October 8, 2024 • 38 mins
What if the ordinary places you visit every day could harbor unimaginable evil? On this episode, we uncover the haunting disappearance of Jessica Heringa, a young woman from Norton Shores, Michigan, whose routine shift at a convenience store in April 2013 took a sinister turn. Her chilling encounter with a suspicious customer, a lurking silver minivan, and the unsettling connections to the murder of Rebecca Bletch reveal a tapestry of terror that we never thought possible.
Prepare to be captivated as we recount how a tip led investigators to Jeffrey Thomas Willis, a seemingly unassuming man with a dark history, whose actions left a trail of fear and suspicion. Discover the bravery of a young girl who narrowly escaped his clutches and contemplate the haunting reality of predators hiding in plain sight. Through the lens of these shocking events, we also shine a light on the systemic issues and chilling patterns that put these vulnerable individuals at risk, urging us to question the safety of those labeled as runaways.
Join us as we explore the concealed truths in this web of crime, including the unsettling involvement of Willis's cousin, Kevin Bloom, and the theories of retired Lieutenant Michael Kasher, whose insights might provide a crucial piece to the puzzle. While we hope for Jessica's justice and Willis's permanent imprisonment, we invite you to reflect on these stories and reach out with your own. Share your eerie tales or suggest future cases for us to investigate. We look forward to hearing from you at goneandablakepod@gmail.com and featuring your stories in upcoming episodes.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jessica_Heeringa
https://www.hollandsentinel.com/story/news/crime/2023/05/03/where-is-jessica-heeringa-ten-years-later-former-detective-thinks-he-knows/70170552007/
https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2018/05/jeffrey_willis_trial_tearful_w.html
https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/heeringa-missing-10-years-interrogation-tapes-reveal-connections-between-jeffrey-willis-and-his-victims#:~:text=According%20to%20information%20in%20audio%20and%20video%20recordings,he%20did%20not%20%22lead%22%20Willis%20to%20either%20victim.
Music:
Crime Trap by Muza Production
Dark Haunts by Tim Kulig
Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
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Thanks for joining us on the airwaves. And remember......Be Safe, Be Smart, and Try Not to Blink.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Oftentimes, when we go about our everyday lives, we
do so without really thinkingabout what our next step is
going to be.
We get into such a routine thateverything becomes almost
second nature and everyonearound us is almost invisible.
Is almost invisible as webecome so consumed with daily
(00:45):
tasks such as going to work ordropping the kids off at school
or running errands Everydaythings that would not normally
grab anyone's attention.
But sometimes it does, andsometimes the attention it grabs
is something far more evil thananyone could ever imagine.
(01:09):
You see, everywhere you go,evil lurks among us, blended
into the crowd of what appearsto be normal.
It may be a person in the carthat is stopped at the red light
beside you.
It may be the waiter waitingtables at your favorite
restaurant.
(01:30):
It could be the delivery driverthat delivers packages to your
door, or even the postman whodelivers your mail every day in
front of your house.
Evil comes in all forms and itdoesn't always make its
intentions known.
For 25-year-old Jessica Heringa, evil met her at one of the
(01:54):
places that she felt most safe,the one place she was sure to be
at almost daily, a place thatwas part of her routine.
Almost daily, a place that waspart of her routine.
Evil had found her at theconvenience store where she
worked as a cashier, and on thisnight, the night of April 26,
2013, she was alone.
(02:17):
He had seen her many timesbefore and there was something
about her that caught his eye.
He knew when he saw her thatshe would be his next victim.
This is the case of JessicaHaringa, and this is Gone in a
(02:39):
Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and I'm Danielle.
Welcome to.
(03:00):
Episode 26 of Gone in a BlinkFall is officially here, and
that means that Halloween isjust around the corner.
What is the creepiest thing tohappen on Halloween night?
We want to hear your creepieststories and then we'll talk
about them on our next show.
Email us your creepiestHalloween story at
(03:20):
goneinablinkpod at gmailcom.
So today's case is nothingshort of absolutely horrifying.
Today, we are talking about themurder of Jessica Haringa as
well as the murder of RebeccaBletch.
Even though these two womendidn't know each other, their
(03:42):
murders sort of intertwined.
So if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Jessica Lynn Haringa was a25-year-old woman from Norton
Shores, michigan, where shelived with her boyfriend and
three-year-old son.
On the night of April 26, 2013,she was working the late night
(04:05):
shift as a cashier at the Exxongas station.
Here is the timeline of eventson the days leading up to
Jessica Haringa's disappearance,as well as the last time
Jessica was seen alive, so April25, 2013,.
A female who was a frequentcustomer of the gas station says
(04:27):
she saw Jessica working latethat night and told her that she
shouldn't be there all alone solate at night like that and
that she should have probablyhad her boyfriend there to keep
her company.
A strange customer overheardthe conversation and spoke up
saying quote she's got hercustomers looking out for her
(04:47):
too.
Unquote.
The woman claims that Jessicashook her head and immediately
made a shivering gesture, as ifshe had gotten the chills at the
remark made by the stranger.
The woman also mentioned thatJessica wasn't really acting
like her usual self that nightand that she seemed as if
something was wrong.
(05:07):
So the woman decided to parkoutside of the gas station and
wait until the gas stationclosed to kind of keep an eye on
things.
She watched the strange man whomade the eerie comment leave,
and then everything seemed fine.
So the woman left.
And then everything seemed fine.
So the woman left.
So then, on April 26th 2013,which was the night of Jessica's
(05:29):
disappearance.
At 10.55 pm the lasttransaction was recorded on
Jessica's register and it was acigarette lighter.
So then at 11 pm a woman by thename of Susan Follett, which
was the manager of the Exxonstation, and then her then
(05:50):
husband, eric Barber, ride bythe station on their motorcycle.
However, something odd capturedthe attention of Susan.
She noticed a suspicious silverminivan parked behind the Exxon
gas station.
She initially thought thatJessica was stealing merchandise
from the station, as there wasmention that Jessica had done
(06:11):
that in the past.
Susan told Muskegon prosecutorDJ Hilson that she had a really
bad feeling that something waswrong when she spotted the
suspicious silver van around thecorner of the gas station with
its headlights off.
She turned to her husband andsaid quote something don't feel
right, I'm going back.
(06:32):
Unquote.
The couple turned around andparked in the parking lot of a
nearby business.
There they had a good view ofthe back of the gas station and
could see the van parked backthere next to the rear service
door.
Above the door was a light thatemployees were supposed to keep
on and that light had beenturned off.
(06:53):
There was still just enoughlight, however, from the side of
the station for Susan and herhusband to notice that the van's
hatch closed, shut and thenreopened and then closed shut
again.
They could see a man wearing abright orange shirt get into the
driver's side of the van andthen drive away.
(07:14):
The van passed directly infront of Susan and her husband's
parked motorcycles and fromthere they could tell that the
driver of the van was a bigger,broader man with wavy hair.
Once the van drove away,follett and her husband went
home and shortly after arrivinghome Susan received a phone call
(07:36):
from her manager telling her toget to the gas station fast
because Jessica was not there.
Jessica was not there and Susantestified later in court that
she did in fact go back to thegas station and that she told
police about the suspicioussilver van she had seen earlier.
Between the hours of 1102 and1105 pm, a silver Chrysler Town
(07:57):
and Country matching the oneseen by the Exxon manager and
her husband was seen onsurveillance cameras from three
other area businesses speedingaway from the station.
