth, twenty thirteen, and
this is going to be in Norton Shores,
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Michigan. I think a listener requested
this one of me. I'm pretty
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sure they did. If not,
then I'll take the credit and say that
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I was very interested in this one. But if you requested this, thank
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you, because this one needs to
be heard. And there's a lot we
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can learn from the totality of this
entire story. And it's going to start
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with twenty five year old Jessica hearing
A. And she was a pretty blonde
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and I seem to say that a
lot, but she really is a cute
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little thing. I say blonde or
light brunette, depending on the timeframe of
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the photo that you're looking at.
She was known as Jesse to her family
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and her friends. Her hair was
shoulder length and she had this tiny,
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little thin build. She only stood
five foot one, so she was a
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tiny little thing and she weighed one
hundred and ten pounds. That's actually going
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to come into play a little bit
later in the story. But she was
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a tiny little thing with pretty blue
eyes and they just sparkled behind her little
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thin framed glasses whenever you're looking at
pictures of her. She was in a
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relationship. She had a living boyfriend
named Dakota, and together they were raising
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their three year old son named Zevin. He was a cute little guy too,
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in twenty thirteen. He had his
short, little brown hair and a
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round little face, and you know, he's just a little tooty top,
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you know, three years old.
And his favorite thing was for his mommy
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to sing to him whenever she would
put him to bed. She would sing
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songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and
Row Row, Row your Boat, and
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then there was this song about dancing
bears in the woods. And she loved
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her boy, and that boy adored
his mommy. So Jessica was described,
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you know, by her friends as
a ball of energy, and she loved
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to get out. She loved to
go do fun things, and she was
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employed. Right. She had a
job that I personally would consider more dangerous
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than I think many people may think. It to be. It's one that
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I hate seeing young girls work at, especially at night when they often work
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alone, and that would be that
she worked as a gas station attendant.
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The number of people in and out, and specifically ones that are located near
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an interstate, those just make me
really uncomfortable for young women because these stores
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are oftentimes seen as easy targets with
little security. A lot of times there's
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poor lighting. I think gas stations
are getting better at this, the more
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money that are pumped into them and
newer ones that are being built, but
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add poor life, little security,
a single female working it just, you
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know, add to that that easy
fast getaway of an interstate located nearby.
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It's just too convenient for someone that
might be on the prow And so my,
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you know, my spidy senses kind
of go up a little bit whenever
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I see a young girl working at
a gas station. But regardless of those
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risks, Jessica felt at home at
her job. She had regulars that would
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come in and make that time go
by, and they would have that small
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talk, you know when you go
in and you just see somebody behind the
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counter, and people that genuinely just
appreciated her smile and her kind nature.
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Whenever they would frequent the store.
She was working there to make ends meet,
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y'all. She was just like the
rest of us. She was doing
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what she had to do to make
sure that her baby boy was provided for.
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And with you know, a limited
education and not having you know,
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a lot of age behind her,
and she didn't go to college and have
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a ton of degrees or technic skills. This is what she had to do.
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And I'm proud of her that she
got a job and that she was
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making her a little bit of money
and she was paving that way for that
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baby boy so he would have a
good life. And Dakota, her son's
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father, He was unemployed, so
he didn't work, and the arrangements that
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they made together was that he would
stay home and he would care for Zeven
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while she worked her typical shift at
this gas station, which usually was like
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three ish to eleven PM. Dakota
was always just a call away too if
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she needed anything. So before her
shift started that day, they had gone
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as a family and they had gone
grocery shopping at Aldi's and they had taken
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their son Zeven with them got what
they needed for the house, and then
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after they completed their shopping, Jessica
dropped Dakota and baby Zevin at Dakota's parents'
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house. They were gonna just spend
some time together. His parents had cooked
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dinner and so they were going to
enjoy that together. And she said,
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you know, bye, I love
y'all. See after work, and then
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she headed off to the gas station. And like many young couples, right,
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we've all been there. If you're
unless you're a young listener, you
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haven't. But you know, if
you're a forty something or older, you
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remember being in your twenties and being
young. And they were typical. They
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didn't have much materially. Matter of
fact, they only had one car and
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they even share a cell phone because
the funds were limited. So what they
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had worked out was that Dakota would
keep the phone so that he could call
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her if he needed anything about their
son or you know, anything about the
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household and to check on her.
And then she also had a phone at
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work, so it just made sense, he'll keep the phone and they can
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speak during the night. But she
took the car so she would drive herself
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to work. Her shift began normally, she was completing her typical tasks,
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things like stalking the shelves. She
was checking out customers. They were coming
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in, they were paying for gas
and cigarettes and snacks and whatever they would
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need. Now, Dakota called and
he checked in on her around eight pm
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and he let her know that,
Hey, look, me and Zeven are
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back home from eating dinner at mom's
house. Mom dropped me back off at
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the at the you know, at
our house. And he then called again
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about an hour and a half later. It was about nine thirty and he
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called and checked on her again and
he said, look, can you go
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ahead and bring some milk home?
We're out. She of course said,
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sure, no problem, I'll bring
I'll bring the milk home. Everything was
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fine. She even told him,
hey, I think I'm gonna be home
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sooner than the normal because I'm ahead
of schedule with my with my chores,
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my clothes out chores at the store. So hey, I'll see you a
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little bit, you know, a
little over an hour. And that was
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cool. She was getting it done. A little before eleven pm, Craig
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Harpster, who frequented the store,
turned in to get some gas and he
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had pulled up to the pump.
He had removed the you know, the
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whole, I say, the holster, what do you call that? The
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guess pump? I call it in
the holster like it's a gun. But
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he removed it from the holder that
it's in, and he was waiting to
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pump the gas because he knew from
experience that it had to be activated by
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the attendant. He was going to
be paying cash and typically would do so
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after pumping, so he stood there
for a little bit, but the pomp
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never turned on, so he decided, well, let me go in the
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store to see where they are and
let him know that I'm waiting. I
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need to pump the gas. So
he went inside and nobody was behind the
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counter, so he hollered out hello, right, hello, somebody here,
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but nobody responded. He decided to
go look around the store. He walked
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up and down the aisles looking for
someone, and there was nobody stocking or
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up and down the aisles. So
he said, oh, well, maybe
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workers in the bathroom. So he
even went and opened the restroom doors.
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Nobody there. He looked behind the
counter, still no one, so he
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even went a step further and he
peeked his head into this little side office
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that was behind the you know where
the register was and it was empty,
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so he yelled out some more.
And now he was starting to become concerned.
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I mean, nobody was there,
but the store was open, the
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lights were on, everything seemed normal. He even took it upon himself to
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check inside the walk in cooler.
Maybe someone passed out, I don't know.
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So nothing was there but that steady
hum of cold air blowing. No
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movement, no response, literally no
nothing. So in a last ditch effort
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to find someone, hopefully in his
mind, maybe outside smoking or something like
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that, he then walked out back, opened the door and looked again.
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He was just met with the silence
of the night. So now alarmed and
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really worried about what may have happened
to this worker, Craig decided to call
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nine one one. So here's a
clip of that call when it came in
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that Skeigan name on one rare is
your emergency? I don't know if it's
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emergency, I'd work on at the
expion get first. Is that your voice?
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Yes, it is all right,
Thurmberg Rogue kind of Burnburg and old
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van Haven. Okay, and there's
nobody here. I wouldn't allow me to
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pump gass, but I didn't walk
inside, there's nobody. There's a carrier,
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there's another car out fun but it's
just it's very suspicious by there's nobody
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here. Okay, so did you
yell or anything or yeah, how hey,
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you know, walk around the building. It's it's I don't know.
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Yeah, they're supposed building. It's
still open, right, Yeah, like
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when you walk in the belt of
engine in and you know, just the
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cat here's supposed to be there,
you know, but I don't see anybody
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on. And how many vehicles did
you see in the parking lot? Well,
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there's one one part by the building, and then there's another one that's
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Honda, a little SUV th h
L two O three zero found there his
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aces plate number on the K one
seven two high. I just think i'd
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come here after work. We worked
at the adiation and come here all the
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time forget. Okay, what is
your name n Craig Craig, he said,
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it's on Sternberg c. Yeah,
I'm Sternberg. Past explays as you
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can tell. I mean it just
sounds like I don't know, it sounds
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to my dad, you know,
just calling in going hey, where's his
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worker. I'm kind of worried,
right, and I don't know what's going
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on, but no one's here.
It's kind of alarming. So police were
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immediately dispatched to the scene, and
what they found was rather confusing. Just
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as Craig had reported, there really
was no one at the store, and
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more research into Craig himself revealed that
he had literally been at work up until
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just minutes before he arrived at the
gas station, having just clocked out,
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so he wasn't considered a suspect or
anything. He was just literally what it
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seemed. He had gone in and
couldn't find a worker. Foul play was
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not seen anywhere in the store.
Nothing was dumped over, there was no
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sign of a struggle, nothing was
missing. Even the cash drawer from the
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register was still full of money,
and police found it on top of a
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safe that was kept in the back
room, so robbery obviously wasn't the case
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here. The money was there was
an easy grab, it wasn't even in
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the drawer. This emphasized even more
by the fact that Jessica's purse was found
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just where she had left it when
she arrived to work at the beginning of
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the shift. So police opened her
purse and they looked through it. They
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found her wallet, and they found
all of her normal contents in there.
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There was even four hundred and twenty
dollars in cash inside her wallet. It
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couldn't have been a robbery because if
it was, this is the first time
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in the history of ever that a
robber went in and decided to take nothing,
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even though it was readily available to
them. So they start wondering,
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is it possible that Jessica just left
the store for some reason? Well,
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no, why would she just leave? She couldn't have left. Her car
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was still there. She hadn't taken
her purse, she hadn't taken her money,
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her belonging. So even if she
had gotten I don't know, pissed
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off and was like, I'm leaving
this place. I don't want to do
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this anymore, she didn't take anything
she needed to leave. It doesn't even
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make sense. She hadn't shut the
store down completely. She hadn't even tried
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to lock the doors. So if
there was an emergency and maybe she had
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to leave, or maybe a customer
got hurt and she jumped in their car
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and drove them to the hospital or
something, you would think she would at
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least lock the doors, just out
of decency, but none of that was
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done outside the store's only back door. That's where police found one piece of
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unsettling evidence, and that's that they
found a tiny minute amount of Jessica's blood,
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or thought to be Jessica's blood outside. They also found outside that door
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a battery cover to a laser site
for a Walter twenty two pistol, and
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two watch batteries. So that's kind
of random. But one thing we do
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know is this blood isn't good,
especially when someone's missing. So detectives decided
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to call the store owner and ask
them some questions. Along with seeing,
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you know, when was the last
purchase that would have been made at the
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store, we kind of want to
try to see if we can establish a
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timeline of action in the store.
