The Disappearance of Jessica Heeringa

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
When Jessica hearing Him disappeared from her job at a
Michigan gas station in twenty thirteen, the scenes she left
behind raised more questions and answers. Her belongings were untouched,
there was no signs of robbery, and a few drops
of blood trailed into the darkness. For three years, her
case stalled until a terrifying encounter involving a sixteen year

(00:30):
old girl cracked it wide open. As it turns out,
the man responsible wasn't just tied to Jessica's disappearance, but
to a brutal murder, an attempted abduction, and a disturbing
digital world that exposed the true nature of a monster.
This is the disappearance of Jessica hearing A.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked
and Grim.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
A true crime podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Listen. So I'm a little disappointed this morning.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Why is that?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Well, I got some raspberry tea and I was thinking
that it would taste like raspberry.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
But it doesn't.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
It doesn't.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
It doesn't taste like well, why it doesn't it's raspberry.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, I'm wondering maybe if it's raspberry leaf tea and
I got it completely wrong. I don't know. But anyway,
I was like excited to try this tea and then
I really was like, oh, this isn't very good.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, that'd be disappointed.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
So now I have this giant box of this tea.
But anyway, it is good for women's health. So I'm like,
for Frick's sakes, maybe I'll just keep drinking it. But
it's not you know how like a warm drink hits
really nice in the morning, Yes, when it tastes good, right, yes,
So I'm just not getting.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
That euphoric feeling. Yeah, so it's just disappointment instead.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, but that's okay, that's okay. Maybe it will make
me feel good inside.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Right maybe maybe? Oh okay, that's one way to start
the day.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
I know.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Just sheer disappointment.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Sheer disappointment. I'm also disappointed to you because it's snowing
here and super cold, and I feel as those two
things should not go together. It should be one or
the other.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
It's just getting us ready for Christmas, which I have
a couple of cool Christmas cool I have a couple
of Christmas cases, I should say that I've been looking
at recently. I haven't picked which one yet. I'm gonna
go for around Christmas time. But I've got some ideas
floating around in my noggin, and yeah, I got some
interesting stuff coming down the pipe, to say the least.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Okay, well, I mean that will be here before we
know it.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
That's true because as of right now, it is December
twelfth as we're recording this morning. So yeah, it's we're
halfway there.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, it's less than two weeks away.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
No pray, sorry, as soon as I said it, it
was in my head, my bad party foul. Anyways, I
think I'm ready for this case, are you?

Speaker 2 (03:14):
I think so?

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Hey, I haven't heard this one, so.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay, well let me tell you about it, okay. Jessica
hearing that was just like any other young mom trying to,
you know, keep her small world afloat. She was twenty
five years old living in Norton Shores, a quiet lake
community where most people worked hard, minded their own business,
and trusted their neighbors. Jessica fit right in here. She

(03:38):
was soft spoken, friendly, and the kind of cashier customers
remembered because she always smiled when working, even into the
late shifts, that nobody wanted her life wasn't about her job,
though not all of it. It revolved more around her
little boy, a three year old named Zen. Everything she did,
every extra shift, every long night was for him. Him.

(04:01):
Now money was tight, and even though she dreamed of
one day going to college for accounting, while reality kept
pushing those plans further and further away. All in all,
though she and her boyfriend Dakota well, they were doing
their best, and doing their best didn't always come easy.
They loved each other, but like a lot of young
couples under financial strain arguments while it was a regular

(04:24):
part of life. Still though they stayed together, they talked
about marriage and worked on things to try and build
something for their son. Jessica worked at the local ex
and gas station, a small corner store that sat near
Lake Michigan in the US. It wasn't glamorous and it
definitely wasn't the safest place to be alone at night,
but it was steady work and the owners trusted her.

(04:46):
She picked up extra hours whenever she could, always taking
the late shifts because the pay. While it was a
little bit more and it kept the house running a
little bit more too. The downside, though, was that this
gas station didn't have interior security cameras, and on most
nights Jessica was completely alone from sunset till close. Her
routine was predictable, at least, go there, go to work,

(05:09):
clock in, keep the shelves, stalked, run the register, sweep
up count the till she knew her regulars by name
and chatted with customers who came through the every evening.
But everybody who stopped, well, they could see the same thing.
But she was working alone. On April twenty sixth, twenty thirteen,
it started out just like any ordinary Friday for Jessica.

(05:30):
It was busy and tiring, but well, relatively normal. She
woke up, handled her usual morning routine with her son,
and headed out early in the afternoon to pick up
some groceries. By four thirty five, she arrived at the
exit gas station for her shift. She clocked in and
was wearing her work shirt. Now for reference, the station
wasn't large. It was just one of those kind of

(05:50):
small corner store gas stops, you know, where there's like
a few drink coolers, some shells with snacks, and a
small counter with a worker behind it. Sort of the situation. Okay,
the evening ran like it always did. There, Customers came
and went, The radio hummed in the background, and Jessica
stalked shelves in the downtime, wiped down counters, rang up
fuel when customers came in, and kept an eye on

(06:11):
the door. At around seven forty PM, one of Jessica's
friends stopped in and stayed for over an hour long
to hang out with her while she worked.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Okay, well that's one plus I guess to this working
situation definitely.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
So they talked, they laughed, they caught up on things,
and before long the friend would leave at around eight
fifty PM, and Jessica went back to her lonely routine.
Late night customers trickled in after that, buying snacks or
cigarettes and gas just like usual, and the store remained clean, calm,
and quiet. The last recorded purchase of that night came

(06:46):
in at ten fifty five PM. Someone bought a cigarette lighter,
paid and left. Jessica rang at it through just like
she had thousands of times before. At around eleven PM,
the station manager, Sue Follett and her husband than while
they were riding their motorcycles and they passed by the exit,
but something was going on that night there was something different.