11 10 pm, a man pulls into thestation to buy gas.
When he goes into the store topay, he can't find Jessica
anywhere and decides to call9-1-1.
(08:19):
11 25 pm, police arrive at theExxon station, where they found
jessica's car and jacket, herpurse and wallet with over 400
still inside, as well as abroken scope to a gun that was
located on the ground in theback of the station and also
(08:41):
drops of blood.
Within Within an hour, policeconducted a canine search of the
area.
However, the search turned upnothing.
Lieutenant Kasher was the firstdetective on the scene the
night of Jessica's disappearancethe scene still fresh in his
mind today.
Immediately he knew the outcomewasn't going to be good and in
(09:03):
an article by the HollandSentinel, lieutenant Kasher is
quoted as saying quote I see allof her stuff there, including
her cigarettes and her lighter,which was nicely stacked and it
looked like she was countingmoney out of her drawer.
There's a lot of money there.
All the change, everything,everything was in place like she
(09:24):
was cleaning up unquote.
In the days after Jessica'sdisappearance, family and
friends handed out flyers andheld candlelight vigils, praying
that police would locateJessica and bring her home
safely.
Then came tip number 257.
The tip that would leadinvestigators to Jessica's
(09:46):
killer, a man by the name ofJeffrey Thomas Willis.
Willis, a former factory worker, was a frequent customer at the
Exxon gas station where Jessicaworked.
His profile matched that of apolice artist sketch of a man
that was seen flirting withJessica in the days leading up
to her disappearance.
(10:06):
His vehicle also matched theone witnessed behind the station
.
The night Jessica went missingand, according to Wikipedia,
some of Willis's co-workers atthe factory told authorities
that Willis was scheduled towork on the night Jessica
disappeared, but that he nevershowed up that night.
Nor did he show up in the daysafter she went missing.
(10:27):
Police obtained a searchwarrant to search Willis' house
and there they discovered atreasure trove of evidence On
his home computer.
They found pictures of Jessicain a folder labeled VIX V-I-C-S.
I think that pretty much goeswithout saying that that is
(10:48):
short for victims.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I have a few questions.
Just as you were reading thetimeline, something that didn't
make sense to me and maybe youcan clear it up for me.
So the manager of the gasstation and her husband drive by
and the manager had an uneasyfeeling so they went back.
(11:11):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yes, that's absolutely correct.
They had driven by the gasstation and happened to see the
silver minivan rounding thecorner into the back of the gas
station with the headlights off,and they thought that was kind
of strange, and so they turnedaround to see what was going on.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Right.
So I guess what's confusing tome is that they were that
concerned to turn around and topark at a business across the
street, but after they saw thatthe minivan leave, or even
before, they didn't think to gointo the gas station to make
(11:52):
sure that Jessica was okay orjust to kind of check things out
.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I did think that that was a little weird also, but I
don't know that they thoughtthat whatever was going on was
putting Jessica in harm's way atthe time.
I think now Susan Follett, thefemale witness, and the manager,
had mentioned that sheinitially thought that Jessica
(12:17):
was stealing, and not money, butstealing items from the store
Because she had done that in thepast.
So when they turned around, Idon't think it was a concern
about someone is there to dosomething to Jessica.
From what I've read, or all thereports that I've seen, that
they realized it was a man inthat minivan until the minivan
(12:44):
pulled away and passed them andthen they saw that it was a man.
You know, you know when you seethings.
I mean, have you ever been in aposition where you see
something and you're kind oflike I don't know, this could be
something, this could benothing?
And then sometimes nine timesout of 10, we all try and we end
up convincing ourselves that itwas probably nothing, because
(13:07):
you don't want to act onsomething that you're not 100%
sure is anything.
And so to act on that, you knowyou're really setting some
wheels in motion, so sometimesit's easier just to convince
yourself oh, it was, it wasnothing.
Now this poor woman is beatingherself up now.
Her testimony was heartbreaking.
(13:27):
She's really feeling that guilt.
But I think hindsight's 20-20.
And at the time she reallydidn't think that this is a
serial killer.
And he just killed Jessica andthrew her body in the back and
that is what was going on backthere.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Well, and then, of course, anybody can understand
that, because we've all hadthings that we've regretted or,
you know, wish, you know, 2020hindsight, that we would have
done things differently.
I guess we we just had a coupleof things that you described.
That one, of course, to seethat, and it wouldn't even be to
me that suspicious for her tojust to stop in and, I don't
(14:06):
know, get a soda or something.
But also you have a woman therealone that late at night.
I mean, and we don't know thatthe town or whatever the
circumstances of why they wouldthink that would be okay for a
worker to be alone at night ingeneral, man or woman, I mean
just two factors that absolutelyI'm sure that the lady really
(14:28):
feels like she should have wentback and went inside oh,
definitely.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I think that looking back now she, like I said, she's
beating herself up about it andprobably asking those exact
same questions that you justbrought up why didn't I go into
the store?
Why didn't I check on her?
The sad part is it by then itwas too late.
She would have went into anempty store and she discovered
that soon after she got homebecause another manager had
(14:55):
contacted her to go back.
So on December 13th 2016, inMuskegon County, judge Raymond
Kosua decided that theprosecution had enough evidence
against Willis to charge himwith their murder and kidnapping
of Jessica.
The folder on Willis's computerlabeled VIX, with a subfolder
(15:17):
labeled with Jessica's initials,along with pictures of her and
the date of her disappearance,were among the evidence
presented in his trial.
Also found on Willis's computerwere necrophilia and murder
porn videos downloaded from theinternet.
So basically, this guy is apretty sick piece of work.
(15:38):
So it was also discoveredthrough DNA evidence that the
blood droplets on the groundbehind the gas station were, in
fact, confirmed to be Jessica'sblood.
On May 16th 2018, willis wasfound guilty of Jessica's
kidnapping and murder, and onemonth later he received a life
sentence.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Well, honestly, I'm glad to hear that, that he
received a life sentence and Iguess, thinking back again to
that timeline, that he was justthere to kill her.
I mean that that's just obviousto me and a little bit
disturbing to.
He didn't steal any money, thatyou're saying that she had $400
(16:18):
in her purse, but from what youjust read, he was there
strictly, had been stalking herand was just there to kill her.
And I wish that somebody couldhave seen this coming.
Even if the store was empty andthe manager came in, then they
would have caught him so muchsooner.
I mean, it's just such a sadstory.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I definitely think that they should not have only
one employee working at any hour, but especially overnight.
I think that that's just insane.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I totally agree that that makes zero sense.
As you were saying that, I wastrying to think have I ever been
someplace, at a gas stationlate at night where there has
just been one person?
I don't think so.
I mean, this was what in 2013.
So so maybe that long ago thatI'd stop in, and I just always
(17:11):
seem to remember that there'd beat least another person there.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Well, I think any more too.
I mean, I'm sure it stillhappens now, especially with
companies trying to cut costs sothey don't want to hire two
employees, figuring that there'snot that many people that are
coming in late at night, but itreally is a safety issue at this
point.
It's always been a safety issueNow.
Willis was also tied to the2014 murder of a young woman by
(17:37):
the name of Rebecca Sue Bletch,to which he was also found
guilty and sentenced to lifewithout the possibility of
parole.