And I know you're yelling at me right
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now, why not just check the
cameras. That seems like a captain obvious
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thing to do. Well, great
question, but the answer is simple,
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they didn't have any. I would
like to suggest to anyone that works at
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a gas station, how about make
sure that they have cameras working cameras just
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because of the mass influx of people
that come in and people that are traveling
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man. It's oh, it's twenty
twenty four. We need cameras. That's
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a society that we live in.
But police went and they looked at the
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last transaction that was logged in the
register, and they found that it was
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at ten point fifty two PM,
just eight minutes before the store was supposed
260
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to close. This wasn't a twenty
four hour store like we have a lot
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of times these days, right,
This one closed at eleven PM, so
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she had been there up until minutes
before the end of her shift. And
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further investigation into that purchase would identify
this customer as a female identified as a
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Miss Moseley, who I believe based
on some things that I had read,
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was a nurse, and she had
just kind of zoomed in and was quickly
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trying to purchase a lighter, and
that was in fact what was on that
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receipt. And she said, look, I spoke with the attendant. She
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seemed fine, she was friendly.
It was business as usual, nothing out
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of the ordinary. So the store
owner, his name was mister Fred,
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He was called and made aware of
the situation at the store, and he
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didn't have any reason as to why
Jessica would have been gone, and he
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was alarmed. No one had alerted
him that, hey, I need to
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leave, there's emergency. Nothing.
So he headed down to the store to
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meet with the detectives, and in
the meantime he also made a phone call
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to I'm gonna call her the store
manager. I don't think that was her
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actual title, but she was kind
of, I guess, the more mature
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of the women that worked there,
and so she kind of was the mama
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of the group. And so he
made a phone call to her. And
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her name was Susan Barber. So, Susan Barber and her husband had been
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out riding motorcycles that evening and they
had actually just walked in the door to
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find their house phone ringing. So
when she answered it and they were made
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aware of the situation, the hair
on the back of Susan's neck stood up
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because of something that she had just
witnessed. I mean, it had just
284
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happened a few minutes prior to them
arriving home on their motorcycles. It turned
285
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out she and her husband had driven
their motorcycles past the gas station just before
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eleven PM, and when passing by, there was a vehicle there that caught
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their attention. It was a silver
mini van and the reason it caught their
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attention was that it had been driving
parallel to them and then it turned into
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the store parking lot. Where you're
like, okay, well that's not that
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odd. Why would it catch their
attention. Well, what grabbed them both
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was okay, they're looking because that's
her place of business, right where she
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works. But it was just really
odd because when the van turned in,
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it turned off its running lights,
and then it drove behind the gas station.
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Jessica had a maroon colored car,
it wasn't a van, so what
295
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was this vehicle doing behind the store. So Susan was just really curious,
296
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so curious in fact, that it
just made her gut instincts say, I
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want to see what's going on.
So her and her husband drove to the
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end of the road that they were
on and they stopped and they spoke to
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one another and said, look,
we need to turn around. Susan's like,
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I want to turn around. I
want to go see what's going on.
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She felt that bad about it.
And if anything from my podcast I
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hope you pick up, it's that
gut instinct is real. It is so
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real. You need to always listen
to it, and she did. And
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I know some people right now may
be wondering even more why was she being
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so invested in this, But it
turns out there was something else that she
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was taken into account when she turned
around, and that was the fact that
307
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the boss had been complaining to her
about thefts and missing products, and so
308
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she thought, wait a minute,
maybe this van was somehow tied into all
309
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of this stealing and these thefts that
were going on. So when they turned
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around and they headed back, Susan
could see the van from a distance where
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they stopped and they watched. Now
when I say stopped and watched, I
312
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don't mean twenty minutes, I mean
like a minute, Okay, just a
313
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minute. They stopped and they watched, and they noticed by this point that
314
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they had turned around and come back
and then kind of stop their bikes,
315
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that the back hatch was opened and
then closed, not once but twice on
316
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the van, and then a white
male promptly walked to the driver's side door,
317
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got in and pulled away. He
turned out onto that service road and
318
00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:47.240
then he went right past them.
They couldn't see clearly into the vehicle,
319
00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:49.400
but at this point it was kind
of just like whatever. It was kind
320
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of weird, but at least he
had left. It was less than a
321
00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:56.599
minute. Maybe he just pulled behind
there and was fixing something in his trunk.
322
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It just wasn't overly overwhelming what he
did. And so they continued back
323
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on their original path and they headed
to the house. They arrived home,
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and within seconds of walking inside,
that was her boss calling from the Exxon
325
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station. Oh my god, right, had they really been seeing something happen
326
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to Jessica and not realized it,
Like did someone break in or something like?
327
00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:30.880
What happened? And he says,
no, Susan, Jessica is gone.
328
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She's missing. We can't even find
her. So that sickening feeling,
329
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you know, it must have been
beyond overwhelming. Just minutes ago, maybe
330
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they could have helped her, but
now she was gone. Can you imagine
331
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you thought so much of it.
You turned around and you watched but it
332
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was just one minute, sixty seconds, But that's sixty seconds. I'm sure
333
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that was the weight of the world
on her show when she realized that Jessica
334
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was gone. Now police had other
avenues that they wanted to look at,
335
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:14.440
other than just that silver van that
was brought up, even though they shared
336
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:18.640
a vehicle and Dakota didn't have one
of his own. Police now had questions
337
00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:22.960
for Dakota, right, because we
know this, if you're a true crime
338
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.920
fan, a real true crime fan, you know that most probable to be
339
00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:29.920
involved when someone goes missing or is
killed or something like that, it's probably
340
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.440
the inner circle. No one's gonna
hate you enough or be mad at you
341
00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:40.240
enough, or care enough to go
physically possibly remove you from somewhere. Not
342
00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:44.200
to mention there was some blood.
So they went and they spoke to Dakota,
343
00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:47.200
you know, what were you doing
tonight? When did you talk to
344
00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:51.720
Jessica last? What was your relationship
like, well, he was at home.
345
00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:56.279
He talked to her last at nine
thirty, and everything seemed fine if
346
00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.799
he was being completely honest. He
said, you know, we were in
347
00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:03.319
a rocky state in our relationship.
And so police kind of questioned a little
348
00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:07.079
bit more, and look, you
know, we thought each other were cheating.
349
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There was jealousy issues, there was
immature fighting. Things had recently also
350
00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.839
gotten a little bit volatile of Dakota
admitted, Look, I even recently cussed
351
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out, you know, a male
customer in the store because he was talking
352
00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:26.519
to Jessica, and I felt like
it was an extended period of time that
353
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he spoke to her. So looking
further into their habits and their behaviors,
354
00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:37.440
a little more information was brought to
light. They also had been arguing about
355
00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:45.759
drug use. So both Dakota and
Jessica had struggles with dependency and they were
356
00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:51.480
trying their best, but Dakota felt
like Jessica may have been slipping a little
357
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:56.319
bit. He found out that she
had a dealer, and that dealer went
358
00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:00.960
by a street name jay Z.
According to Dakota, and when he found
359
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.519
that out, their fighting had increased
and it had really escalated whenever he found
360
00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:08.240
out that she had a second cell
phone, and he just became enraged that
361
00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:12.359
she was using that second cell phone
to be in contact with this dealer.
362
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So, as you can imagine,
this brings up even more questions and possibilities.
363
00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:22.160
Was the dealer after her possibly for
a debt? Did Dakota have something
364
00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:26.079
to do with her disappearance? After
his anger flared, you know, Dakota
365
00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:30.359
was adamant though that number one,
he didn't do anything to Jessica, and
366
00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:34.799
that number two, Jessica did not
just up and leave no matter what their
367
00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:41.079
struggles were, because she would have
never left their son no matter what was
368
00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:45.519
going on between the two of them. Her son was her world. Something
369
00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:53.359
bad must have happened. So all
police really had was she's missing a little
370
00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:57.759
bit of blood and someone saw a
silver Mini van. So they did a
371
00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:03.000
little bit of I guess you could
call it maybe attempted crowdsourcing. They put
372
00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:07.440
up a sign like a you know, a traffic big traffic lit up sign,
373
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and it was, you know,
put up by the Sheriff's office,
374
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and it was on this West River
Road, near what they called Green Creek
375
00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.559
Road, and it was like a
scrolling sign that said wanted silver Mini van.
376
00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:26.039
Happened April sixteenth, nine fifteen to
nine thirty and then if seen dial
377
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:30.160
nine to one one. So you
can tell they were struggling a bit with
378
00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:33.559
some leads on this one, but
they did have some avenues they wanted to
379
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:40.839
go down. So police continued tracking
down leads and witnesses that were pouring in
380
00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:45.119
over time with supposed information to do
with her disappearance, but eventually those leads
381
00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:49.920
led to nothing. Jessica was gone, and nothing pointed to the fact that
382
00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:56.640
she may still be alive. Police
started doing what and continued to do what
383
00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:00.680
we would call like a proof of
life search, and they they were looking
384
00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:06.519
at numerous databases, things like email, bank records, phone records, anything
385
00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:11.119
that someone would need to use,
you know, over time to simply make
386
00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:15.480
it. In current day life,
very rarely do we have people that are
387
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:21.079
of limited financial resources that would have
the ability to just up and leave on
388
00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:25.200
their own and not leave some type
of trail, you know what I mean.
389
00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:26.480
You'd have to swipe a credit card
or something if you don't have cash,
390
00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:29.680
house, or would you survive?
How did you get from point A
391
00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:33.680
to point B. But those searches
that the police did, they never revealed
392
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.440
any signs of use by Jessica,
and that's just not good. We would
393
00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:41.400
do something. Someone would have seen
you or heard from you. You would
394
00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:51.480
have needed help from someone. The
fact that Jessica wasn't able to be documented
395
00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:56.319
anywhere was not good news. So
police felt that that silver minivan was the
396
00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:00.000
biggest lead that they had and they
continued to hunt down any pop connection to
397
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:07.200
that van and the store. So
police narrowed down through the help of vehicle
398
00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:14.680
manufacturers, the FBI, and then
a local dealer of Mini vans. He
399
00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:18.000
sold a whole bunch of them.
Police kind of used multiple sources here to
400
00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:22.680
narrow down exactly what type of vehicle
they believed was being sought, because van
401
00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.680
is very general, right, what
type of van? So police narrowed down
402
00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.920
the search of people in the area
who may have owned that type of vehicle,
403
00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:34.119
and then they reached out to them. They looked into their lives,
404
00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:38.720
they even contacted them to ask some
questions, and one person on that list
405
00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:42.839
was a man by the name of
Jeffrey Willis, and Jeffrey gladly let them
406
00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:48.640
search his vehicle. He answered questions. Police noted that the vehicle was clean,
407
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:52.599
there was no evidence of foul play
whatsoever, no hint that something may
408
00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:56.880
have happened, or that Jessica had
been in that vehicle. The police though,
409
00:29:56.599 --> 00:30:00.079
we're going to go a little bit
further with that, right. They
410
00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:04.039
even attempted to contact his wife around
that same time, but they left voicemails,
411
00:30:04.119 --> 00:30:07.960
they left messages, and she never
returned those messages. And guys,
412
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:11.440
you can't force someone, you know
what I mean. If she didn't want
413
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:12.680
to talk to the police, she
didn't want talk to the police. So
414
00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:18.720
jeff was thanked and police went about
their way and they just continued to search
415
00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:26.640
for Jessica. So little Zevin in
the meantime, he continued to meet milestones
416
00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:32.400
in life without his precious mama.