(07:08):
They passed by quite often on their bikes, but tonight
something caught their attention. There was a silver mini van
pulled up behind the building, tucked into the shadows near
the back door. Its rear hatch was wide open, and
a man stood there, seeming like maybe he was loading something.
Now soon knew the store had no delivery scheduled that late,
and nobody had a reason to be behind the station

(07:30):
at that hour, so the site didn't sit right, and
she nudged her husband and the two circled back to
take another look. As they came around again driving their motorcycles,
the man closed the hatch of his van. He had wavy,
unkept hair and was wearing what looked like a reddish
orange sweatshirt, not quite clean cut, not dressed like a
delivery worker or a customer who simply wandered behind the building.

(07:52):
There was just something off, something that felt wrong. But
before they could get a license plate or even pull
over their bike while the man climbed into the driver's
seat and pulled away, and with that, both the van
and them continued on their way. Now at nearly the
same time, another witness, a customer from earlier in that

(08:13):
night would later tell investigators that she had seen a
man inside the store chatting a little too casually with Jessica.
She described him as being slightly flirtatious and someone who
lingered longer than a typical customer would, and she remembered
seeing Jessica seeming a little uncomfortable. Now. That man, according
to the witness, also drove a silver Mini van, However,

(08:36):
that information would come a little bit later. As of now,
it was between eleven o two and eleven o five
p m. And surveillance cameras at a nearby business caught
a silver Chrysler Town and Country Many van speeding away
from the area. Now, the exen as I mentioned had
no security cameras, but neighboring buildings did, and the images

(08:57):
showed that many van going fast. At approximately eleven to
ten PM, a regular customer named Craig Harpster pulled into
the X and Gas station to buy some gas on
his way home. He stopped here often, and he knew
the routine quite well, you know, knew what to expect,
knew the people, knew Jessica would be inside there preparing
to close. So when he stepped through the door, and

(09:19):
the store appeared normal at first glance, but there was
no one around. Something was out of place, The counter
was empty, the store was just silent, and he walked in,
calling out Jessica's name, assuming she might just be restalking,
you know, finishing a task in a cooler around the corner,
maybe in the back, who knows, And after checking every
obvious spot, he realized she was nowhere inside. And when

(09:40):
he looked behind the counter where she usually stood at
the cash register, well that's when he noticed that the
registered drawers were open with money still inside, and Jessica's purse, cigarettes,
and all her belongings, her jacket, well they were still
sitting there. Her car was also parked outside. In this instance,
he realized quickly that something must be wrong. Why would

(10:02):
you just leave these things behind? It didn't make sense.
So Craig went back outside and called nine to one
one at eleven fourteen pm, reporting that the clerk had
vanished from the store and it appeared abandoned from there.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
That's pretty quickly really that someone would realize, Yes, I
feel like I mean, the situation she was in was
not safe whatsoever. The fact that she's working alone, there's
no cameras or anything. But a lot of people it
seemed like knew her and had a relationship with her,
so kind of had her back in a way, you know,
but not enough to save her from the situation, I suppose.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
Which is unfortunate. But like you say, that is a
quick turnaround and calling in. So props to this guy
for you know, not just oh, well, maybe she's just
busy or who knows, and I'm just gonna, you know,
leave fashion the counter and walk away or something like that.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Well, yeah, some people probably would have even just taken
the money from the register and just laughed or something.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
I mean, there's no security cameras, right, yeah, so some
people could have taken it. Maybe he would have. Yeah,
I don't know. Maybe even if he's still a good
smartan and didn't call in, he could have just, like
wrote an, iou if it's a small town thing, put
cash in the counter or come back later to pay
some things like that. But no, he was not even
concerned about the gas. He was concerned about her, and

(11:18):
that speaks volumes.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah, and he was listening to his gut too, which
is also good.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Good point. Now, police arrived about ten minutes later at eleven,
twenty five pm. The first officer did a full walk
through the building, but found no sign of Jessica and
no indication that she'd left on her own. The doors
were unlocked to the building and nothing was stolen, which
allowed investigators to rule out a robbery pretty quickly. A
second officer checked around the exterior of the building. Now

(11:44):
near the back of the store is where he found
a small amount of blood on the pavement, and it's
not a whole lot, It was just a little bit
like couple drops sort of thing. And there was also
a plastic piece later identified as a battery cover for
a Walther Pete twenty two laser sight, which is meant
for a twenty two caliber pistol. That discovery sharply changed

(12:07):
the tone of the investigation. It hinted that Jessica could
very have likely been harmed before disappearing, or could be
in harm's way right now, someone could have a gun
to her. The store manager was contacted and arrived shortly after,
confirming that Jessica had in fact been scheduled to work
that day and that in fact was her vehicle in