Rebecca was a 36-year-old womanfrom Dalton Township who had
been approached by Willis onJune 29, 2014, while jogging.
So this one this one was in2014.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
So the other was 2013 , though, right.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Right, so he wasn't immediately charged.
Apparently, they'reinvestigating that case In the
meanwhile, 2014, june 29th 2014.
I mean, he's still free.
He hasn't been.
He hasn't been found.
Look at all the cases thatsomeone was murdered, and the
(18:23):
cold cases no one's no one'sbeen recovered, no one's been
found, no one's been charged.
So I mean, this was one ofthose that they just didn't
catch up to him before he wasable to commit this other murder
.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
So I'm looking tip number 257.
Are we saying that that camethrough and they started that
investigation process after Julyof 2014?
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I'm assuming they started the investigation
process immediately after, soI'm going back.
Okay, I was talking about whenhe was actually charged.
He was charged and his trialwent on, and everything in 2016.
But 2014,.
He has struck again.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
It's like what in the world he's been charged?
They know that this is the theperson and he's out able to to
strike again.
So my thought is 2013.
You seemingly I don't know ifhe thinks he he is getting away
with it at this point that hefeels comfortable enough to try
(19:32):
something like this again in2014.
But it just seems like andmaybe that's what it is was just
overconfidence that theyhaven't figured out what I had
done maybe a year and a halfbefore.
I mean, it's just so mindboggling to me.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It's that of a serial killer.
They strike again becausethey're addicted to that
euphoric feeling that they'regetting from committing the
crime.
Whatever it is that fuels theirmotivation Apparently, with
this guy it's some incrediblysick sexual fetishes, I guess
you would you would call it soit's fueling.
(20:11):
They can't.
They can't, not do it.
Some of them are able to stopdoing it for a while, but then
they strike back up just about ayear after Jessica so 2014,.
June 29th, 2014,.
June 29th, rebecca Bletch isjogging.
She is approached by what endsup being Willis in his silver
(20:33):
minivan, and later on she wasfound on the side of the road
with three gunshot wounds to herhead.
Shell casings found near herbody matched a gun that was
found in Willis's minivan.
Police also discovereddisturbing photos of women who
were bound and gagged, as wellas a rape kit that consisted of
(20:54):
handcuffs, ropes, chains andsyringes, with a liquid
substance in one of them thatwas later tested and found to
contain a powerful sedative.
Another subfolder was found onWillis's computer, much like the
one found in the folder titledVIX that had Jessica's subfile
(21:14):
in it, and this one was a filetitled Rebecca and it contained
photos of Rebecca Bletch.
So police were able to tie morecharges to Willis, such as the
attempted kidnapping of a16-year-old girl by the name of
Madison Nygaard in LaketonTownship on April 16, 2016,.
(21:36):
After she had left a party andbecome lost while trying to walk
home, willis pulled alongsideher in his silver minivan and
asked her if she needed to usehis phone.
In his silver minivan, andasked her if she needed to use
his phone, the young womanreplied that she did, and he
told her that in order to usehis phone, she would have to get
inside his van.
That is red flag number two,actually, for me, the first one
(22:00):
being the fact that heapproached her at all, but she
was only 16, and I think a lotof times at that age, you think
you're invincible.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You think you're invincible.
You think you're invincible andalso you don't.
And I don't know about thisperson, but she could have very
likely had someone warning heragainst the social media warns,
against things like that, evenin 2016.
But you don't think it's evergoing to happen to you.
Oh, it's just some guy beingnice.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Well, exactly, and if you're in a crappy situation,
you're out in a rural area andyou're lost and you're thinking,
oh, he seems like a nice guy,you're a little naive,
especially at 16.
So she got into the minivan andas soon as she shut the
passenger door, he locked allthe doors and pulled out a gun.
Once he pulled out the gun, thegirl immediately went into
(22:50):
fight or flight mode and, due toher quick thinking, she was
able to escape the van bypretending that she couldn't
breathe and getting him to rolldown the window.
And it worked and the girl wasable to jump out of the moving
van and get away.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
I am so glad to hear that.
Honestly.
Okay, ladies, if you need touse a phone and you say, oh,
they have to get in the vanfirst, do not Walk in a rural
area, whatever.
Get attacked by a bear, itdoesn't matter, Just get away.
I'm so glad that that workedout.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, that was super quick thinking on her part and
I'm kind of surprised, to behonest with you, that by her
saying that she couldn't breathe, that he really gave a crap,
that he was like, oh, let meroll down the window for you so
you can breathe.
But it was worth a shot for herto try and I'm very glad that
(23:46):
she did because it saved herlife.
So Willis was also charged withpossession and production of
child pornography wheninvestigators discovered videos
on his computer of nakedunderage girls who actually
lived next door to him in Marchof 2011 and had recorded them
(24:08):
while they used his bathroom,according to Wikipedia, and
that's pretty much all I foundon that.
So I'm a bit confused as to,first of all, why were they
using his bathroom if he livednext door to them, and why were
they naked?
That's kind of confusing to me,like did he lure them there by
telling them some fabricatedstory?
(24:29):
And maybe they were changing inhis bathroom?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
regardless of why they were there, this guy is
pretty sick and they areextremely, extremely lucky to be
alive because, considering histrack record, I guess what came
to mind is, and who knows, butlike little kids or whatever, if
you're swimming or outside inthe summertime and you have a
swimsuit on it to use thebathroom, you have to take off
(24:55):
the swimsuit and so you'd benaked.
So I mean, that's just kind ofwhat I thought, maybe something
like that, but I guess somethingthat's a little disturbing
other than the obvious that thatwas 2011.
And I mean we're saying therewas no reports or anything that
they could get him on until thistime, so until 2016.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yes, that's all I found regarding that situation.
That happened in March 2011with the underage girls.
Obviously, this was yearsbefore what he did to Jessica,
but this is kind of going toshow you how I don't know.
It just kind of goes to showhow he was starting out.
(25:40):
Maybe he's doing things likethis that are still very sick,
but Willis is suspected okay,they don't have anything
foolproof on this, but he issuspected of an unsolved murder
back as far as October of 1996of a 15 year old Fruitport High
(26:00):
School student by the name ofAngela Marie Thornburg.
Angela's body was discovered bya hunter in the woods near
Fruitport and she was partiallyclothed and had been reported
missing one month prior to beingdiscovered and was initially
considered to be a runaway.
And I think that is the problemwith a lot of these missing
(26:20):
persons cases when the victim isa teenager and I think we've
talked about this before but thepolice immediately assume the
victim is a teenager and I thinkwe've talked about this before
but the police immediatelyassume the victim is just a
runaway.
And this is clearly not alwaysthe case.
And even in the instances whereit actually is the case, being
a runaway puts the teenager inan even more vulnerable state,
(26:41):
because that is exactly whatchild predators are looking for
and really that's so true thatthese child predators they want
to look for.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I mean, it's very similar to human trafficking
someone that they've read away,their parents don't understand
them and that they need theirhelp.
But I do want to say yes, thereare some genuine guys or girls
out there that really do seesomebody in a tough situation
and want to help.
Unfortunately, I mean, a lot oftimes you hear of these missing
(27:14):
children, teenagers, adults,from people that that have been
stalking, like this guy, frompeople that mean harm, and it's
so scary.