He would beg his daddy to read to
417
00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:36.480
him and to sing those songs his
mama sang to him every night, and
418
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:38.359
Dakota sadly would say, I can't
even do it. I can't do it
419
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:42.359
perfectly because I don't know what the
bear song was that Zevin begs for.
420
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:47.039
I don't know what the song is. I can't. He keeps trying to
421
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:48.720
tell me, and I don't know
what it is. And he Jessica to
422
00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:52.680
tell me what is this song he
loves at night? So Dakota did something
423
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:56.480
I think is wonderful. But he
went and got a therapist to help him
424
00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:03.519
explain to their son what happened.
And what they told him was that buddy,
425
00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:07.640
mama is lost. And they use
the word lost because that was words
426
00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:12.519
that he understood and could identify with
relation to like lost toys. He understood
427
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:19.160
that concept and so he understood his
mama was lost. But this baby boy
428
00:31:19.960 --> 00:31:23.240
would then continue to ask his daddy, can we go to the store,
429
00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:26.680
can we go Walmart. Can we
go somewhere to look for Mama? She's
430
00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:32.960
lost and I want to find her. Zevin would continue to grow, y'all.
431
00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:37.839
He would grow to be six years
old, his kindergarten graduation, no
432
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:42.079
mama, his field trips to the
zoo, and the artwork that he completed
433
00:31:42.119 --> 00:31:48.960
in class was done with no mama. On Mother's Day, he made his
434
00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:52.599
treats that they send home with no
mama to give it to, and it
435
00:31:52.680 --> 00:32:00.680
wasn't fair and she didn't leave him. They were torn from each other's life,
436
00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:06.960
but nobody knew what happened. Police
had not given up, though they
437
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.359
continued those proof of life searches that
I previously mentioned, but they just had
438
00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:16.240
no outcome. She was simply disappeared, and only that strange van as a
439
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:22.279
lead, and no people were seeming
to come to fruition as having been involved.
440
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:27.759
And this is where this case would
come to a screeching halt in terms
441
00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:34.240
of progress. No amount of searching
or digging through records was resulting in answers,
442
00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:43.079
and y'all, three more years would
pass before anything would possibly help with
443
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:50.559
this case. And as an investigator, this would drive me insane because somebody
444
00:32:50.839 --> 00:32:58.279
knows something. We have some evidence, we know she's gone, but nobody
445
00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:01.480
will tell us where she is.
Nothing is lee that would eat me to
446
00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:07.039
my core. God bless the men
and women that do this day in and
447
00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:08.759
day out, because it would tear
me up to not be able to give
448
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:15.680
answers to that baby boy. Like
I said, three years would pass,
449
00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:20.240
and this would involve a teenage girl
coming into the picture. And we're gonna
450
00:33:20.279 --> 00:33:24.720
call this girl MJ. And MJ
was lost while walking home from a party,
451
00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:29.880
and this would be on April sixteenth
of twenty sixteen. She had been
452
00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:34.680
with two friends. Their names were
Jake and Chaz. One of them had
453
00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:37.160
keys to the car that they were
in because they had gone to a party
454
00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:39.680
together, right, and there was
drinking and all that going on at the
455
00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:45.200
party. But they ran into a
problem because the friend that had the keys
456
00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:49.720
went and got into the car and
then he fell asleep and he had locked
457
00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:52.240
the doors with him in asleep,
and so they had been banging on the
458
00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:54.519
doors to wake him up, but
he wouldn't wake up. And like I
459
00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:57.960
said, y'all, there had been
drinking at this party. I'm gonna make
460
00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:00.920
an assumption. It may not be
true. But I'm going to make the
461
00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:05.680
assumption that maybe that had something to
do with the fact that the fellow wouldn't
462
00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:08.760
wake up that was sleeping in the
car and had locked the door. So
463
00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:12.559
MJ is like, look, I
got to get home. You know,
464
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:15.599
the sun had come up by this
point, or was coming up. People
465
00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:17.599
had left the party. Was it
had like fifty or sixty people at this
466
00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:22.320
party, and by this point there
was nobody left there or just her and
467
00:34:22.360 --> 00:34:27.360
this friend asleep in the car.
So she decided to help with it.
468
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.440
I'll just walk home. It'll probably
take me like fifteen minutes to walk home
469
00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:34.679
from here. So she just set
out to walk, and I can so
470
00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:38.400
see me. I can so see
me at sixteen years old making this decision.
471
00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:40.440
Just you know what, Fine,
if I can't get from point A
472
00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:45.760
to point B, I'll just walk
there. But this would be a wrong
473
00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:51.679
assumption on her part because after walking
for a very long time, much longer
474
00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:54.920
than fifteen minutes, she was nowhere
near home. So as she was walking,
475
00:34:55.039 --> 00:35:00.159
she continued to go down this long
winding road. Someone pulled up and
476
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:02.280
asked, her, Hey, are
you okay. She said, yeah,
477
00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:06.159
I'm fine, it's okay, and
it was a gentleman that said, do
478
00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:07.840
you need a ride or do you
need some help? You know, why
479
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:13.239
are you walking alone this early in
the morning. So as she's responding to
480
00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:15.679
this gentleman, she's like, look, I don't need to ride or anything.
481
00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:17.039
And honestly, she's thinking to herself, that'd be foolish, right to
482
00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:21.760
get in a car with a complete
stranger you don't know, specifically a stranger
483
00:35:21.800 --> 00:35:24.159
that's a male, right, And
so she's like, no, I don't
484
00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:29.719
need a ride. So she did
the next thing that she could think of
485
00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:32.760
that was smart, you know,
in her situation. And he had offered,
486
00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:36.039
look, would you like to use
my cell phone to call somebody?
487
00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:37.519
And she says, yes, I
would like to borrow your cell phone?
488
00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:42.119
May I please do so, to
which he happily obliged. She says,
489
00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:45.239
yeah, no problem, here's my
phone. Now he said, look just
490
00:35:45.239 --> 00:35:49.519
sit down, babe, sit down
while you use my phone. You know,
491
00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:52.360
I don't like you being out here
by yourself, and so being polite,
492
00:35:53.239 --> 00:35:57.719
she did as this gentleman told her. And I want to stop real
493
00:35:57.800 --> 00:36:00.280
quick right here, and I want
to talk about polite for a second.
494
00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:06.360
And I know that not everywhere that
listens to my show is in the South.
495
00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:07.760
Okay, I know not even everyone
that listens to my show is from
496
00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:13.280
the United States, but if you
have ever visited here, then you likely
497
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:16.840
picked up on what I'm gonna call
Southern hospitality. It's something that we are
498
00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:22.119
known for. Matter of fact,
just this past weekend, I did a
499
00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:24.360
show and if I if I saw
you there, it wasn't a live show.
500
00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:27.440
It was I was at an event
where I was you know, I
501
00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:30.119
had my merch and my stuff set
up. But just this past weekend,
502
00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:34.760
there was a when we were leaving, my husband and I were in the
503
00:36:34.760 --> 00:36:37.960
truck and my dad and this elderly
gentleman was walking and he was hunched over
504
00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:40.199
and he kind of looked like he
was in pain. And because I had
505
00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:45.960
two men with me, one of
which I know would beat the brakes off
506
00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:50.519
of somebody if they even tried anything, And because I was in the car
507
00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:53.599
with two men that I know are
very capable of helping a girl out if
508
00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:57.079
something went wrong, in one of
which Blake Jennings, my husband, would
509
00:36:57.079 --> 00:37:00.480
beat the brakes off anyone who tried
to touch me. I felt calmfident that
510
00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:04.480
this hunched over old man we could
help him out just and so I rolled
511
00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:06.719
the winey down and I said,
hey, you need you need some help,
512
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:08.000
and he was like, yeah,
I have a hernia and I don't
513
00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:12.239
think I can go much further.
And so, you know, I said,
514
00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:13.719
well, come on, we're going
to help you out. And we
515
00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:16.519
put him in our car and we
drove him to his truck. All right,
516
00:37:16.519 --> 00:37:20.159
but that's a little different than what
was going on here. Okay,
517
00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:24.199
she's by herself, and I bring
this up, this this thing about politeness,
518
00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:28.280
because that is what will get you
killed these days, and it's all
519
00:37:28.360 --> 00:37:36.079
too common. Predators specifically, are
almost always attuned to the fact that most
520
00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:42.199
decent people want to be seen as
polite. In the South, we hammered
521
00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:46.239
this home to our kids. Be
polite, be polite. Hell, I
522
00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:49.599
mean, that's why we say yes, ma'am and no, ma'am, be
523
00:37:49.719 --> 00:37:52.840
polite. You know, it's been
ingrained in me personally since I was a
524
00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:59.280
child, and I didn't know that
that was even offensive actually in some places,
525
00:37:59.320 --> 00:38:01.559
until recently when I travel to another
state and I got some strange looks
526
00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:05.119
because I was saying yes ma'am and
no, sir. And I guess it
527
00:38:05.199 --> 00:38:09.840
was kind of off putting to say
sir or ma'am, but even out of
528
00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:15.559
an example of you know, setting
an example I guess from like my students
529
00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:17.559
or my own children. I say
yes ma'am or no sir to them,
530
00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:21.079
Like when I'm in class, I'll
say, They'll say, do I turn
531
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:22.000
this in here? Yes, ma'am
put it right there for me. Thank
532
00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:24.800
you. You know I'm still in
charge and they know that, but I'm
533
00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:31.199
being polite. Well, what predators
look for in you? And I want
534
00:38:31.199 --> 00:38:37.800
people to learn this. Predators look
for an opportunity to create an awkward social
535
00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:44.039
setting in which you, as the
quote unquote polite person, have to make
536
00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:50.119
a decision that will make you feel
like the quote unquote bad guy or impolite
537
00:38:50.199 --> 00:38:57.039
person. It's cookie cutter approach.