(12:27):
the parking lot, plus her belongings and everything. Those were
in fact hers, So with no surveillance system at the station,
no sign of forced entry, and no clerk present, officers
secured the scene and began to treat the disappearance as
an abduction that had occurred in a very short window
of time. Officers performed a full sweep of the property,
including the immediate wooded areas and nearby buildings, but nothing

(12:49):
pointed to where Jessica had gone. In fact, a canine
unit even tracked the area, but they didn't detect trail
that led anywhere. So with the scene processed and the
basic facts laid out, investigators focused on building the earliest
possible timeline. The starting point was tight but clear. Jessica's
last recorded sale was ten fifty five PM, and the

(13:10):
silver mini van seen leaving the area appeared on a
surveillance camera between eleven two and eleven o five, and
that window became the heart of the investigation. Detectives immediately
began interviewing anyone with a connection to Jessica, whether it's coworkers,
recent customers, family members, and friends for example, who had
visited early in the evening. They asked about her mood

(13:32):
that night, whether she mentioned anything unusual and whether anyone
had been bothering her recently. No one reported anything alarming,
and everyone described the evening as just normal. Officers spoke
with a customer who even purchased the lighter at ten
fifty five pm. He didn't see or notice anything that
was different when he left, the man who ultimately called

(13:53):
nine one one. He even walked them through what he
observed inside the store when he arrived, and the gas
station manager described, I have a suspicious minivan she and
her husband saw at around eleven pm, including the man
standing near the rear open hatch.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
I'm just sitting here. You know, this is quite bullshit
because it wouldn't have taken someone very smart to realize
like how just easy it would be to do something
or take her or whatever.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
Hey a predator who's looking, Yeah, they'll definitely see it.
And that's the problem is high risk situations. Right, Sure
you have danger, immediate danger, but what's the risk to
a danger? So, okay, I'm going to talk about an
analogy for a second.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Well, are you getting putting your safety hat on?

Speaker 1 (14:35):
I am. So there's risks and there's hazards, So of
course you're sitting here anywhere someone can abduct you. That's
the hazard, But what's the risk, what's the chances of
it happening. So when I was instructing and doing safety
coordination for you know, in dock with new employees at
my last job, I would actually have a hot coffee
in front of me to describe the hazard versus risk.

(14:57):
So the hot coffee and spilling it, it is an
obvious hazard. How close it's sitting to you as I'm
talking with my hands? Is it sitting on the very
edge of the table. I'm risking spilling it. So in
this situation, you have a young, lone female worker working
at a gas station with no security, You've increased the

(15:17):
risk of her actually being subject to being abducted or
you know, a predator of sorts. So you're right, the
risks are through the roof.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
And I'm just wondering though, if the owner or like
her herself, even realized you know, that this risk, this
huge risk is even present.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
It's hard to say.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
You just kind of go on your day to day
like and no one ever anticipates anything that ever happening. Really,
So of course, well that's.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
Turning a blind eye. Yeah, people don't think that, Well,
it'll never happen to me. It'll never happen to me.
Right now, there's slippery ice outside our front door. Are
we gonna throw gravel down or just risk it and
just walk on it and say, well, I won't fall. Well,
of course you're gonna fall.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
It's ice now under tiny bit of snow.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
So yeah, exactly, you fucked. So it's hard to say
whether they saw it or not, but it's likely they
did see it and they just thought, well, it's not
going to happen. Nothing battill happen.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
Well, I mean at the beginning too, you did say
this was a smaller town, a kind of people knew
each other was safe, So there you go. But I mean, god,
I almost think fifty percent of true crime podcasts start
that way.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Too, right, You think you're safe when you're not. I
would say it's probably more than fifty percent, yest.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
Now, Over the following days and weeks, the case grew
into a major operation. A task force was assembled involving
seventy five investigators from multiple local, state, and federal agencies.
They began collecting and sorting tips, examining past incidents in
the area, and reviewing every report involving suspicious vehicles or
behavior near gas stations. Search teams continued to comb the

(16:50):
surrounding woods and fields as well, So they were looking
around this exit station with drones, helicopters scanning the area
from above, with ground searches doing extensive of outward patterns
from the area trying to find something. There was even
underwater searches that were conducted in local ponds and shoreline
areas as well, but none of these efforts turned up

(17:11):
anything that connected to Jessica. Detectives also focused heavily on
the people that were close to Jessica. And they don't
mean just questioning, you know, for the mood and details
stuff like that, but I also mean regarding suspects when
this of course is standard procedure in missing persons cases.
And three men quickly moved to the top of that
early suspect list. Her fiance Dakota Quail Dryer, a frequent

(17:35):
customer named jess Ammerman, and the store manager's brother, Rob Follett,
now Dakota as Jessica's partner and father of her young son,
was scrutinized. First, investigators asked about the relationship. You know,
the recent arguments finance is in any possible reason he
might have to harmer. They also reviewed his whereabouts that night,

(17:56):
and Dakota explained that he was, you know, he was
at home with your kid, probably yeah. And not only that,
but he and Jessica even shared a car, and that
was the same car that was still parked at the
gas station, so once she left work, he had no
transportation was at home with their kid. Phone records also
confirmed that his device remained at home throughout the evening.