It is scary.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
And there are a lot of people out there that would
rush to help someone in need,but in this day and age
especially, you just can't trustanybody.
I mean, and it's sad, but it'sjust the way it is now.
So on June 31, 2016,.
We're jumping back to 2016,willis's cousin, kevin Bloom,
(27:49):
who was a former prison guardfor the Michigan Department of
Corrections, was charged withlying to a police officer after
he told officers informationabout Jessica's death that
hadn't been made public yet.
He later recanted thisinformation and he eventually
admitted to police that he hadseen Willis with Jessica's body
(28:10):
and that he helped him bury herafter she woman there that he
needed help with.
Bloom told investigators thathe saw Jessica naked, face down
on the ground with her handsbound behind her back and what
(28:32):
appeared to be a head wound.
So this is how much of amonster this guy is and how
little regard he has for humanlife.
He uses her for his own sickpleasure and then puts a bullet
in her head when he's done.
It's absolutely disgusting.
It's so disgusting.
So Bloom admitted to officersthat Willis had been watching
(28:56):
Jessica for some time beforehitting her over the head to the
point that she lostconsciousness, and then raping
her and torturing her.
Bloom claimed that he helpedWillis wrap Jessica's body in a
sheet before driving her out toSheridan Road, near Laketon Road
, where Willis had already dug ahole for her.
They then buried Jessica's body.
(29:17):
I guess I'm just blown away athow many people are willing to
bury a body for someone whenasked.
It really blows my mind.
So Bloom ended up gettingsuspended without pay from his
job at the correctional facility.
Jeez, I would certainly hope so, just suspended.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Well, no, not just suspended, he probably should
got fired.
Actually, I mean, you know,you're working at a facility
where you are working withprisoners and you just admitted
to burying a body and the mostthey're going to do to you at
the moment is suspend you.
Maybe that was before heactually admitted that.
I would hope that was before headmitted to what he did.
(30:00):
This is all I found whenresearching, but I'm hoping that
maybe during the investigationhe was suspended and then, once
he admitted it or they had moreevidence, they should have fired
.
Fired him, I mean maybe.
Well, they obviously did at somepoint, because on November 27th
2017, he pleaded no contest toaccessory after the fact and was
(30:25):
sentenced approximately sixweeks later to time served.
He was sentenced to time servedby then, plus five years
probation, and he had to wear aGPS monitor for one year.
So, wow, that sounds prettymuch like a slap on the wrist.
In my opinion, and according toan article published on Fox 17
(30:45):
online, bloom had a personalconnection with both Rebecca
Bletch and Madison Nygaard.
It seems that he told policethat one of his kids played
soccer with one of Rebecca'skids and that Madison Nygaard
was in dance with his kids, yethe claims that he never steered
(31:07):
either one of them into the pathof Willis.
Hmm, I don't know about that.
I don't think that was merelycoincidence, do you?
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Absolutely not.
Oh my gosh, this is crazy thathe.
It's literally just a slap onthe wrist and I mean you know
what no contest means right?
When somebody pleads that thetechnicality of it oh I'm not
saying it's right or wrong, likethat they're ignorant of the
law, that doesn't make any sense.
You helped hide at least onedead body.
(31:38):
I'm thinking he kind of wasworking with him, with Willis,
on this.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah, I don't doubt for a second.
I know it's all just kind ofwe're theorizing with this, but
I think that he wholeheartedlywas part of why they were
Willis's victims in the firstplace, because that just seems
way too coincidental that hewould have ties to both of those
victims and both of thosevictims would end up dead.
(32:05):
And well, actually, no, no,they didn't both end up dead,
did they?
Well, rebecca did, and MadisonNygaard could have potentially
been the next murder victim.
I don't believe in coincidences, especially when you're talking
about crime like this.
So I think he was totallyinvolved 100%.
So I think he was totallyinvolved 100%.
Jessica's body has never beenfound.
(32:34):
However, in an article publishedin the Holland Sentinel,
retired Norton Shores policelieutenant and former lead
investigator, michael Kasher,has his own theories of what
happened to Jessica on thatfateful night.
He believes Willis parked hisvan behind the gas station and
knocked on the back door to getJessica's attention.
After she opens the door, hebelieves that Willis hit her
over the head with his gun,causing the laser scope to
(32:54):
explode, which would explain thebroken laser found on the
ground.
Then he throws her into theback of his van and is closing
the hatch as the couple on themotorcycle drive by van and is
closing the hatch as the coupleon the motorcycle drive by.
He is then believed to havedriven out to his deceased
grandfather's home where he thenkills her.
Lieutenant Kasher also has hisown theories on where Jessica's
(33:16):
body may be buried and becauseof the fact that her body was
never found, I'm assuming thatmaybe Blum doesn't remember
where they buried her and maybeWillis refused to tell.
I found nothing on why KevinBlum never led investigators to
her body, but he claimed to helpbury the body and then
investigators still are notfinding her body.
(33:39):
So Kasher believes that Jessicais buried somewhere in the
Manistee National Forest nearLake Mason County line, which is
about a 90-minute drive fromNorton Shores.
He believes that Willis was onhis way out there with Jessica's
body in the back of his silverminivan, which was confirmed
through the cell phone pingspicked up from Willis' cell
(34:00):
phone.
Through phone records it wasconfirmed that Willis returned
to the same area in the monthsfollowing Jessica's murder.
The first time was in June andthe second time was in August,
and both times were around thehours of 3 am.
According to the same article,kasher is quoted as saying quote
(34:22):
.
Why was he out there?
He's a hunter and he's an avidsnowmobiler.
It wasn't hunting season and weweren't having snow in June and
August.
I believe somewhere along theline he was either visiting or
burying her.
Even better, unquote.
Police have tirelessly searchedthe area using infrared cameras,
(34:44):
cadaver dogs and andhelicopters.
However, the many searchesconducted still turn up nothing.
On December 9th 2013, jessica'slaw was passed at the request
of Jessica's parents.
This law requires gas stations,as well as convenience stores
that are open in the hoursbetween 11 pm and 5 am, to
(35:05):
install security cameras or tohave at least two employees
working those hours.
I personally believe that theyshould have working security
cameras during any hours ofoperation, as well as the
minimum of two employees onshift at any given time.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
Absolutely Me personally.
That's just too late.
I mean, we know that this hadhappened, but I wonder how many
crimes happened between thattime to have people there alone,
you know, no security camerasor anything.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Well, exactly, and how many times, I believe we
talked about this to how manytimes were the cameras not
working?
How many times do you hear that, oh, the cameras weren't
working, or the cameras wereworking, but the footage is
super grainy and they getnothing out of it?
I mean, all too many timesthat's the story and it's like
how hard is it really?
(35:59):
You know, I don't know what allgoes into it, but how hard is
it to get decent cameras andmake sure that they're
maintained properly so that theyare working?
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I think it comes back to money, because you hear that
every place that oh cameras areinstalled but they're not
working.
So it must be pretty expensiveto keep those maintained.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
It must be, but I guess I look at it like you
can't put a price tag onsomeone's life and you could
actually save a life by havingthat.
Then, on March 9th 2018, theRebecca Brecht law was passed.
This was a law that wouldrequire defendants who have been
(36:40):
convicted of a crime to listento victim impact statements
during sentencing, which Willisrefused to do after Rebecca's
trial, which I think is reallycrappy.