Okay, please remember this. Potentially dangerous
538
00:38:57.079 --> 00:39:04.639
situations often begin with socially awkward moments. Okay, So to further explain,
539
00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:07.280
we teach our children at a young
age not to talk to strangers, but
540
00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:12.079
then we turn around and we make
them do that when we're there. Right,
541
00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.119
you run into somebody an old friend
that you you know, you knew
542
00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:16.440
in high school, and you have
your kids with you, and you don't
543
00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:19.360
want them to be impolite. And
you're like, oh, look, say
544
00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:22.639
hello, and your friend that you
know shakes their hand. Hey, what's
545
00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:24.679
your name? How old are you? And so this kid, your kid's
546
00:39:24.760 --> 00:39:28.400
kind of in this like situation,
like that's a stranger. You tell me
547
00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:30.000
not to talk to strangers, but
now you're telling me it's impolite if I
548
00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:37.000
don't talk to strangers, you know
what I'm saying. And we tell them
549
00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:40.280
be nice to that person because we
want them to be polite. But we
550
00:39:40.440 --> 00:39:44.840
have to understand that in doing this, even as adults, right we become
551
00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:52.119
adults that we are creating socially awkward
situations that our kids are now being constructed
552
00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:55.559
to believe. Are I need to
be polite? Therefore I need to comply
553
00:39:55.960 --> 00:40:00.599
and speak and maybe talk to someone
I don't want I want to talk to.
554
00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:05.760
So, now, if during a
conversation with a stranger offering a ride,
555
00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:09.119
you decline like MJ did, and
then they're nice enough to let you
556
00:40:09.239 --> 00:40:12.960
use their phone, and they're kind
enough to let you sit in their van
557
00:40:13.039 --> 00:40:16.440
while doing so, and they're allowing
you to use their phone, hand you
558
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:22.159
their expensive cell phone. Based on
that politeness to strangers. Training we give
559
00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:30.679
our kids, we're now creating this
implied obligation to talk or to speak to
560
00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:34.679
that individual on some level. I
hope I'm explaining this well and you're getting
561
00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:38.480
what I'm getting at. So I
found this example at Bostonkravmagah dot com,
562
00:40:39.239 --> 00:40:45.639
and Jimothy even gave me a little
tidbit here that it's Israeli Special Forces fighting.
563
00:40:45.719 --> 00:40:49.360
So I don't know. If you're
into some some fight and stuff,
564
00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:51.880
you know, you can go check
out those videos too. But I feel
565
00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:54.800
like they're they're experts right in knowing
what to do. And they said this,
566
00:40:55.519 --> 00:41:00.920
might it be better for us to
instruct our teens and children that number
567
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:05.440
one, we're teaching them to not
engage in conversation with people that they don't
568
00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:09.400
know, and two that they are
not refusing to answer out of in politeness,
569
00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:14.199
but rather their safety. And saying
that in front of our kids will
570
00:41:14.239 --> 00:41:17.519
teach them that the awkwardness of the
situation is not to be avoided at all
571
00:41:17.599 --> 00:41:22.880
costs, but their safety comes first. So make sure that they understand so
572
00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:27.679
that in this instance it becomes a
lesson that will educate them far beyond being
573
00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:31.360
a child talking to an adult,
but rather a safety write a safety net
574
00:41:31.400 --> 00:41:35.679
for this is a socially awkward situation. And I'm not being rude to be
575
00:41:35.719 --> 00:41:37.400
in polite. I mean, I'm
not saying no to be impolite. I
576
00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:42.000
just don't feel safe right now,
and I hope you'll understand, you know.
577
00:41:43.280 --> 00:41:46.960
But moving on, the teenager MJ
was allowed to use his phone,
578
00:41:47.239 --> 00:41:51.719
and she did sit in the seat
to be polite, and I am sure
579
00:41:51.719 --> 00:41:54.760
you can guess what happened. The
table shifted a little bit when she sat
580
00:41:54.800 --> 00:41:59.039
down. He rolled up the window
and that made her uncomfortable too, and
581
00:41:59.079 --> 00:42:00.400
she said, can we roll the
window down? Which he did. I
582
00:42:00.440 --> 00:42:05.440
found out in some later stuff that
I read he did roll it back down.
583
00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:08.719
But he also looks at his phone
and goes, oh, no,
584
00:42:08.920 --> 00:42:15.000
my phone is dead. Red flag, red flag. Why would you offer
585
00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:16.880
your phone to someone if your phone
is dead? But hey, maybe he
586
00:42:16.920 --> 00:42:21.920
didn't know, right, But in
the moment that he's explained to her,
587
00:42:21.960 --> 00:42:23.559
oh, I'm sorry, my phone
is dead. But she's now in close
588
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:28.800
proximity to him because she's sitting in
the vehicle, he also brandished a gun
589
00:42:29.119 --> 00:42:32.000
and he now pointed it at her. He then took off in the vehicle,
590
00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:38.400
so, realizing the immense danger that
she was in, this badass little
591
00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:43.280
girl made the decision of a lifetime. You know how I've said that there
592
00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:45.159
are four f's, the fight,
the flight, the freezer, the fawn.
593
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:49.920
Well, honey, I'm adding one
more f that the academics forgot to
594
00:42:49.920 --> 00:42:52.280
put in there, and it's called
the fuck, as in fuck you,
595
00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:55.280
because that's exactly what that little girl
thought whenever he took off in that car
596
00:42:55.320 --> 00:42:59.400
and put that gun in her face, and she decided this was not going
597
00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:00.760
to be, you know, to
be the end of her story, gun
598
00:43:00.800 --> 00:43:05.159
in her face or not. She
was taking control of her destiny. And
599
00:43:05.199 --> 00:43:09.639
she took the incredibly bold step of
deciding her own fate as she threw open
600
00:43:09.719 --> 00:43:15.320
the door of the moving vehicle and
she jumped with wild abandoned. She just
601
00:43:15.639 --> 00:43:20.400
dove out of that vehicle and she
hit the concrete, y'all, and she
602
00:43:20.519 --> 00:43:24.719
hit it hard. She slid down
the asphalt, her skin shearing from her
603
00:43:24.719 --> 00:43:30.480
body. But guess what, that
man was not expecting it, nor was
604
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:32.039
he ready to stop for her.
You know, he couldn't have grabbed her
605
00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:36.360
or anything, because she said,
forget this, through that door open and
606
00:43:36.519 --> 00:43:39.599
bailed out of a moving car,
and as she slid on the ground,
607
00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:44.639
she eventually was able to jump to
her feet, her bare feet, to
608
00:43:44.679 --> 00:43:47.360
be exact, because the impact of
her hitting the ground, the force blew
609
00:43:47.400 --> 00:43:51.400
her shoes off right, ripped through
her clothes, and ripped her skin.
610
00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:54.559
That little girl jumped back up on
her feet. She decided it was now
611
00:43:54.679 --> 00:44:00.000
or never, and like a beast, she chose now what a and that
612
00:44:00.039 --> 00:44:05.719
little girl took off, running for
her life. Now she ran straight into
613
00:44:05.800 --> 00:44:08.840
the arms of another stranger, but
it was what it was. She ran
614
00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:13.320
up to a home and by the
grace of God, she bangs on the
615
00:44:13.400 --> 00:44:16.920
door and a kind woman answered her
door. She found the teen scared and
616
00:44:17.000 --> 00:44:22.039
begging for her life, almost animalistically, begging for her life in straight survival
617
00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:28.320
mode. So she let MJ in
and to feel the sheer terror that this
618
00:44:28.360 --> 00:44:31.559
little girl was feeling. The woman
even allowed her to run straight back into
619
00:44:31.639 --> 00:44:36.360
her bedrooms. They both went back
there and they shut the door. And
620
00:44:36.440 --> 00:44:38.920
the woman, y'all, she's such
a saint for ignoring her own fears and
621
00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:42.239
for helping this girl, because for
all she knew, the bad guy could
622
00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:45.159
have been steps behind her. Right, but they shut the bedroom door.
623
00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:51.480
MJ is still so scared that that
little girl dropped to her stomach and was
624
00:44:51.559 --> 00:44:55.440
fighting desperately to try to squeeze underneath
the woman's bed just to get away.
625
00:44:57.719 --> 00:45:02.400
Bless her heart, the feet,
the absolute fear that she was going through.
626
00:45:02.480 --> 00:45:06.239
And I did take some snippets to
show you of some of the photos.
627
00:45:06.239 --> 00:45:07.440
I'll put them on patron for you. You can go look, and
628
00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:09.639
I've got some of the wounds.
You can see what happened to her from
629
00:45:09.719 --> 00:45:14.360
jumping from that moving car. But
the woman of the home that she ran
630
00:45:14.400 --> 00:45:19.039
to, she dialed nine to one
one and police rushed to the scene to
631
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:21.639
help the young girl and to look
for this man who had just tried to
632
00:45:21.679 --> 00:45:27.039
obviously abduct her. So they questioned
her about the vehicle that she had gotten
633
00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:31.320
in and guess what. The vehicle
description that she gave was a silver van.
634
00:45:32.559 --> 00:45:37.280
Now don't quote me on this because
it's this may not be one hundred
635
00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:42.079
percent exactly how this went down,
but the gist is correct. But there
636
00:45:42.079 --> 00:45:45.960
would have been a little bit of
like divine intervention here or something, because
637
00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:50.960
the detective that was working the case
or was involved in the case with this
638
00:45:51.039 --> 00:45:58.000
attempted abduction would actually be the son
of a detective that was working that Jessica
639
00:45:58.079 --> 00:46:02.000
Herringa disappearance years before. Right that
lineage of my dad was a cop,
640
00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:05.320
and I'm a cop, and my
son will be a cop. It's kind
641
00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:07.599
of playing out here, and it's
kind of interesting because he would have known
642
00:46:07.639 --> 00:46:12.199
about the Jessica hearing A case kind
of firsthand right off. Dad and him
643
00:46:12.199 --> 00:46:15.559
I discussed it, and this would
play a role in things, even if
644
00:46:15.719 --> 00:46:22.880
very small, but that detective working
the abduction would eventually make a mental link
645
00:46:22.360 --> 00:46:30.719
between the silver van coincidence of Jessica
Hearinga and this attempted abduction. At the
646
00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:34.880
moment, though, the officers wanted
to know what did the man look like,
647
00:46:35.079 --> 00:46:37.119
and she had gotten a very good
look at him, so they created
648
00:46:37.159 --> 00:46:42.679
a sketch of the abductor, and
after some time they created a photo lineup
649
00:46:42.880 --> 00:46:49.159
that included guess who that Jeffrey willis
the one that they had spoken to in
650
00:46:49.199 --> 00:46:55.239
the Jessica Hearinga disappearance, and guess
what you looked like the sketch. He
651
00:46:55.280 --> 00:47:01.480
also drove a silver van, and
when they showed her the lineup, wouldn't
652
00:47:01.480 --> 00:47:09.119
you know that's exactly who she picked
out. What are the chances the same
653
00:47:09.199 --> 00:47:17.400
man and the same vehicle investigated twice
for a missing girl and an attempted abduction.
654
00:47:17.719 --> 00:47:21.800
If you've listened to my podcast long
enough, you'll know that I don't
655
00:47:21.800 --> 00:47:24.719
believe in coincidences, and neither should
you. When it comes to crime and
656
00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:30.440
criminal behavior, there are not coincidences. This will be a very good example
657
00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:36.280
of that. So, although police
spoke to Jeffrey Willis in twenty thirteen,
658
00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:42.920
he never was really identified as a
suspect in Jessica Heringa's disappearance until twenty sixteen,
659
00:47:43.280 --> 00:47:47.920
when MJ identified him as her attempted
abductor. He was listed as number
660
00:47:47.960 --> 00:47:52.719
three in the provided lineup, and
number three was the man MJ picked out.