(18:16):
It seemed that even if he had wanted to leave,
he would need to have a ride, and the time
window for an abduction while in this case it was
extremely tight, like ten minutes, right, yeah, So for someone
without a vehicle to coordinate that almost seems impossible. Nothing
about his timeline suggested he could leave the house, abducted Jessica,

(18:37):
stage the scene, and return without anyone noticing. So after
reviewing the details, investigators ruled him out as a likely perpetrator.
Next was jess Ammerman, a married plumbing contractor who'd spent
a lot of time at the gas station and appeared
to actually even develop strong feelings for Jessica. Now. He
actually even admitted to officers that early on in the

(18:58):
evening before she disappeared, he had a conversation with Jessica,
and he told her he was willing to leave his
marriage to be with her.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Holy shit, Okay.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Now, according to him, she had turned him down. And
after that conversation, he said, he was parked in a
nearby parking lot talking to his wife on the phone
for nearly an hour. And I'm sure we can all
presume what that conversation was likely about, but I digress.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Oh my, okay, so she obviously didn't share this similar feelings.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
Yeah. Now, investigators checked his phone records and found a
fifty four minute call at exactly the time he claimed.
Surveillance footage from other businesses also showed his van parked
where he described the timeline. The physical evidence supported his alibi,
and he was dismissed as well as a suspect.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
That's pretty shitty timing for him, though, Hey, yeah, right,
and now it's something like that. But I mean, I
guess even if he would have divulged that information himself
though really oh he did, yeah, so, I mean he
was't trying to hide anything, I guess, But it's a
terrible night to do something like that, and then she disappears,
you know, and you got turned down.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
The timing is a lot.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
Now, finally, detectives spoke to Rob Follett, the store manager's brother.
He had previously also expressed interest in Jessica, and he
offered her a place to stay if she ever left
her boyfriend Dakota, you know, since they were having relationship
troubles and such right now. Jessica of course, didn't leave
her relationship and didn't take him up on it, and
Rob claimed that he didn't, you know, move on from

(20:31):
the idea or pursue it. He just kind of left
it at that and so be it. He told investigators
he spent that day in fact, fishing and hadn't been
anywhere near the station that night. His alibi, supported by
both cell phone data and surveillance images, showed him far
from the scene when Jessica went missing, so he too
was ruled out.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
Was he interested in her romantically or was that just
being helpful?

Speaker 1 (20:56):
That's up for discussion. Okay, we don't really know me
to interpretation, I guess is a better way to put it.
He could have been. I mean, she's by all accounts,
seems like she's a very good looking young girl, but
still who knows.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, she's pretty sought after, really.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
She is, I mean twenty five years old. It's not
like she's like, you know, some child these guys are chasing.
I'm assume they're similar age and stuff as well, but yeah,
it's uh, I can't answer the question for this one.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
Okay, fair enough.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
Now, although each of these men had at least some
personal connection to Jessica, none of their stories matched the
extremely type timeline of the abduction. None of them drove
a vehicle matching the description of the silver minivan, and
none of them had any physical evidence tying them to
the scene. So, with the early suspects ruled out, investigators
focused on the most consistent and promising detail that they

(21:48):
had the silver minivan seen behind the X and Gas station. Now,
because the station had no cameras, detectives relied on exterior
footage from several nearby businesses, and that footage showed a
silver Chrysler Town and Country speeding away from the area
between the times I mentioned earlier, eleven oh two and
eleven oh five PM, but no license plate was visible. Now,

(22:09):
one of the people who did come up during this
time when they were focusing on this silver minivan was
a man by the name of Jeffrey Willis, a local
factory worker who occasionally stopped in at the gas station.
He was questioned because he was known to drive a
silver minivan, and interviews didn't raise any red flags. His
van appeared clean and he was quite cooperative. In fact,
there was simply no physical evidence tying him to the crime,

(22:33):
other than you know, he drove a silver van, so
investigators didn't treat him as a priority suspect. And after all,
I mean, there's dozens of existing Silver minivans in this region,
So without a plate or direct visual identification, the trail
just stalled. By late twenty thirteen, despite thousands of hours
of work, the investigation had reached a painful standstill. Every

(22:57):
promising lead had faded out, and the small bits of
his evidence, the trace amount of bloods, the gun accessory,
the timeline, well they weren't enough to point clearly to
anyone's suspect. Without Jessica or perhaps her body, without surveillance footage,
and without a solid witness who saw the abduction itself,
detectives were effectively chasing a shadow. Search efforts continued for months,

(23:21):
but no matter where the investigation went, it ended with
the same disappointing result. There was no trace of Jessica.
Jessica's family refused to let the community forget what had
happened that day. Her mother printed flyers, held vigils, and
spoke with media outlets whenever she could, but keeping the
case in the public eye could only do so much

(23:42):
when the trail of Jessica and where she had gone
had gone so cold. Detectives meanwhile, faced a growing sense
of frustration. They poured resources into this investigation, eventually mounting
to more than twelve thousand man hours, and brought together
a task force of rough Leaf seventy five professionals across
different multiple agencies. And despite all of that effort, the

(24:05):
lack of new leads or physical evidence made progress nearly impossible.
And when the theory of an opportunistic kidnapper started to
come up, well, it felt all too real. And whoever
did take Jessica managed to do it quickly and quietly.
Detectives began to suspect that the person responsible, in fact,
may have planned this, since it happened so fast, or