But look who we're dealing with.
So, to this day, willis deniesany involvement in the murders
of Jessica Haringa and RebeccaBledge, as well as the attempted
(37:00):
kidnapping of Madison Nygaard.
In an article by the HollandSentinel published May 3rd 2023,
jessica Haringa's familyquestions everything that police
have uncovered and believe thattheir daughter could still very
much be alive.
It's the power of hope thatkeeps them going and keeps their
(37:21):
daughter's memory alive.
As for Jeffrey Willis, well, Ihope that he spends the
remainder of his so-called liferotting in prison before making
a mad dash straight to hell.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Bleak.
If you like our podcast, pleaseconsider giving us a five-star
(37:42):
review on Apple Podcasts, and wewould love it if you would
follow us on any of our socialmedia sites and I will list
those sites in our show notes.
And if you have a suggestionfor a show or if you have a
loved one who was murdered ormissing and you'd like us to
cover your case, drop us anemail at goneandablakepod at
(38:04):
gmailcom.
And last but certainly notleast, please remember, be safe,
be smart and try not to blink.
Oftentimes, when we go about our everyday lives, we
do so without really thinkingabout what our next step is
going to be.
We get into such a routine thateverything becomes almost
second nature and everyonearound us is almost invisible.
Is almost invisible as webecome so consumed with daily
(00:45):
tasks such as going to work ordropping the kids off at school
or running errands Everydaythings that would not normally
grab anyone's attention.
But sometimes it does, andsometimes the attention it grabs
is something far more evil thananyone could ever imagine.
(01:09):
You see, everywhere you go,evil lurks among us, blended
into the crowd of what appearsto be normal.
It may be a person in the carthat is stopped at the red light
beside you.
It may be the waiter waitingtables at your favorite
restaurant.
(01:30):
It could be the delivery driverthat delivers packages to your
door, or even the postman whodelivers your mail every day in
front of your house.
Evil comes in all forms and itdoesn't always make its
intentions known.
For 25-year-old Jessica Heringa, evil met her at one of the
(01:54):
places that she felt most safe,the one place she was sure to be
at almost daily, a place thatwas part of her routine.
Almost daily, a place that waspart of her routine.
Evil had found her at theconvenience store where she
worked as a cashier, and on thisnight, the night of April 26,
2013, she was alone.
(02:17):
He had seen her many timesbefore and there was something
about her that caught his eye.
He knew when he saw her thatshe would be his next victim.
This is the case of JessicaHaringa, and this is Gone in a
(02:39):
Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and I'm Danielle.
Welcome to.
(03:00):
Episode 26 of Gone in a BlinkFall is officially here, and
that means that Halloween isjust around the corner.
What is the creepiest thing tohappen on Halloween night?
We want to hear your creepieststories and then we'll talk
about them on our next show.
Email us your creepiestHalloween story at
(03:20):
goneinablinkpod at gmailcom.
So today's case is nothingshort of absolutely horrifying.
Today, we are talking about themurder of Jessica Haringa as
well as the murder of RebeccaBletch.
Even though these two womendidn't know each other, their
(03:42):
murders sort of intertwined.
So if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Jessica Lynn Haringa was a25-year-old woman from Norton
Shores, michigan, where shelived with her boyfriend and
three-year-old son.
On the night of April 26, 2013,she was working the late night
(04:05):
shift as a cashier at the Exxongas station.
Here is the timeline of eventson the days leading up to
Jessica Haringa's disappearance,as well as the last time
Jessica was seen alive, so April25, 2013,.
A female who was a frequentcustomer of the gas station says
(04:27):
she saw Jessica working latethat night and told her that she
shouldn't be there all alone solate at night like that and
that she should have probablyhad her boyfriend there to keep
her company.
A strange customer overheardthe conversation and spoke up
saying quote she's got hercustomers looking out for her
(04:47):
too.
Unquote.
The woman claims that Jessicashook her head and immediately
made a shivering gesture, as ifshe had gotten the chills at the
remark made by the stranger.
The woman also mentioned thatJessica wasn't really acting
like her usual self that nightand that she seemed as if
something was wrong.
(05:07):
So the woman decided to parkoutside of the gas station and
wait until the gas stationclosed to kind of keep an eye on
things.
She watched the strange man whomade the eerie comment leave,
and then everything seemed fine.
So the woman left.
And then everything seemed fine.
So the woman left.
So then, on April 26th 2013,which was the night of Jessica's
(05:29):
disappearance.
At 10.55 pm the lasttransaction was recorded on
Jessica's register and it was acigarette lighter.
So then at 11 pm a woman by thename of Susan Follett, which
was the manager of the Exxonstation, and then her then
(05:50):
husband, eric Barber, ride bythe station on their motorcycle.
However, something odd capturedthe attention of Susan.
She noticed a suspicious silverminivan parked behind the Exxon
gas station.
She initially thought thatJessica was stealing merchandise
from the station, as there wasmention that Jessica had done
(06:11):
that in the past.
Susan told Muskegon prosecutorDJ Hilson that she had a really
bad feeling that something waswrong when she spotted the
suspicious silver van around thecorner of the gas station with
its headlights off.
She turned to her husband andsaid quote something don't feel
right, I'm going back.
(06:32):
Unquote.
The couple turned around andparked in the parking lot of a
nearby business.
There they had a good view ofthe back of the gas station and
could see the van parked backthere next to the rear service
door.
Above the door was a light thatemployees were supposed to keep
on and that light had beenturned off.
(06:53):
There was still just enoughlight, however, from the side of
the station for Susan and herhusband to notice that the van's
hatch closed, shut and thenreopened and then closed shut
again.
They could see a man wearing abright orange shirt get into the
driver's side of the van andthen drive away.
(07:14):
The van passed directly infront of Susan and her husband's
parked motorcycles and fromthere they could tell that the
driver of the van was a bigger,broader man with wavy hair.
Once the van drove away,follett and her husband went
home and shortly after arrivinghome Susan received a phone call
(07:36):
from her manager telling her toget to the gas station fast
because Jessica was not there.
Jessica was not there and Susantestified later in court that
she did in fact go back to thegas station and that she told
police about the suspicioussilver van she had seen earlier.
Between the hours of 1102 and1105 pm, a silver Chrysler Town
(07:57):
and Country matching the oneseen by the Exxon manager and
her husband was seen onsurveillance cameras from three
other area businesses speedingaway from the station.
11 10 pm, a man pulls into thestation to buy gas.
When he goes into the store topay, he can't find Jessica
anywhere and decides to call9-1-1.
(08:19):
11 25 pm, police arrive at theExxon station, where they found
jessica's car and jacket, herpurse and wallet with over 400
still inside, as well as abroken scope to a gun that was
located on the ground in theback of the station and also
(08:41):
drops of blood.
Within Within an hour, policeconducted a canine search of the
area.
However, the search turned upnothing.
Lieutenant Kasher was the firstdetective on the scene the
night of Jessica's disappearancethe scene still fresh in his
mind today.
Immediately he knew the outcomewasn't going to be good and in
(09:03):
an article by the HollandSentinel, lieutenant Kasher is
quoted as saying quote I see allof her stuff there, including
her cigarettes and her lighter,which was nicely stacked and it
looked like she was countingmoney out of her drawer.
There's a lot of money there.
All the change, everything,everything was in place like she
(09:24):
was cleaning up unquote.