661
00:47:52.079 --> 00:47:54.639
Not only did she pick him out, she picked him out with zero
662
00:47:54.760 --> 00:48:00.679
hesitation and no doubt. She immediately
went straight to him. She was a
663
00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:05.199
superb witness to what had happened to
her and at the hands of who she
664
00:48:05.320 --> 00:48:08.920
said had done it. Now,
based on what MJ had said, police
665
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:15.119
started to think they may know who
took Jessica and the manner of her disappearance.
666
00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:19.800
Based on what they knew of Jessica
just you know, up and disappearing.
667
00:48:20.239 --> 00:48:23.000
It was now looking like she had
more likely been abducted from the gas
668
00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:29.679
station. So here's a little info
that I thought might interest you on abductions.
669
00:48:29.920 --> 00:48:32.960
I do like to you know,
I'm a fan of practical experience,
670
00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:36.440
right. I think that we can
learn a lot from law enforcement boots on
671
00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:39.159
the ground. They know what they're
doing. But I do like to mix
672
00:48:39.239 --> 00:48:45.199
practical knowledge of policing and investigation from
experience professionals with data from academic studies,
673
00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:51.559
and together I think that the lay
person can get a solid picture of criminality.
674
00:48:51.719 --> 00:48:54.239
Okay, And there was a study
of abductions that was done and it
675
00:48:54.280 --> 00:49:00.480
was published by Sage Publications, and
they gave these three amongst other others,
676
00:49:00.480 --> 00:49:01.840
but they gave these three data points. I wanted to point out to you
677
00:49:02.639 --> 00:49:10.119
abduction has been related to more extensive
violent criminal records, suggesting that it represents
678
00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:17.960
a risk for escalation of violence.
So people who abduct tend to increase in
679
00:49:19.079 --> 00:49:27.000
violence and increase in criminality. They
also have been related to more extensive criminal
680
00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:30.000
history. Now, whether that's documented
or not their criminal history, you know,
681
00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:34.480
that's kind of hearsay because you don't
know whether it's not hearsay, but
682
00:49:34.519 --> 00:49:38.440
it's you know, maybe they didn't
get caught for previous violence. But then
683
00:49:38.480 --> 00:49:45.519
they did this logistic regression analysis and
it showed that, compared with non sexually
684
00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:52.920
motivated abductions, abductions that are sexually
motivated are typically committed on victims who are
685
00:49:52.000 --> 00:50:01.519
single while they are hitchhiking at night
and perpetrated in the offender's car. Does
686
00:50:01.559 --> 00:50:07.599
that not sound like a dead ringer
for what just happened to MJ? Single?
687
00:50:07.480 --> 00:50:12.159
She wasn't necessarily hitchhiking, but walking
alone in the early morning hours.
688
00:50:12.440 --> 00:50:15.400
You know, it's kind of dark, and he was in his car.
689
00:50:17.159 --> 00:50:21.079
Also, another fun fact that I
found was that, similar to cases of
690
00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:27.719
sexual assault, victims who know their
perpetrators are more likely to resist, leading
691
00:50:27.719 --> 00:50:32.079
the perpetrator to use more instrumental violence
to obtain compliance. Now, I don't
692
00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:36.840
know if Jessica knew him or not
necessarily, but I know that MJ didn't,
693
00:50:37.119 --> 00:50:42.880
but she still fought. Get it
girl. So, based on what
694
00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:45.679
had happened right with MJ, police
were able to go and secure a videotape
695
00:50:45.679 --> 00:50:51.000
footage from a blueberry farm on the
roadway that police believed would have been the
696
00:50:51.119 --> 00:50:55.320
likely route that the perpetrator who tried
to take MJ would have driven on his
697
00:50:55.440 --> 00:51:00.400
way away from the attempted abduction.
And they were able to clearly see the
698
00:51:00.480 --> 00:51:05.320
Silver van. So once they were
able to id the owner of the van,
699
00:51:05.360 --> 00:51:07.559
which was through a bunch of technical
stuff, and I think the FBI
700
00:51:08.079 --> 00:51:10.800
and the Secret Service I believe were
involved in helping them do this. But
701
00:51:12.320 --> 00:51:17.079
Jeffrey Willis was identified as the owner, and eventually he would be involved in
702
00:51:17.119 --> 00:51:22.719
a traffic stop and he would eventually
be arrested, and he was indeed driving
703
00:51:22.800 --> 00:51:27.320
a Silver Town and Country van.
And this is in the biz what we
704
00:51:27.360 --> 00:51:32.840
would call that proverbial clue. I'm
always mentioning even further proving this, you
705
00:51:32.840 --> 00:51:38.000
know, was likely the van that
they were looking for. It also had
706
00:51:38.039 --> 00:51:44.519
some distinct features that were not common
or uniform amongst all Silver Town and chrysl
707
00:51:44.559 --> 00:51:46.920
or Mini vans of that year.
Number one, it had a center antenna
708
00:51:47.320 --> 00:51:51.800
that wasn't normal and that's not where
it would typically be, which made it
709
00:51:51.960 --> 00:51:55.199
very unique, as well as some
distinct rust areas that were not original to
710
00:51:55.239 --> 00:51:59.800
the van nor uniform on any other
vans. They could look on video and
711
00:51:59.840 --> 00:52:02.400
see and then they could see him
right here in that same vehicle with the
712
00:52:02.440 --> 00:52:07.199
same markings. So when jeff was
stopped, he was read his rights,
713
00:52:07.519 --> 00:52:09.480
his Miranda rights, and he acknowledged
that he understood them, and he waved
714
00:52:09.480 --> 00:52:14.840
his Miranda warning. He waved his
right to remain silent, and his account
715
00:52:14.840 --> 00:52:20.639
of things was that the day in
question about this attempted abduction, he claimed
716
00:52:20.719 --> 00:52:23.880
that he stayed home all day and
that he slept in and then he hung
717
00:52:23.920 --> 00:52:30.760
out with his dog until about two
pm. Now, when you're gonna try
718
00:52:30.760 --> 00:52:35.880
and Outsmart the police, please remember
that they are often asking you questions that
719
00:52:35.920 --> 00:52:39.920
they already know the answer to,
questions like when was your last oil change,
720
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:45.199
Jeffrey. And when they asked this, jeff said, Ah, I
721
00:52:45.239 --> 00:52:47.639
don't know. I don't remember my
last oil change. He simply couldn't tell
722
00:52:47.679 --> 00:52:51.320
them. I guess it had been
that long he could not tell them.
723
00:52:52.599 --> 00:52:59.280
Unfortunately for him, his own receipts
proved that it had been done the very
724
00:52:59.400 --> 00:53:05.559
same day as the attempted abduction,
something he should have remembered a normal person
725
00:53:05.559 --> 00:53:08.719
would have remembered. When he was
provided with that information, all he could
726
00:53:08.760 --> 00:53:15.159
say was that he didn't remember getting
an all change. Hm, Why ain't
727
00:53:15.199 --> 00:53:19.280
that fancy? You know, a
cute onset amnesia, just like in the
728
00:53:19.280 --> 00:53:23.440
soap operas. He can't remember what
he did just recently. Another question that
729
00:53:23.480 --> 00:53:28.360
he was asked was do you have
a handgun in your car? And he
730
00:53:28.480 --> 00:53:37.679
emphatically said no, and then indignantly
said that's illegal, right, that's illegal,
731
00:53:37.719 --> 00:53:40.000
guys, Why would he have a
gun in his car? But he
732
00:53:40.079 --> 00:53:45.119
did say that he had a three
eighty at home, but it wasn't on
733
00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:47.440
him, right. So Jeff's van
was going to be searched by the police,
734
00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:52.239
and all of the contents in the
van were documented. So while the
735
00:53:52.280 --> 00:53:57.360
van looked rather normal on the surface
after some digging, it's what wasn't seen
736
00:53:57.400 --> 00:54:01.639
in plain view that would be the
most chilling. So there was a compartment
737
00:54:02.400 --> 00:54:06.960
underneath the middle row of seats in
the van, and it's like a storage
738
00:54:07.000 --> 00:54:09.840
compartment. So when police moved the
seat, flipped it back, and then
739
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:15.360
they opened that storage container, what
they found in there was a black toolbox.
740
00:54:15.760 --> 00:54:17.880
And this, in and of itself, that's not an issue, right,
741
00:54:17.920 --> 00:54:22.079
I mean, people carry toolboxes,
that's not weird. But it's the
742
00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:29.599
contents that were rather unsavory considering an
attempted kidnapping had supposedly just taken place.
743
00:54:30.760 --> 00:54:34.280
Once police were able to get that
padlock off of the box. This is
744
00:54:34.320 --> 00:54:38.320
what they recovered inside of the toolbox. And I want you to remember,
745
00:54:38.719 --> 00:54:44.559
he didn't have a handgun in his
car. That's illegal. Here's the toolbox,
746
00:54:45.480 --> 00:54:55.920
handcuffs, rope restraints, chains,
sex toys, a gag, lubricating
747
00:54:57.000 --> 00:55:06.400
jelly, viagra glow, a camera, and some bullets. So I don't
748
00:55:06.400 --> 00:55:08.960
know about you, but this is
what I would refer to as a rape
749
00:55:09.039 --> 00:55:15.039
kit. I don't know why you
would need to have a traveling sex kit
750
00:55:16.079 --> 00:55:20.800
when you're married and you have a
wife at home. Now, some of
751
00:55:20.840 --> 00:55:22.679
you might be saying, Kelly,
that's not chilling. People are freaks,
752
00:55:22.760 --> 00:55:25.599
right. Maybe he was on his
way, right, he's going to a
753
00:55:25.639 --> 00:55:30.840
sex party. Okay, fine touche. Maybe a lot of people carry butt
754
00:55:30.840 --> 00:55:35.760
plugs and ballgags in their car.
I'm not one of them, but I'll
755
00:55:35.800 --> 00:55:38.880
give you the benefit of the doubt. But what I won't give him the
756
00:55:38.880 --> 00:55:44.599
benefit of the doubt on are the
other items that were in that toolbox.
757
00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:55.679
Insulin syringes and a human anatomy diagram
with injection points marked on them. So
758
00:55:55.840 --> 00:56:00.519
I'm gonna just assume real quick that
you don't know anything about diabetes, and
759
00:56:00.559 --> 00:56:04.199
I'm gonna give you a quick lesson
on insulin, and I'm gonna make it
760
00:56:04.280 --> 00:56:07.320
quick, a promise, But you
need to understand this to understand just how
761
00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:14.800
scary this is. Why would someone
carry insulin in a toolbox sex kit?