(24:29):
at least to some degree, they planned it, and this
theory well, if it's true, would mean that he knew
where he was taking her as well, which meant it
was likely very well hidden.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah, this is really scary. And the fact too that
he did it right close to closing as well. Right,
so there's a lot of things that it just I mean,
who knows how long this person was planning this shit,
I guess.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah. Now, by the middle of twenty fourteen, the investigation
had essentially stalled to a standstill. Detectives work the case
as information came in, but no major breakthroughs occurred. The
name Jessica hearing A remained a headline on missing Persons posters,
and then another crime occurred just a short drive north
of where Jessica vanished. On the evening of June twenty ninth,

(25:16):
twenty fourteen, fourteen months after Jessica disappeared, thirty six year
old Rebecca or Becky as she was called Blesh, went
out for a routine jog near her home in Dalton Township.
Now running was a part of her regular schedule, something
she did to unwind after work and of course stay healthy,
so total prompts to her. She lived only a short

(25:38):
distance from where Jessica had vanished, and at around six pm,
a couple was driving down the road and noticed what
they thought was an animal lying in the grass on
the side. As they got closer, they realized it wasn't
an animal, but it was a woman. It was Becky.
She was laying there and she wasn't breathing.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
Dang. Okay.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Paramedics arrived quickly, but she never made it to the
hospital and was declared dead.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
Holy frig Now.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
At first, investigators thought she might have been struck by
a vehicle. Her belongings like her cell phone, earbuds, and
sunglasses were scattered nearby, which supports this idea, but the
truth became all too clear when the medical examiner looked
closer and found that Becky had actually been shot three
times in the back of the head.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
Oh my gosh, Okay, that is just so terrifying. I
hate stuff like this when you're literally just going out,
you know, and trying to distress and someone just takes
you out like that.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
You're going about your day.

Speaker 2 (26:36):
Oh yeah, it can't it can't make you, It can't
make you stop. But it's I just don't love this
at all.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
Now, two of the wounds showed signs of close range firing.
The pattern suggested that she may have tried to crawl
away after the first shot. And this clearly wasn't an
accident or gunfire situation where someone shot and you know,
hit someone they didn't realize was there. Showing that she
could have been trying to crawl away, Showing that she

(27:04):
was shot from close range showed someone did this with
very clear intent. Shell casings a total of three were
found near the road as well in the grass after
this revelation. They were from a twenty two caliber firearm. Now,
something also felt off about this scene. There were subtle

(27:24):
signs that well, let me just tell you. Her shirt
was slightly raised, her running pants were partly lowered. It
hinted that the killer may have intended more than just
a murder, and investigators quietly consider that they might be
looking at a failed abduction attempt.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
Okay, because yeah, it does seem like weird that someone
would just drive by and shoot her, right.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yes, So detectives followed standard procedure. They started with Becky's husband, Kevin,
who had been out of the town that day with
their daughter. His reaction, the timeline alibi, All of it
checked out. Phone records confirmed, who wasn't anywhere near the
crime scene. Friends, family, and co workers were interviewed, but
nothing suggested Becky had enemies or was involved in anything risky.

(28:08):
She was well liked. She was an occupational therapist from
a stable family, not someone typically targeted for a violent crime. Now,
a day later, a woman came forward reporting a strange
encounter from the day before Becky was found. A man
had actually approached her as she was preparing for a
bike ride. She also said that she decided to leave
the area entirely rather than continue riding near this guy. Now,

(28:32):
her description produced a sketch, but it didn't tie directly
to Becky's murder, but it was definitely interesting to note.
So detectives were left with a puzzling case. A woman
was murdered during a jog, shot with a small caliber
gun three times, with no obvious suspect or motive, and
a potential link in another situation of an attempt that

(28:54):
could well a creepy situation, let's put it at that,
And so, like Jessica's disappearance, Becky's case went cold too.
There was just no real information and time just ticked by.
It was in the early hours of April sixteenth, twenty sixteen,
nearly three years after Jessica vanished and almost two years

(29:14):
after Rebecca Blesh was murdered, that a sixteen year old
girl named Madison Niguard was walking alone on a rural
road in Layton Township. She'd been at a party and well,
it was a gathering that ended quite abruptly when police arrived,
shutting the gathering down with miners drinking. Her phone wasn't
with her, her friends had scattered, and she found herself

(29:38):
stranded trying to navigate her way home in the dim
morning light. She wasn't drunk, just exhausted and kind of
lost trying to find her way in the dark. At
one point a cyclists passed by and offered general directions,
but they didn't really seem to help too much. Madison
kept walking, hoping she'd eventually recognize something, and not long

(29:58):
after sunrise, a s minivan pulled up beside her. The
driver was a middle aged man. He rolled down his
window and asked if she needed any help now. Madison
asked if she could use his phone, you know, maybe
make a call to her parents or something like that,
and instead of handing it to her. He suggested well
that she should get in so that they could pull
off on the side of the road together.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
Oh no, that's creepy at shit.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
She hesitated, just like you are right now. But the
thing is, there's cars approaching from behind, and you know
she's looking for help, She's trying to find her way.
So she reluctantly agreed and climbed in his vehicle.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
No now.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
The moment that the door closed on his vehicle, the
man locked the doors. Madison immediately felt the change in
the atmosphere. She asked again for the phone, but he
told her it was dead. She said she wanted to
get out, but he ignored her, and within seconds he
reached behind the seat and he pulled out a gun.
Everything happened so fast after that, and Madison panicked, and