In the days after Jessica'sdisappearance, family and
friends handed out flyers andheld candlelight vigils, praying
that police would locateJessica and bring her home
safely.
Then came tip number 257.
The tip that would leadinvestigators to Jessica's
(09:46):
killer, a man by the name ofJeffrey Thomas Willis.
Willis, a former factory worker, was a frequent customer at the
Exxon gas station where Jessicaworked.
His profile matched that of apolice artist sketch of a man
that was seen flirting withJessica in the days leading up
to her disappearance.
(10:06):
His vehicle also matched theone witnessed behind the station
.
The night Jessica went missingand, according to Wikipedia,
some of Willis's co-workers atthe factory told authorities
that Willis was scheduled towork on the night Jessica
disappeared, but that he nevershowed up that night.
Nor did he show up in the daysafter she went missing.
(10:27):
Police obtained a searchwarrant to search Willis' house
and there they discovered atreasure trove of evidence On
his home computer.
They found pictures of Jessicain a folder labeled VIX V-I-C-S.
I think that pretty much goeswithout saying that that is
(10:48):
short for victims.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I have a few questions.
Just as you were reading thetimeline, something that didn't
make sense to me and maybe youcan clear it up for me.
So the manager of the gasstation and her husband drive by
and the manager had an uneasyfeeling so they went back.
(11:11):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yes, that's absolutely correct.
They had driven by the gasstation and happened to see the
silver minivan rounding thecorner into the back of the gas
station with the headlights off,and they thought that was kind
of strange, and so they turnedaround to see what was going on.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Right.
So I guess what's confusing tome is that they were that
concerned to turn around and topark at a business across the
street, but after they saw thatthe minivan leave, or even
before, they didn't think to gointo the gas station to make
(11:52):
sure that Jessica was okay orjust to kind of check things out
.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I did think that that was a little weird also, but I
don't know that they thoughtthat whatever was going on was
putting Jessica in harm's way atthe time.
I think now Susan Follett, thefemale witness, and the manager,
had mentioned that sheinitially thought that Jessica
(12:17):
was stealing, and not money, butstealing items from the store
Because she had done that in thepast.
So when they turned around, Idon't think it was a concern
about someone is there to dosomething to Jessica.
From what I've read, or all thereports that I've seen, that
they realized it was a man inthat minivan until the minivan
(12:44):
pulled away and passed them andthen they saw that it was a man.
You know, you know when you seethings.
I mean, have you ever been in aposition where you see
something and you're kind oflike I don't know, this could be
something, this could benothing?
And then sometimes nine timesout of 10, we all try and we end
up convincing ourselves that itwas probably nothing, because
(13:07):
you don't want to act onsomething that you're not 100%
sure is anything.
And so to act on that, you knowyou're really setting some
wheels in motion, so sometimesit's easier just to convince
yourself oh, it was, it wasnothing.
Now this poor woman is beatingherself up now.
Her testimony was heartbreaking.
(13:27):
She's really feeling that guilt.
But I think hindsight's 20-20.
And at the time she reallydidn't think that this is a
serial killer.
And he just killed Jessica andthrew her body in the back and
that is what was going on backthere.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Well, and then, of course, anybody can understand
that, because we've all hadthings that we've regretted or,
you know, wish, you know, 2020hindsight, that we would have
done things differently.
I guess we we just had a coupleof things that you described.
That one, of course, to seethat, and it wouldn't even be to
me that suspicious for her tojust to stop in and, I don't
(14:06):
know, get a soda or something.
But also you have a woman therealone that late at night.
I mean, and we don't know thatthe town or whatever the
circumstances of why they wouldthink that would be okay for a
worker to be alone at night ingeneral, man or woman, I mean
just two factors that absolutelyI'm sure that the lady really
(14:28):
feels like she should have wentback and went inside oh,
definitely.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I think that looking back now she, like I said, she's
beating herself up about it andprobably asking those exact
same questions that you justbrought up why didn't I go into
the store?
Why didn't I check on her?
The sad part is it by then itwas too late.
She would have went into anempty store and she discovered
that soon after she got homebecause another manager had
(14:55):
contacted her to go back.
So on December 13th 2016, inMuskegon County, judge Raymond
Kosua decided that theprosecution had enough evidence
against Willis to charge himwith their murder and kidnapping
of Jessica.
The folder on Willis's computerlabeled VIX, with a subfolder
(15:17):
labeled with Jessica's initials,along with pictures of her and
the date of her disappearance,were among the evidence
presented in his trial.
Also found on Willis's computerwere necrophilia and murder
porn videos downloaded from theinternet.
So basically, this guy is apretty sick piece of work.
(15:38):
So it was also discoveredthrough DNA evidence that the
blood droplets on the groundbehind the gas station were, in
fact, confirmed to be Jessica'sblood.
On May 16th 2018, willis wasfound guilty of Jessica's
kidnapping and murder, and onemonth later he received a life
sentence.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Well, honestly, I'm glad to hear that, that he
received a life sentence and Iguess, thinking back again to
that timeline, that he was justthere to kill her.
I mean that that's just obviousto me and a little bit
disturbing to.
He didn't steal any money, thatyou're saying that she had $400
(16:18):
in her purse, but from what youjust read, he was there
strictly, had been stalking herand was just there to kill her.
And I wish that somebody couldhave seen this coming.
Even if the store was empty andthe manager came in, then they
would have caught him so muchsooner.
I mean, it's just such a sadstory.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I definitely think that they should not have only
one employee working at any hour, but especially overnight.
I think that that's just insane.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I totally agree that that makes zero sense.
As you were saying that, I wastrying to think have I ever been
someplace, at a gas stationlate at night where there has
just been one person?
I don't think so.
I mean, this was what in 2013.
So so maybe that long ago thatI'd stop in, and I just always
(17:11):
seem to remember that there'd beat least another person there.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Well, I think any more too.
I mean, I'm sure it stillhappens now, especially with
companies trying to cut costs sothey don't want to hire two
employees, figuring that there'snot that many people that are
coming in late at night, but itreally is a safety issue at this
point.
It's always been a safety issueNow.
Willis was also tied to the2014 murder of a young woman by
(17:37):
the name of Rebecca Sue Bletch,to which he was also found
guilty and sentenced to lifewithout the possibility of
parole.
Rebecca was a 36-year-old womanfrom Dalton Township who had
been approached by Willis onJune 29, 2014, while jogging.
So this one this one was in2014.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
So the other was 2013 , though, right.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Right, so he wasn't immediately charged.
Apparently, they'reinvestigating that case In the
meanwhile, 2014, june 29th 2014.
I mean, he's still free.
He hasn't been.
He hasn't been found.
Look at all the cases thatsomeone was murdered, and the
(18:23):
cold cases no one's no one'sbeen recovered, no one's been
found, no one's been charged.
So I mean, this was one ofthose that they just didn't
catch up to him before he wasable to commit this other murder
.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
So I'm looking tip number 257.
Are we saying that that camethrough and they started that
investigation process after Julyof 2014?
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I'm assuming they started the investigation
process immediately after, soI'm going back.
Okay, I was talking about whenhe was actually charged.
He was charged and his trialwent on, and everything in 2016.
But 2014,.
He has struck again.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
It's like what in the world he's been charged?
They know that this is the theperson and he's out able to to
strike again.