762
00:56:15.840 --> 00:56:20.119
Well, why insulin is needed is
the first thing that I need you to
763
00:56:20.159 --> 00:56:23.159
understand. And you're talking to someone
with diabetes, so I kind of identify
764
00:56:23.199 --> 00:56:28.239
with this. If you are a
type two diabetic, then you are likely
765
00:56:28.239 --> 00:56:31.239
what they call insulin resistant, and
that means that the cells in your muscles
766
00:56:31.440 --> 00:56:36.559
and in your fat and in your
liver they don't respond well to insulin,
767
00:56:36.840 --> 00:56:40.239
and so they can't use the glucose
from your blood to give you energy,
768
00:56:40.840 --> 00:56:46.239
and your brain needs insulin for fuel. So insulin comes in two types.
769
00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:53.960
There's fast and there's slow acting.
Someone who suffers with type two diabetes insolent
770
00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:59.679
resistance, Okay, they're gonna need
insulin added to their blood. But if
771
00:56:59.719 --> 00:57:05.360
you don't have insulin resistance and you
are injected with insulin, the effects would
772
00:57:05.400 --> 00:57:08.440
be that your brain for short,
you know, for lack of a better
773
00:57:08.519 --> 00:57:13.760
term, I guess would be shorting
out. Let's say also that you're under
774
00:57:13.840 --> 00:57:17.039
a great amount of stress or duress
from like a scary event, I don't
775
00:57:17.039 --> 00:57:22.760
know, someone kidnapping you or you
know, taking you from a gas station.
776
00:57:22.440 --> 00:57:27.280
Don't you think your heart would be
pumping super fast due to that adrenaline
777
00:57:27.360 --> 00:57:31.039
dump. It would, right,
So whenever your heart is pumping really fast,
778
00:57:31.119 --> 00:57:36.039
that's going to cause that insulin to
absorbed at a much faster rate as
779
00:57:36.079 --> 00:57:40.239
well. Fast acting insulin like Humologue, which by the way, is the
780
00:57:40.280 --> 00:57:45.880
exact brand that was in that rape
kit, would absorb fast. The thinner
781
00:57:45.960 --> 00:57:50.719
you are, the faster the absorption. If you remember, she was five
782
00:57:50.760 --> 00:57:53.159
foot one, one hundred and ten
pounds. That's why overweight people need a
783
00:57:53.199 --> 00:57:58.239
lot of insulin, because the fat
will slow the absorption. Well, Humologue
784
00:57:58.280 --> 00:58:02.519
is fast acting. Just ka hearinga
was not diabetic and she was thin,
785
00:58:05.159 --> 00:58:09.800
well calculated. Evil should be taking
shape in your mind right now. The
786
00:58:09.840 --> 00:58:15.519
capacity of the needles that were found
in the toolbox were also fifty units.
787
00:58:15.039 --> 00:58:22.760
So if a person was injected with
this Humologue and number one didn't need it,
788
00:58:22.440 --> 00:58:30.239
and then number two didn't eat,
it would quickly incapacitate them, and
789
00:58:30.320 --> 00:58:35.400
they would pass out. Jessica still
had not been found, and six years
790
00:58:35.400 --> 00:58:40.320
had passed. A young girl's near
abduction and demise would start a chain of
791
00:58:40.360 --> 00:58:46.199
events that would unravel not one,
but two murders, y'all. And it's
792
00:58:46.239 --> 00:58:50.239
gonna take me another episode to finish
that out, because I got a whole
793
00:58:50.400 --> 00:58:55.760
other murder to talk about. So
hang in there and trust that there is
794
00:58:55.880 --> 00:59:04.880
more to this than you're gonna believe. Evil is real, calculated violence is
795
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:08.960
real. But Jeffrey, and I'll
post pictures of him looks so unassuming,
796
00:59:09.280 --> 00:59:15.000
like so many others that society should
fear, you know, a so called
797
00:59:15.159 --> 00:59:21.840
man with a manicured beard and these
small framed glasses. Yet I'm gonna tell
798
00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:24.639
you there's still people who defend him
and they're they're like, oh, you
799
00:59:24.679 --> 00:59:27.880
know, jeff you just don't know
him. He's really, you know,
800
00:59:27.920 --> 00:59:32.039
he's just a doll of a guy. Yeah, we'll stay tuned, because
801
00:59:32.079 --> 00:59:49.119
so is Chucky. Hey, y'all, kJ you're back for another episode,
802
00:59:49.119 --> 00:59:51.679
but this one's not going to be
normal and what you're used to. This
803
00:59:51.719 --> 00:59:55.719
is actually kind of a bonus episode, but it's for everybody because something happened
804
00:59:57.400 --> 01:00:00.199
with me personally in the class that
I teach, and if you've been listening
805
01:00:00.199 --> 01:00:02.480
for a while, you know that
I'm a teacher, and it just meant
806
01:00:02.559 --> 01:00:06.800
so much to me that I decided
I wanted to just send y'all out an
807
01:00:06.800 --> 01:00:09.360
extra episode this week. And I'm
gonna start out by saying this, this
808
01:00:09.440 --> 01:00:13.960
episode may not be for everybody,
and I completely understand that. And if
809
01:00:14.000 --> 01:00:16.239
it's not, hey America, turn
off your you know, turn off your
810
01:00:16.400 --> 01:00:19.719
your podcast. You don't have to
listen to it. But for those of
811
01:00:19.760 --> 01:00:22.679
you that it is for, I
hope that you will appreciate this as much
812
01:00:22.719 --> 01:00:24.639
as I did, because this was
just really a cool moment for me.
813
01:00:25.199 --> 01:00:31.000
Uh, not only as a true
crime lover, but as a teacher that
814
01:00:32.000 --> 01:00:37.320
a lot of times whenever I'm recording, sometimes it seems like are you know,
815
01:00:37.360 --> 01:00:43.000
it's like our youth are lost,
right, And so I've done episodes
816
01:00:43.039 --> 01:00:45.360
before where it's like, what the
hell is wrong with these kids? Like
817
01:00:45.360 --> 01:00:46.639
what are they doing? How could
they be like this? Why would they
818
01:00:46.679 --> 01:00:51.800
go down that route? And sometimes
it just seems so negative in nature,
819
01:00:51.880 --> 01:00:54.840
and and it is right, true
crime has a lot of negative connotation to
820
01:00:54.880 --> 01:00:59.119
it, but every now and then, y'all. Every now and then,
821
01:00:59.360 --> 01:01:02.280
there's just a beacon of light that
shines, and I have the opportunity to
822
01:01:02.280 --> 01:01:05.880
share it, and so I'm going
to. So I want to take you
823
01:01:05.920 --> 01:01:07.599
back. This was last week,
the week that I'm recording this, it's
824
01:01:07.639 --> 01:01:12.960
the previous week. And so students
come file into the classroom and it's just
825
01:01:13.000 --> 01:01:16.440
going to be another day in class, right, And the kids were all
826
01:01:16.840 --> 01:01:20.119
worked up and they were showing me
their phones because they're like, oh my
827
01:01:20.119 --> 01:01:22.079
god, we have inmates on campus. We have inmates on campus. And
828
01:01:22.119 --> 01:01:24.920
I said, okay, what for? I mean, are they running through
829
01:01:24.920 --> 01:01:28.400
campus or are they working on campus? You know, why are they here?
830
01:01:28.639 --> 01:01:30.239
And they're like, we don't know, but they're out there. And
831
01:01:30.280 --> 01:01:31.519
I said, let me see the
picture. So I look, and sure
832
01:01:31.599 --> 01:01:35.599
enough, there's some inmates and local
inmates that are working popping up a tent
833
01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:38.519
for an event that's going to be
going on at this school that I'm at.
834
01:01:38.920 --> 01:01:42.280
And I said, well, y'all, you know, why are you
835
01:01:42.320 --> 01:01:44.400
so worked up? And they were
like, man, you know, it's
836
01:01:44.519 --> 01:01:45.599
real inmates. I can't believe it. And I'm like, y'all, they're
837
01:01:45.639 --> 01:01:49.559
just people, you know, It's
just people in a different shirt. You
838
01:01:49.599 --> 01:01:52.119
know, it's not that big of
a deal. But I could just tell
839
01:01:52.199 --> 01:01:57.159
that they were so, I don't
know, so enthralled by this. And
840
01:01:57.199 --> 01:01:59.039
I was like, well, you
know what, forget the lesson planned for
841
01:01:59.079 --> 01:02:00.880
the day, y'all want to go
out there and talk to them. And
842
01:02:00.960 --> 01:02:01.719
a lot of them looked at me
like you've got to be kidding. I
843
01:02:01.800 --> 01:02:04.400
was like, no, bro,
come on, let's go. Let's go
844
01:02:04.440 --> 01:02:07.480
check it out. Let's go talk, right because a lot of them haven't
845
01:02:07.480 --> 01:02:12.440
had an experience talking to someone who's
incarcerated, right, So I jumped on
846
01:02:12.480 --> 01:02:15.440
it. So we go walking out
on this field trip, right impromptu,
847
01:02:15.800 --> 01:02:19.480
and we walk out there, and
sure enough, there's the officers and they're
848
01:02:19.519 --> 01:02:21.960
with these with the inmates who are
doing, you know, some some work
849
01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:27.480
for them. And so I called
over an officer to kind of talk to
850
01:02:27.519 --> 01:02:29.599
the kids and tell him what was
going on, and he did that,
851
01:02:29.679 --> 01:02:30.800
and then I said, well,
look, I'd like to talk to those
852
01:02:30.840 --> 01:02:32.840
inmates if you don't mind, and
he said, sure, no problem.
853
01:02:32.920 --> 01:02:37.400
So I called them over and I'm
not gonna I'm not gonna put this inmate
854
01:02:37.440 --> 01:02:39.280
on blast, because that's not the
point of this podcast. Actually it's to
855
01:02:39.480 --> 01:02:45.320
uh recognize that really this is a
podcast about humanity, uh, and that
856
01:02:45.639 --> 01:02:50.719
we can't lose sight of it.
Right. But I called over this this
857
01:02:50.760 --> 01:02:52.679
inmate, and I was like,
hey, man, what's your name?
858
01:02:52.679 --> 01:02:54.639
He gave his name, and I
was like, you know, these are
859
01:02:54.639 --> 01:02:58.039
my students. Can you tell us
a little bit about why you're out here?
860
01:02:58.280 --> 01:03:01.719
And his head dropped, and it
was a shameful head drop, it
861
01:03:01.800 --> 01:03:05.000
felt like. And I was like, look, man, don't worry about
862
01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:07.960
the shirt, don't worry about the
big stripes that you have one. Talk
863
01:03:07.000 --> 01:03:10.559
about the experience, you know,
what's going on. And that guy,
864
01:03:10.760 --> 01:03:15.239
really, I felt like, opened
up his heart and he started talking to
865
01:03:15.280 --> 01:03:19.280
the kids and he said, man, I've been going down the wrong path
866
01:03:19.320 --> 01:03:22.400
here. My life's kind of spiraled
a little bit. And I said,
867
01:03:22.400 --> 01:03:23.239
well, what caused the spiral?