(31:00):
she kicked into survival mode. She fumbled for the door handle,
got it unlocked, and flung herself out of the now
moving van while it was traveling roughly forty miles per
hour down the road.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Oh my goodness, gracious.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
She hit the pavement hard, tumbling across the asphalt, shredding
her skin, but somehow managed to get back to her feet.
The driver screeched the tires of the van as it
skidded to a stop, and she heard a metallic click
of him trying to fire the gun, but the weapon
jammed instead of firing. He ejected two live rounds onto

(31:35):
the road, trying to get this gun to fire, but
he yelled at her as she started to go running
the other way, and he yelled out it was just
a joke. But Madison knew.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Better that is not a joke.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
Yeah, and she didn't look back. She sprinted to the
nearest house, banging on a door, screaming for help. Don
Schmidt opened the front door and pulled the terrified sixteen
year old girl inside and locked the door as Madison
begged her to call nine to one one. By the
time police arrived, Madison was shaken, bleeding and terrified, but

(32:09):
fully able to describe what had happened and what the
man looked like. She also remembered details of the van,
small things like inside there was a black mesh storage
net between the seats. She even identified the van as
a silver Dodge Caravan, which happens to be nearly identical
to a Chrysler Town and Country, the same type of

(32:30):
van witnessed you know, describing being around where Jessica had
appeared that night three years ago. Meanwhile, officers recovered two
live twenty two caliber rounds that had fallen out of
the gun and were left sitting in the street. Police
obtained surveillance footage from a local blueberry farm along the
same road, and from that footage, detectives compiled the list

(32:51):
of every registered Silver Mini van in the area. And
from this list, it didn't take long before one name
stood out.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
Okay, well, yeah, clearly this person is just roam in
the streets, right because it's not like they knew she
was gonna Madison was going to be there at that time.
So it is surprising to me that they haven't got
caught when they are just you know, obviously on the
prow like this.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
But well it's not to say that that's what they're
always doing on the prow. That could be a progression
in nature. He planned before, Now he's looking for opportunities.
That's a growing sense of a confidence, in my opinion.
Before I need to sit back and need to plan
every little detail. Well, now I'm getting away with this,
I can just kind of wander around and see what

(33:36):
presents itself. I don't really need to plan it out.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
I mean, I'm dismostly meaning it's too bad that that
police didn't stumble across this, you know, silver mini van
just cruising around like this.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
But they can't just hole over and investigate every single minivan, right, yeah,
which is unfortunate.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
Well now they can, well pretty kind of.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
They're looking into it for sure. So from this list
they got the name of Jeffrey Willis, a forty six
year old who lived in Muskegon County and was, in
fact someone they already interviewed about owning a silver minivan.
When deputies drove by his home, they saw that van
sitting in his driveway, and through the window. When they

(34:18):
looked inside that van, they spotted black netting between the seats,
just like Madison had described. Then came the final confirmation.
Madison was shown a photo lineup, and without hesitation, she
singled out Jeffrey Willis Immediately. This moment became the turning
point in the investigation. They quickly placed a GPS tracker

(34:42):
on Jeffrey's silver minivan and monitored his every movements for
several days. During that time, they noticed behavior that concerned them,
including a long period where he sat in a drug
store parking lot seemingly watching people come and go. He
didn't approach anyone as police were watching, but the activity
he looked suspicious enough to justify moving forward in a search.

(35:04):
So on May seventeenth, twenty sixteen, police served a search
warrant for his home, his van, and his electronic devices.
They also brought him in for questioning. He wasn't under arrest.
Detectives simply wanted to hear his account of where he'd
been on the morning that Madison escaped. Now. From the start,
Jeffrey struggled to keep his story consistent. He first claimed

(35:26):
that he stayed at home all day, but when detectives
mentioned that they knew he'd gone and gotten an oil
change that morning, well, he agreed he'd done that, And
then he added, well, he went to a pet smart
and later said he probably went to tractor supply as well.
And each version of his story contradicted the previous one,
and none of them explained why his van had been
caught on camera in the area where Madison escaped. Now.

(35:48):
During the search of his van, detectives found several items
that immediately raised concern. They found a Walther P twenty
two pistol with the serial number filed off, pair of
black gloves, handcuffs, set of syringes, one later confirmed to
contain a sedative, a large hunting knife, a metal box

(36:08):
under one seat, and a second metal box under another
which contained restraints and sexual objects.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
Oh my goodness, this guy is just a complete creep. Yeah,
and these disturbing as shit.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
These metal boxes or metal lock boxes would in this
situation and many other situations be commonly referred to as
what perpetrators have as a rape kit.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
Uh okay, oh man, I hate this now.

Speaker 1 (36:37):
Further examination of the P twenty two pistol revealed something
even more significant. Forensic specialists restored the filed off serial number.
They managed to get it, and they traced the gun
back to one of Jeffrey's coworkers, who reported that weapon
had gone missing from her home. When the bullets recovered
from Rebecca's murder were compared to the test firing of

(36:59):
this guy, they were a match. It was the same gun,
which meant it connected him directly to the twenty fourteen homicide.
At this point, detectives confronted Willis with the evidence. He
became agitated, and repeatedly asked if he was under arrest,
and when he tried to walk out of the interview,
officers informed him that yeah, he was in fact under

(37:20):
arrest now. When investigators began examining Jeffrey's digital devices, the
search revealed material that significantly expanded the scope of the
investigation and connected him to multiple crimes in a way
physical evidence alone could not. The first major discovery came
from his primary computer. Detectives located a folder titled vis VICS,

(37:46):
presumably meaning.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
Victims Seriously Yes.