So my thought is 2013.
You seemingly I don't know ifhe thinks he he is getting away
with it at this point that hefeels comfortable enough to try
(19:32):
something like this again in2014.
But it just seems like andmaybe that's what it is was just
overconfidence that theyhaven't figured out what I had
done maybe a year and a halfbefore.
I mean, it's just so mindboggling to me.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
It's that of a serial killer.
They strike again becausethey're addicted to that
euphoric feeling that they'regetting from committing the
crime.
Whatever it is that fuels theirmotivation Apparently, with
this guy it's some incrediblysick sexual fetishes, I guess
you would you would call it soit's fueling.
(20:11):
They can't.
They can't, not do it.
Some of them are able to stopdoing it for a while, but then
they strike back up just about ayear after Jessica so 2014,.
June 29th, 2014,.
June 29th, rebecca Bletch isjogging.
She is approached by what endsup being Willis in his silver
(20:33):
minivan, and later on she wasfound on the side of the road
with three gunshot wounds to herhead.
Shell casings found near herbody matched a gun that was
found in Willis's minivan.
Police also discovereddisturbing photos of women who
were bound and gagged, as wellas a rape kit that consisted of
(20:54):
handcuffs, ropes, chains andsyringes, with a liquid
substance in one of them thatwas later tested and found to
contain a powerful sedative.
Another subfolder was found onWillis's computer, much like the
one found in the folder titledVIX that had Jessica's subfile
(21:14):
in it, and this one was a filetitled Rebecca and it contained
photos of Rebecca Bletch.
So police were able to tie morecharges to Willis, such as the
attempted kidnapping of a16-year-old girl by the name of
Madison Nygaard in LaketonTownship on April 16, 2016,.
(21:36):
After she had left a party andbecome lost while trying to walk
home, willis pulled alongsideher in his silver minivan and
asked her if she needed to usehis phone.
In his silver minivan, andasked her if she needed to use
his phone, the young womanreplied that she did, and he
told her that in order to usehis phone, she would have to get
inside his van.
That is red flag number two,actually, for me, the first one
(22:00):
being the fact that heapproached her at all, but she
was only 16, and I think a lotof times at that age, you think
you're invincible.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You think you're invincible.
You think you're invincible andalso you don't.
And I don't know about thisperson, but she could have very
likely had someone warning heragainst the social media warns,
against things like that, evenin 2016.
But you don't think it's evergoing to happen to you.
Oh, it's just some guy beingnice.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Well, exactly, and if you're in a crappy situation,
you're out in a rural area andyou're lost and you're thinking,
oh, he seems like a nice guy,you're a little naive,
especially at 16.
So she got into the minivan andas soon as she shut the
passenger door, he locked allthe doors and pulled out a gun.
Once he pulled out the gun, thegirl immediately went into
(22:50):
fight or flight mode and, due toher quick thinking, she was
able to escape the van bypretending that she couldn't
breathe and getting him to rolldown the window.
And it worked and the girl wasable to jump out of the moving
van and get away.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
I am so glad to hear that.
Honestly.
Okay, ladies, if you need touse a phone and you say, oh,
they have to get in the vanfirst, do not Walk in a rural
area, whatever.
Get attacked by a bear, itdoesn't matter, Just get away.
I'm so glad that that workedout.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, that was super quick thinking on her part and
I'm kind of surprised, to behonest with you, that by her
saying that she couldn't breathe, that he really gave a crap,
that he was like, oh, let meroll down the window for you so
you can breathe.
But it was worth a shot for herto try and I'm very glad that
(23:46):
she did because it saved herlife.
So Willis was also charged withpossession and production of
child pornography wheninvestigators discovered videos
on his computer of nakedunderage girls who actually
lived next door to him in Marchof 2011 and had recorded them
(24:08):
while they used his bathroom,according to Wikipedia, and
that's pretty much all I foundon that.
So I'm a bit confused as to,first of all, why were they
using his bathroom if he livednext door to them, and why were
they naked?
That's kind of confusing to me,like did he lure them there by
telling them some fabricatedstory?
(24:29):
And maybe they were changing inhis bathroom?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
regardless of why they were there, this guy is
pretty sick and they areextremely, extremely lucky to be
alive because, considering histrack record, I guess what came
to mind is, and who knows, butlike little kids or whatever, if
you're swimming or outside inthe summertime and you have a
swimsuit on it to use thebathroom, you have to take off
(24:55):
the swimsuit and so you'd benaked.
So I mean, that's just kind ofwhat I thought, maybe something
like that, but I guess somethingthat's a little disturbing
other than the obvious that thatwas 2011.
And I mean we're saying therewas no reports or anything that
they could get him on until thistime, so until 2016.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yes, that's all I found regarding that situation.
That happened in March 2011with the underage girls.
Obviously, this was yearsbefore what he did to Jessica,
but this is kind of going toshow you how I don't know.
It just kind of goes to showhow he was starting out.
(25:40):
Maybe he's doing things likethis that are still very sick,
but Willis is suspected okay,they don't have anything
foolproof on this, but he issuspected of an unsolved murder
back as far as October of 1996of a 15 year old Fruitport High
(26:00):
School student by the name ofAngela Marie Thornburg.
Angela's body was discovered bya hunter in the woods near
Fruitport and she was partiallyclothed and had been reported
missing one month prior to beingdiscovered and was initially
considered to be a runaway.
And I think that is the problemwith a lot of these missing
(26:20):
persons cases when the victim isa teenager and I think we've
talked about this before but thepolice immediately assume the
victim is a teenager and I thinkwe've talked about this before
but the police immediatelyassume the victim is just a
runaway.
And this is clearly not alwaysthe case.
And even in the instances whereit actually is the case, being
a runaway puts the teenager inan even more vulnerable state,
(26:41):
because that is exactly whatchild predators are looking for
and really that's so true thatthese child predators they want
to look for.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I mean, it's very similar to human trafficking
someone that they've read away,their parents don't understand
them and that they need theirhelp.
But I do want to say yes, thereare some genuine guys or girls
out there that really do seesomebody in a tough situation
and want to help.
Unfortunately, I mean, a lot oftimes you hear of these missing
(27:14):
children, teenagers, adults,from people that that have been
stalking, like this guy, frompeople that mean harm, and it's
so scary.
It is scary.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
And there are a lot of people out there that would
rush to help someone in need,but in this day and age
especially, you just can't trustanybody.
I mean, and it's sad, but it'sjust the way it is now.
So on June 31, 2016,.
We're jumping back to 2016,willis's cousin, kevin Bloom,
(27:49):
who was a former prison guardfor the Michigan Department of
Corrections, was charged withlying to a police officer after
he told officers informationabout Jessica's death that
hadn't been made public yet.
He later recanted thisinformation and he eventually
admitted to police that he hadseen Willis with Jessica's body
(28:10):
and that he helped him bury herafter she woman there that he
needed help with.
Bloom told investigators thathe saw Jessica naked, face down
on the ground with her handsbound behind her back and what
(28:32):
appeared to be a head wound.
So this is how much of amonster this guy is and how
little regard he has for humanlife.
He uses her for his own sickpleasure and then puts a bullet
in her head when he's done.
It's absolutely disgusting.
It's so disgusting.
So Bloom admitted to officersthat Willis had been watching
(28:56):
Jessica for some time beforehitting her over the head to the
point that she lostconsciousness, and then raping
her and torturing her.