You know? Did you grow up like
868
01:03:23.280 --> 01:03:27.480
this? This has always been something
And he's like, well, actually,
869
01:03:28.320 --> 01:03:31.639
my son was murdered a few years
ago. And ever since my son was
870
01:03:31.719 --> 01:03:37.280
killed, I just things haven't been
going my way. I've been making bad
871
01:03:37.320 --> 01:03:39.199
decisions. I've been going down the
wrong path and I don't really know how
872
01:03:39.199 --> 01:03:42.639
to deal. I guess is what
it seemed like. And so I said,
873
01:03:42.719 --> 01:03:45.960
what happened to with your son and
his son? It was a robbery.
874
01:03:45.880 --> 01:03:50.159
A guy came up and they got
into an argument and he ended up
875
01:03:50.159 --> 01:03:52.239
getting shot and killed. And he
was a younger guy and he went to
876
01:03:52.280 --> 01:03:55.960
a high school out here locally where
I'm at, and so he kind of
877
01:03:57.000 --> 01:04:00.320
told his story. The kids asked
some questions some other stuff when one which
878
01:04:00.320 --> 01:04:03.719
I'll get to in a minute.
But when we were done and we went
879
01:04:03.800 --> 01:04:06.360
to separate our different you know,
our ways, me and the kids going
880
01:04:06.400 --> 01:04:11.960
back to the classroom and the inmates
going back to do their job. One
881
01:04:11.960 --> 01:04:14.760
of my students came up to me
and was like, hey, miss Jennings,
882
01:04:14.800 --> 01:04:17.440
do you mind if I hang back
for a second and talk to that
883
01:04:17.480 --> 01:04:19.440
inmate. And I was like,
nah, Paden, I don't think we're
884
01:04:19.480 --> 01:04:23.239
gonna do that. I don't think
that's a good idea, But I'm telling
885
01:04:23.280 --> 01:04:26.119
you, sometimes you just feel something
that you're like, well, I don't
886
01:04:26.199 --> 01:04:28.960
know, maybe we should. So
I told the other kids, hey,
887
01:04:29.000 --> 01:04:31.320
y'all go ahead on up to the
classroom, and I told my student,
888
01:04:31.360 --> 01:04:34.239
come see, I'll go with you. And we walked back there and I
889
01:04:34.280 --> 01:04:36.840
didn't know what was going on.
I just thought he might have had a
890
01:04:36.880 --> 01:04:42.159
question, honestly about life or something, and I wanted him to have that
891
01:04:42.199 --> 01:04:45.480
opportunity. So we walked back and
the inmate. I was like, hey,
892
01:04:45.480 --> 01:04:47.280
man, come see real quick again. I said, he needs to
893
01:04:47.320 --> 01:04:53.559
talk to you. And I am
telling you with everything in me, and
894
01:04:53.599 --> 01:04:56.519
I mean, I'm recording a podcast
about it to tell you how strongly I
895
01:04:56.519 --> 01:05:01.880
felt about this. I saw this
sixteen year old boy go up to this
896
01:05:02.079 --> 01:05:08.679
grown man who is in his you
know, thirties late they're actually looking at
897
01:05:08.679 --> 01:05:13.199
this. I looked him up.
He's actually in his forties. And I
898
01:05:13.239 --> 01:05:19.519
watched this sixteen year old boy put
his hands on that inmate and turn into
899
01:05:19.599 --> 01:05:25.800
a man right there, and he
started praying like something I have never seen
900
01:05:27.000 --> 01:05:31.119
in my sixteen years of being in
a classroom. I have never seen a
901
01:05:31.199 --> 01:05:38.679
teenage boy pray over a complete stranger
like I did right then. And it
902
01:05:38.760 --> 01:05:43.800
was so touching that I walked over
and I put my hand on the inmate
903
01:05:43.800 --> 01:05:49.480
as well to join in right in
that. And then also the officer walked
904
01:05:49.519 --> 01:05:53.760
over and he took his hat off
and he put his hand on him and
905
01:05:53.800 --> 01:05:58.480
he bowed his head as well,
and it was just a really really cool
906
01:05:58.559 --> 01:06:04.039
moment to see that this kid felt
enough in his heart that he felt like
907
01:06:04.119 --> 01:06:09.480
he needed to go pray over this
complete stranger. And when it was over,
908
01:06:09.599 --> 01:06:11.679
I mean, I was just dumbfounded
by what I heard. It was
909
01:06:11.679 --> 01:06:14.599
the prayer itself, not the action. It was the prayer itself that really
910
01:06:14.639 --> 01:06:16.960
just touched me. But I told
him, I said, Son, I
911
01:06:17.000 --> 01:06:23.000
don't know if you realize this,
but you know, he lost a kid,
912
01:06:24.079 --> 01:06:27.400
you know, he lost a son, and to turn around and then
913
01:06:27.519 --> 01:06:34.239
have someone's son pray for him even
when he's here under bad you know,
914
01:06:34.920 --> 01:06:38.719
decision making and bad circumstances. I
said, I don't know if that really
915
01:06:39.320 --> 01:06:43.199
if you realize the gravity of that, And he's like, no, I
916
01:06:43.239 --> 01:06:45.159
think I do. I kind of
get it. And we go back to
917
01:06:45.239 --> 01:06:55.000
class and it spawned a conversation that
I did not expect amongst teenagers. And
918
01:06:55.280 --> 01:06:59.599
I'm actually pretty excited to tell you
today that I actually brought that student into
919
01:06:59.679 --> 01:07:02.159
the studio with me. So,
Hayes, why don't you say hello to
920
01:07:02.199 --> 01:07:05.679
all my listeners? Hello, I'm
Hayes. He is the Hayes, right,
921
01:07:06.079 --> 01:07:09.719
and we do have his mom's permission
to be here, right, I
922
01:07:09.719 --> 01:07:14.280
didn't kidnap you, that's right.
My mom permitted this. So tell me
923
01:07:14.320 --> 01:07:17.320
a little bit about what tell me
about that experience, like what happened?
924
01:07:17.320 --> 01:07:24.440
Talk to me so for a little
bit like backstory. I've been a Christian
925
01:07:24.440 --> 01:07:26.320
for a little while, and a
couple of years ago, I went to
926
01:07:26.360 --> 01:07:30.440
Seattle for a mission trip to go. We were gonna go serve the homeless,
927
01:07:30.599 --> 01:07:34.360
and while I was there, I
felt the need to pray over a
928
01:07:34.400 --> 01:07:38.559
couple of the homeless people, and
I never actually got the chance to.
929
01:07:38.559 --> 01:07:41.440
I had a week while I was
out there and I felt so dissatisfied with
930
01:07:41.519 --> 01:07:44.679
myself. And then I hadn't gotten
that feeling like I needed to pray over
931
01:07:44.719 --> 01:07:47.639
someone for a while until about two
weeks ago. I was in a subway
932
01:07:48.119 --> 01:07:51.559
with my friends and there was this
lady in the restaurant subway. The restaurant
933
01:07:51.599 --> 01:07:56.519
subway, Yeah, the restaurant.
And then there was this lady and she
934
01:07:56.559 --> 01:07:58.760
was really nice and I felt like
I needed to pray for but I just
935
01:07:58.800 --> 01:08:02.280
could not get the confidence too,
and I was just so unhappy with myself.
936
01:08:02.519 --> 01:08:06.480
But luckily God's good and I got
another chance. The next week or
937
01:08:06.960 --> 01:08:14.679
later that week on a Friday,
and I just remember he was telling his
938
01:08:15.039 --> 01:08:18.600
story and then the entire time,
my stomach was turning and my heart was
939
01:08:18.640 --> 01:08:21.479
pumping, and I was like,
man, God is telling me to pray
940
01:08:21.520 --> 01:08:25.359
over this dude right now. I
was a little bit upset because I was
941
01:08:25.399 --> 01:08:27.039
like, why, why is this
got to happen to me right now?
942
01:08:27.239 --> 01:08:31.119
Right but in school? In school, Like, but I just I kind
943
01:08:31.119 --> 01:08:33.600
of sat there. At first,
I kind of ignored it, and then
944
01:08:34.239 --> 01:08:39.079
it just kept going and kept going, and then I just like, I
945
01:08:39.159 --> 01:08:41.199
was like, I gotta do it. So I just waited it out,
946
01:08:41.199 --> 01:08:44.840
and then afterwards, I was kind
of the part I was nervous about wasn't
947
01:08:44.840 --> 01:08:46.720
really the prayer. I was about
asking my teacher if I could go back
948
01:08:46.760 --> 01:08:50.720
and talk to this inmate. But
luckily I have a really cool teacher and
949
01:08:50.840 --> 01:08:56.000
she let me do that, so
I and then I just just prayed over
950
01:08:56.039 --> 01:09:00.640
him and it was I felt really
good after though, like my legs were
951
01:09:00.640 --> 01:09:01.920
shaking, and so it's kind of
weird. Yeah, Like you were nervous,
952
01:09:02.000 --> 01:09:06.199
right, but what about it?
What about like the fact that did
953
01:09:06.239 --> 01:09:11.159
you see him as a person?
Yeah, and that that was the thing
954
01:09:11.199 --> 01:09:15.000
is that I saw him as a
person, and I know what people say
955
01:09:15.039 --> 01:09:16.560
about people who are incarcerated, and
I know that people want to look at
956
01:09:16.560 --> 01:09:21.119
them as people, and it's like
like seeing him, It's like, man,
957
01:09:21.800 --> 01:09:25.680
this guy needs to know what love
feels like, and true love is
958
01:09:25.720 --> 01:09:28.760
God's love. So I wanted him
to right to make sure that he knew.
959
01:09:29.079 --> 01:09:30.159
Well, I don't know if you
know this, but there are some
960
01:09:30.239 --> 01:09:34.319
people that think I'm a meani weenie
hates and I'm hateful and I mean and
961
01:09:34.319 --> 01:09:36.800
I say horrible things about people.