Speaker 1 (37:51):
Inside were several sub folders, each labeled with sets of initials.
Two of these folders were labeled j l H RSB,
matching the initials of Jessica Lynn Hearinga and Rebecca Sue Blesh.
In the j l H folder, there are multiple images

(38:11):
of Jessica taken from news coverages, including screenshots of missing
persons segments broadcasted on TV, and detectives also found her
missing person's flyer, online, articles about the case, and images
sourced from every public release by law enforcement. The RSB
folder contained similar material about Rebecca, news stories about her death,

(38:33):
images related to the crime scene, and information about the investigation.
Beyond these folders. Investigators located a large collection of pornography
as well, Much of it involved themes of kidnapping, force restraints,
and violent sexual scenarios. Now, the content was consistent with
the items found in his van too, things like handcuffs,

(38:53):
restraint syringe's, masks, all this, although, to be clear, possessing
this material was not a legal by any means. I
mean maybe a gun with a filed off serial number, yeah,
but handcuffs or those sort of things, it's not illegal.
It's the context and pattern of the behavior that was
simply concerning.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
Super concerned. Have all that shit just ready in your
van and stuff?

Speaker 1 (39:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (39:18):
What's this guy's name again?

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Jeffrey Willis?

Speaker 2 (39:21):
Okay, Jeffrey, Jeffrey. I haven't said this for a while,
but Jeffrey your nastiest shit.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
You're nasty, bringing back the og term. I like it.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
Yeah, Like this guy has just giving me the heavy
GBS the ick. Yeah, that's super ick.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
Now. The search of his home also uncovered hidden storage devices.
Some were concealed in air vents, while others were placed
in locations that just blended in with normal household items.
On these drives, investigators found additional pornographic content saved articles
on missing women, and this set of videos that established
a clear history of predatory activity. One of the most

(39:59):
alarming discoveries on this was a series of voyeuristic recordings
made in twenty eleven. Jeffrey had secretly filmed two girls,
both around fourteen years old, while they were using the bathroom.
Oh man, they weren't even strangers either at the time.
They had lived next door to him.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
Oh gosh, that's disturbing.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
They also found another metal lock box that contained additional restraints,
sexual devices and such. There's lubricants, masks, ropes. Yeah, I'm
sure you can get the idea. It's all made to
immobilize and control a victim. Or hey again, I'm not
judging those contents could be a partner too. Consent is
the big thing, right, clearly he's not looking for consent.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
Now. This is just giving me flashbacks almost to like
the what was that one toy box killer or oh toy.

Speaker 1 (40:52):
Box killer was one, Yeah, where he like restrained them
and like did the mind control thing.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
Yeah, but he also had just like I don't, I can't.
I think it's that one. But he just had like
all these things tools and stuff.

Speaker 1 (41:04):
Was just with that one, I believe. Yeah, he had
like a shipping container. Yeah, when it was like his
like dungeon.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Basically really disturbing.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Yeah. Now, investigators then reviewed his browser history. They found
repeated searches for updates on Jessica's disappearance, for news on investigation,
articles about her family, and public statements in information on
body disposal, searching involved kidnapp scenarios, missing women's investigations, all

(41:34):
these sort of things, and these searches were spread out
over months and years, showing that his interest in Jessica
wasn't going away. It was. In fact, it was not
limited to a simple timeframe, it was ongoing. Digital forensic
teams also found evidence that he routinely deleted browser history,
clearly trying to conceal activity. However, much of the data

(41:56):
remained recoverable through forensic tools.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
Still there.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Yeah. Now, As investigators worked through all this evidence found
in Jeffrey's home and van, they began looking into other
properties connected to him as well. One location in particular
drew some attention, which was an old house at three
zero three to eight Bailey, which Jeffrey had inherited from
his grandfather. The house was run down and unoccupied at

(42:21):
the time, but it was still in his name and
only about twelve to thirteen minutes away from the exit
station where Jessica disappeared. Because it was isolated rather than
you know, being right out in the open, and it
was rarely visited by anyone, well, this property was clearly
a point of interest. Once detectives obtained a search warrant

(42:44):
for this home, they found that the interior looked as
though it had been used very irregularly. Some rooms were
cluttered while others were nearly empty. But what stood out
the most in the search was that there's some areas
of the home that appeared recently cleaned. Investigator even noted
the presence of bleach disinfectants and other cleaning supplies, including

(43:05):
bottles that had been partially used. As they pieced together
the timeline, investigators also learned that Jeffrey had actually been
near this property on the night Jessica had vanished. His
cell phone records showed a ping in the Bailey area
at eleven twenty three pm on April twenty six, twenty thirteen,

(43:25):
roughly twenty minutes after the silver minivan was seen leaving
the exit station. So it all fit the timestamp aligned
with the exact estimated window, giving investigators the first solid
indication where he may have actually taken her. Immediately afterwards,
neighbors in the area also provided information. Once Jeffrey's name