Bloom claimed that he helpedWillis wrap Jessica's body in a
sheet before driving her out toSheridan Road, near Laketon Road
, where Willis had already dug ahole for her.
They then buried Jessica's body.
(29:17):
I guess I'm just blown away athow many people are willing to
bury a body for someone whenasked.
It really blows my mind.
So Bloom ended up gettingsuspended without pay from his
job at the correctional facility.
Jeez, I would certainly hope so, just suspended.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Well, no, not just suspended, he probably should
got fired.
Actually, I mean, you know,you're working at a facility
where you are working withprisoners and you just admitted
to burying a body and the mostthey're going to do to you at
the moment is suspend you.
Maybe that was before heactually admitted that.
I would hope that was before headmitted to what he did.
(30:00):
This is all I found whenresearching, but I'm hoping that
maybe during the investigationhe was suspended and then, once
he admitted it or they had moreevidence, they should have fired
.
Fired him, I mean maybe.
Well, they obviously did at somepoint, because on November 27th
2017, he pleaded no contest toaccessory after the fact and was
(30:25):
sentenced approximately sixweeks later to time served.
He was sentenced to time servedby then, plus five years
probation, and he had to wear aGPS monitor for one year.
So, wow, that sounds prettymuch like a slap on the wrist.
In my opinion, and according toan article published on Fox 17
(30:45):
online, bloom had a personalconnection with both Rebecca
Bletch and Madison Nygaard.
It seems that he told policethat one of his kids played
soccer with one of Rebecca'skids and that Madison Nygaard
was in dance with his kids, yethe claims that he never steered
(31:07):
either one of them into the pathof Willis.
Hmm, I don't know about that.
I don't think that was merelycoincidence, do you?
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Absolutely not.
Oh my gosh, this is crazy thathe.
It's literally just a slap onthe wrist and I mean you know
what no contest means right?
When somebody pleads that thetechnicality of it oh I'm not
saying it's right or wrong, likethat they're ignorant of the
law, that doesn't make any sense.
You helped hide at least onedead body.
(31:38):
I'm thinking he kind of wasworking with him, with Willis,
on this.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah, I don't doubt for a second.
I know it's all just kind ofwe're theorizing with this, but
I think that he wholeheartedlywas part of why they were
Willis's victims in the firstplace, because that just seems
way too coincidental that hewould have ties to both of those
victims and both of thosevictims would end up dead.
(32:05):
And well, actually, no, no,they didn't both end up dead,
did they?
Well, rebecca did, and MadisonNygaard could have potentially
been the next murder victim.
I don't believe in coincidences, especially when you're talking
about crime like this.
So I think he was totallyinvolved 100%.
So I think he was totallyinvolved 100%.
Jessica's body has never beenfound.
(32:34):
However, in an article publishedin the Holland Sentinel,
retired Norton Shores policelieutenant and former lead
investigator, michael Kasher,has his own theories of what
happened to Jessica on thatfateful night.
He believes Willis parked hisvan behind the gas station and
knocked on the back door to getJessica's attention.
After she opens the door, hebelieves that Willis hit her
over the head with his gun,causing the laser scope to
(32:54):
explode, which would explain thebroken laser found on the
ground.
Then he throws her into theback of his van and is closing
the hatch as the couple on themotorcycle drive by van and is
closing the hatch as the coupleon the motorcycle drive by.
He is then believed to havedriven out to his deceased
grandfather's home where he thenkills her.
Lieutenant Kasher also has hisown theories on where Jessica's
(33:16):
body may be buried and becauseof the fact that her body was
never found, I'm assuming thatmaybe Blum doesn't remember
where they buried her and maybeWillis refused to tell.
I found nothing on why KevinBlum never led investigators to
her body, but he claimed to helpbury the body and then
investigators still are notfinding her body.
(33:39):
So Kasher believes that Jessicais buried somewhere in the
Manistee National Forest nearLake Mason County line, which is
about a 90-minute drive fromNorton Shores.
He believes that Willis was onhis way out there with Jessica's
body in the back of his silverminivan, which was confirmed
through the cell phone pingspicked up from Willis' cell
(34:00):
phone.
Through phone records it wasconfirmed that Willis returned
to the same area in the monthsfollowing Jessica's murder.
The first time was in June andthe second time was in August,
and both times were around thehours of 3 am.
According to the same article,kasher is quoted as saying quote
(34:22):
.
Why was he out there?
He's a hunter and he's an avidsnowmobiler.
It wasn't hunting season and weweren't having snow in June and
August.
I believe somewhere along theline he was either visiting or
burying her.
Even better, unquote.
Police have tirelessly searchedthe area using infrared cameras,
(34:44):
cadaver dogs and andhelicopters.
However, the many searchesconducted still turn up nothing.
On December 9th 2013, jessica'slaw was passed at the request
of Jessica's parents.
This law requires gas stations,as well as convenience stores
that are open in the hoursbetween 11 pm and 5 am, to
(35:05):
install security cameras or tohave at least two employees
working those hours.
I personally believe that theyshould have working security
cameras during any hours ofoperation, as well as the
minimum of two employees onshift at any given time.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
Absolutely Me personally.
That's just too late.
I mean, we know that this hadhappened, but I wonder how many
crimes happened between thattime to have people there alone,
you know, no security camerasor anything.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Well, exactly, and how many times, I believe we
talked about this to how manytimes were the cameras not
working?
How many times do you hear that, oh, the cameras weren't
working, or the cameras wereworking, but the footage is
super grainy and they getnothing out of it?
I mean, all too many timesthat's the story and it's like
how hard is it really?
(35:59):
You know, I don't know what allgoes into it, but how hard is
it to get decent cameras andmake sure that they're
maintained properly so that theyare working?
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I think it comes back to money, because you hear that
every place that oh cameras areinstalled but they're not
working.
So it must be pretty expensiveto keep those maintained.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
It must be, but I guess I look at it like you
can't put a price tag onsomeone's life and you could
actually save a life by havingthat.
Then, on March 9th 2018, theRebecca Brecht law was passed.
This was a law that wouldrequire defendants who have been
(36:40):
convicted of a crime to listento victim impact statements
during sentencing, which Willisrefused to do after Rebecca's
trial, which I think is reallycrappy.
But look who we're dealing with.
So, to this day, willis deniesany involvement in the murders
of Jessica Haringa and RebeccaBledge, as well as the attempted
(37:00):
kidnapping of Madison Nygaard.
In an article by the HollandSentinel published May 3rd 2023,
jessica Haringa's familyquestions everything that police
have uncovered and believe thattheir daughter could still very
much be alive.
It's the power of hope thatkeeps them going and keeps their
(37:21):
daughter's memory alive.
As for Jeffrey Willis, well, Ihope that he spends the
remainder of his so-called liferotting in prison before making
a mad dash straight to hell.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Bleak.
If you like our podcast, pleaseconsider giving us a five-star
(37:42):
review on Apple Podcasts, and wewould love it if you would
follow us on any of our socialmedia sites and I will list
those sites in our show notes.
And if you have a suggestionfor a show or if you have a
loved one who was murdered ormissing and you'd like us to
cover your case, drop us anemail at goneandablakepod at
(38:04):
gmailcom.
And last but certainly notleast, please remember, be safe,
be smart and try not to blink.
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