Well, hey, I think it's more
962
01:09:36.800 --> 01:09:40.880
of an accountability factor, right,
that we shouldn't be robbing and stealing and
963
01:09:40.960 --> 01:09:45.119
raping and killing. But that aside, uh, you know, it's not
964
01:09:45.600 --> 01:09:48.840
there's so much talk about young people, you know what I mean, and
965
01:09:48.880 --> 01:09:54.760
that they're lost and that they don't
they don't they haven't found their way,
966
01:09:54.800 --> 01:09:57.840
I guess, is what I'm saying. But you you built so much confidence
967
01:09:57.920 --> 01:10:00.199
in me just for teenagers that you
would go up and see him as a
968
01:10:00.279 --> 01:10:05.960
human being, right, and that
he has the chance to he still has
969
01:10:06.000 --> 01:10:09.680
the chance right to make things right
and to work for the good. And
970
01:10:09.760 --> 01:10:16.119
so do you remember any of your
prayer I do. I mostly my main
971
01:10:16.479 --> 01:10:21.680
the main part of the prayer was
that that that moment would be something intentional,
972
01:10:23.079 --> 01:10:27.479
and that it would be that it
wouldn't just be like a heat of
973
01:10:27.479 --> 01:10:30.159
the moment, like oh, it's
keet prayer over me. I like God,
974
01:10:30.239 --> 01:10:31.520
the next day he reads his Bible
and then he never touches it again
975
01:10:31.560 --> 01:10:35.279
like that was my main focus of
the prayer was that God would change his
976
01:10:35.279 --> 01:10:40.680
heart, change his mind for the
better, and help him right, help
977
01:10:40.760 --> 01:10:45.520
him through the yeah, the loss
right because regardless of what he's done,
978
01:10:45.560 --> 01:10:46.439
which, by the way, from
a listeners, I did go pull the
979
01:10:46.439 --> 01:10:51.199
docket to see exactly what he had
done, and he did give most of
980
01:10:51.880 --> 01:10:55.720
what he had done. There's always
a little bit left out right because people
981
01:10:55.760 --> 01:10:59.800
want to I don't think he wanted
to look like a bad guy, you
982
01:10:59.840 --> 01:11:01.800
know, obviously, and I'm not
going to call out everything about it.
983
01:11:01.840 --> 01:11:06.079
But he was pretty truthful in his
downward spiral. I mean, I'm looking
984
01:11:06.119 --> 01:11:14.199
at the charges right now, but
to have lost a child that was another
985
01:11:14.279 --> 01:11:16.600
I didn't I didn't want to mention
that my prayer because I I feel like
986
01:11:16.600 --> 01:11:20.359
it would have been too much.
But I did mention like I didn't mention
987
01:11:20.520 --> 01:11:25.720
like how God's love is irreplaceable,
and like I also mentioned God's infinite grace
988
01:11:25.760 --> 01:11:29.279
and forgiveness, like because I know
that if I, if I was in
989
01:11:29.279 --> 01:11:33.199
that position, I would probably doubt
God's ability to forgive me. Like if
990
01:11:33.239 --> 01:11:38.680
if something happened and then I downspiraled
like that, I probably wouldn't feel too
991
01:11:38.720 --> 01:11:41.039
good. So it's like, really, and I felt like it was important
992
01:11:41.079 --> 01:11:44.680
to like remind him in that moment, like like God's got him, you
993
01:11:44.720 --> 01:11:46.760
know, like God's got that forgiveness
and grace that he needs, and also
994
01:11:46.800 --> 01:11:49.520
he has the love that he needs, like the love that he may have
995
01:11:50.039 --> 01:11:55.000
lost a little bit of whenever he
lost his son. God has ten times
996
01:11:55.039 --> 01:11:58.279
that for him, right, and
it's infinite. Right. Yeah. So
997
01:11:58.399 --> 01:12:01.640
what was really neat too about this
was that you went back to class with
998
01:12:01.720 --> 01:12:09.000
me and you actually one of the
officers had been saying a scripture that was
999
01:12:10.279 --> 01:12:12.800
you know, outside he had started
a scripture. But what was even cooler
1000
01:12:12.800 --> 01:12:14.640
is when we went back to class, you were like, yeah, well
1001
01:12:14.800 --> 01:12:16.960
there's actually a second part to that
scripture. Do you remember that? I
1002
01:12:17.000 --> 01:12:19.720
do remember that. When we went
back to class, tell me what did
1003
01:12:19.960 --> 01:12:25.000
what did you add on to it
well. So one of the things he
1004
01:12:25.079 --> 01:12:30.119
mentioned was how our Christians are allowed
to judge, which is technically true and
1005
01:12:30.159 --> 01:12:35.600
whenever you're looking at the structure of
the church, like if my buddy asks
1006
01:12:35.640 --> 01:12:39.279
me to hold him accountable and make
sure that he doesn't, you know,
1007
01:12:39.359 --> 01:12:42.680
live in sin or something, then
now I'm in a position where I'm allowed
1008
01:12:42.720 --> 01:12:45.880
to be like, hey man,
you probably shouldn't do that, and it's
1009
01:12:45.199 --> 01:12:48.920
it's not a bad way of judging. But also the second part of the
1010
01:12:49.039 --> 01:12:54.880
verse that it talks about that it
says to not point out the speck in
1011
01:12:54.880 --> 01:12:58.159
your brother's eye when you have a
plank on your own, which is something
1012
01:12:58.199 --> 01:13:00.560
that I made sure to mention whenever
we went back to class, because I
1013
01:13:00.560 --> 01:13:03.199
wanted to make sure that the other
students were a little bit more receptive to
1014
01:13:03.239 --> 01:13:08.560
what was being said and that they
it wasn't just disregarded because of the delivery.
1015
01:13:08.760 --> 01:13:10.560
Right, You don't want to just
tune you out because of the delivery.
1016
01:13:10.560 --> 01:13:13.119
You want him to hear the message, not the delivery. Yeah,
1017
01:13:13.159 --> 01:13:15.399
I could appreciate that. So fast
forward, guys, the reason I'm sharing
1018
01:13:15.399 --> 01:13:19.760
this story with you is that I
was at another event and a pastor friend
1019
01:13:19.800 --> 01:13:24.840
of mine that also works within law
enforcement. He and I were having a
1020
01:13:24.840 --> 01:13:29.640
discussion at another event. This was
a couple of days later, and I
1021
01:13:29.680 --> 01:13:31.760
had mentioned this very story to him
because I was so I just thought it
1022
01:13:31.800 --> 01:13:35.199
was so neat right that this teenage
kid would go outside of the box of
1023
01:13:35.199 --> 01:13:41.239
what is I guess normal in school
to really follow what he believed and felt.
1024
01:13:41.640 --> 01:13:44.920
And I told the pastor about that, and he's like, that's crazy.
1025
01:13:44.920 --> 01:13:47.439
He said, I had a really
cool moment with an inmate as well.
1026
01:13:47.520 --> 01:13:50.760
He said that he came up to
me, meaning the pastor. He
1027
01:13:50.760 --> 01:13:54.239
went up to him and said,
man, you know, God's coming at
1028
01:13:54.239 --> 01:13:56.600
me all from all angles, and
I just really feel like I need to
1029
01:13:56.600 --> 01:13:58.760
get back in church. And he
said, I get out in like a
1030
01:13:58.760 --> 01:14:02.920
month or two where you at church? And I said, wow, you
1031
01:14:02.920 --> 01:14:05.960
know that's really cool, right,
people making positive changes in their lives.
1032
01:14:06.000 --> 01:14:10.359
And I was like, yeah,
this guy's son had been murdered and his
1033
01:14:10.880 --> 01:14:14.319
head, the pastor's head just spun
around, just snapped around it, and
1034
01:14:14.399 --> 01:14:15.640
he said the name and I was
like, yeah, that was him.
1035
01:14:15.680 --> 01:14:18.479
He said, Oh my god,
that is the inmate that came up to
1036
01:14:18.520 --> 01:14:24.560
me. So I think what was
so awesome about that was that here's this
1037
01:14:24.680 --> 01:14:28.319
kid in my class right who had
zero intentions of doing that that day.
1038
01:14:28.920 --> 01:14:33.119
And look at the impact you had
on somebody more than you know, you
1039
01:14:33.119 --> 01:14:38.279
know, twice your age, and
just as a young person. And sometimes
1040
01:14:38.319 --> 01:14:42.000
we disregard young people, right and
what their knowledge base is. But I
1041
01:14:42.000 --> 01:14:44.760
mean, you just killed it,
bro. I'm proud of you. I
1042
01:14:44.760 --> 01:14:47.079
want you to know that. Thank
you. How did it make you feel
1043
01:14:47.560 --> 01:14:50.439
whenever you told me that? Yeah, well, honestly, I didn't know
1044
01:14:50.439 --> 01:14:54.079
how I thought at first. I
was there were a lot of tears in
1045
01:14:53.800 --> 01:14:57.560
my head and I was holding him
back for a second, and then mister
1046
01:14:57.680 --> 01:15:00.439
Jennings gave me a hug and the
man the top of my lunch box got
1047
01:15:00.520 --> 01:15:05.479
drenched. I was balling my eyes
out. And it's just because it's like
1048
01:15:05.720 --> 01:15:10.039
whenever something like that happens, you're
able to see like how good God is
1049
01:15:10.119 --> 01:15:13.840
and how God is faithful, and
like he's going to use you, and
1050
01:15:14.039 --> 01:15:16.239
there's nothing you can do. There's
nothing you can do that can run God
1051
01:15:16.239 --> 01:15:19.640
away that he won't use you because
even the inmate, like God used the
1052
01:15:19.640 --> 01:15:24.079
inmate in my life. Because now
I have more courage and confidence that God's
1053
01:15:24.119 --> 01:15:26.760
going to be faithful and that He's
going to allow me to do certain things
1054
01:15:26.800 --> 01:15:30.439
like that in the same way that
he used me to be able to kind
1055
01:15:30.439 --> 01:15:32.680
of speak into his life. And
it's like to see all that connect is
1056
01:15:32.680 --> 01:15:36.199
really really cool and it shows its
faithfulness. That's awesome and in the big
1057
01:15:36.239 --> 01:15:39.560
picture, in the big scheme of
things. Even though this is a true
1058
01:15:39.560 --> 01:15:43.039
crime podcast that I do, the
goal would hopefully be that people's hearts are
1059
01:15:43.119 --> 01:15:45.800
changed right and that they don't commit
these crimes because that's what makes some atrocities,
1060
01:15:45.840 --> 01:15:50.199
and that we don't want to continue
continue that forward. But I want
1061
01:15:50.199 --> 01:15:54.000
you to know how much I appreciate
you and I love you, kiddo,
1062
01:15:54.600 --> 01:15:57.239
and that you really impacted my life. And I felt like I needed to
1063
01:15:57.239 --> 01:16:00.600
put you behind a microphone and let
you kind of speak your truth. Thank
1064
01:16:00.640 --> 01:16:02.279
you. I love you too,
James. I'm a buddy, all right.
1065
01:16:02.319 --> 01:16:04.000
Well, thank you for coming in
guys. Look, it's just a
1066
01:16:04.039 --> 01:16:06.279
little shorty, a little episode.
I wanted to drop in there and kind
1067
01:16:06.319 --> 01:16:10.319
of give you some insight behind the
scenes of what's going on in my life.
1068
01:16:10.640 --> 01:16:14.439
And I'll be dropping y'all a regular
episode next week. Until then,
1069
01:16:14.720 --> 01:16:15.000
I'll catch y'all on the flip