(43:46):
became public. One resident reported seeing him at the Bailey
property shortly after Jessica disappeared, describing him as walking out
of the woods with a shovel. Allly Now, At the time,
the site didn't seem unusual. I mean people often knew
yardwork or clear rural properties, right.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
But when you look back at that.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
Exactly after learning about the case and his potential connection,
the neighbor realized that timing was very significant and contacted authorities.
When investigators returned to the scene after this information, they
conducted a more detailed search of the grounds. They brought
in cadaver dogs, used metal detectors and ground penetrating radar.
They performed soil analysis, but no remains were recovered from

(44:28):
the property. Now, as investigators continued to build the case
against Jeffrey Willis, one person unexpectedly became central to understanding
what may have happened to Jessica, and that is his cousin,
Kevin Lavern Bloom Now Kevin came into the picture because
investigators were questioning those closest to Jeffrey. He had been

(44:48):
a corrections officer with the Michigan Department of Corrections before
speaking with investigators, and he had no criminal record, but
he began giving investigator statements that contained details the public
no things that were not released. He shared specifics about
Jessica's injuries and the condition she was in, yet he
claimed he learned them from news coverages or community discussions,

(45:12):
and when investigators confronted him with the fact that these
details were not public knowledge, he changed his account multiple
times before eventually recanting them. Because of this, police charged
him with lying to investigators during a violent crime investigation,
which is a felony offense, and it allowed them to
arrest them and hold him. The following second round of questioning,

(45:35):
combined with the mounting evidence against Jeffrey, pressured Kevin to
tell more a more complete version of events of what
had happened, and eventually he admitted that he was involved,
not in Jessica's disappearance itself, but in what happened after.
In this second round of questioning, Kevin said that Jeffrey

(45:56):
contacted him on the day after Jessica vanished and told
him that he quote had a woman and there was
a quote party. Now, according to Kevin, this phrasing wasn't
exactly unusual with their relationship. He said that he believed
it referred to some kind of sexual encounter, and that's
quite ambiguous that statement. I believe potentially hiring sex workers

(46:21):
might be the normal for them. That's my assumption, but
I'm not exactly certain. Regardless. When he arrived at Jeffrey's,
Kevin said he saw Jessica inside. She had a visible
head injury. She was lying face down, her hands were bound,
she was naked and not moving. In fact, she was dead.

(46:44):
He continued and told detectives how he knew Jeffrey had
been watching Jessica and that he had developed an interest
in her. In fact, Jeffrey reportedly admitted to striking her
to render her unconscious and using restraints and sexual devices
while she was incapacitated and before Kevin had arrived. Now,
Kevin did not claim to witness the assault itself. He

(47:06):
described the aftermath in detail. Though. Kevin stated that Jeffrey
had planned how to dispose of her body and had
already chosen a location so the two men wrapped Jessica
up in a sheet, carried her to Jeffrey's vehicle, and
drove to an area near Sheridan Road and Laketon Road,
a rural spot Jeffrey was familiar with. There, Kevin said

(47:30):
he had already dug a hole in advance, and shovels
were left on site. Together, they placed Jessica's body in
the ground, buried her, and left this.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
Kevin guy is also a complete piece of shit. Yeah,
because he could have stopped this from even happening.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
I think allegedly, according to his version of events, he
showed up and she was already dead.

Speaker 2 (47:54):
Yeah, but he knew that Jeffrey was having a fascination
with this chick.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
True. Now, I know people who have an interest in
other people. I know people who are pursuing other people.
Doesn't mean they're going to murder them and kidnap.

Speaker 2 (48:07):
Them, I know. But still I don't like Kevin.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
I agree. But maybe let's play Devil's advocate here. Maybe
Kevin wasn't aware to what extent he was going to
take towards Jessica. Maybe he assumed he was just romantically
pursuing her and that was that. Like every normal relationship
typically begins.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
Okay, but also he could have saved the family's pain
for three years. Yeah, of not knowing where the.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
Hell she is the second he arrived on scene and
didn't call authorities, he's part of the problem for sure. Now,
if he was aware of how his friend cousin whatever
was going to pursue Jessica and didn't stop it, yeah,
then you're right, he could have saved her life. But
we don't know for sure. If that's the case, I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
I think something isn't right with him, Like, I don't know.
I'm not buying the full story that he's telling us.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
Fair enough, Now, despite multiple searches over the years, Jessica
has never been recovered from any location. Really. Investigators believe
that either conditions changed over time, the exact site was
imprecisely remembered, or the burial location was altered. Now, with
all this, investigators were building the case involving thirty six

(49:19):
year old Rebecca Blesh, who was found shot dead on
June twenty ninth. In twenty fourteen, we already mentioned the
Walther P twenty two pistol found in Jeffrey's possession. It
matched to the bullets recovered from this case, which was
incriminating enough, but further evidence came from a DNA analysis.
Rebecca's DNA was actually found inside Jeffrey's van, including on

(49:42):
gloves and on items stored alongside the gun in some
lock boxes with the sexual items, which means he likely
tried to get her in the van. Potentially she could
have been in the van, we don't know, but there
was certainly a form of contact to get her DNA
in there on these items. Detectives believe that he intended
to at least enforce her in the vehicle, if he

(50:04):
didn't actually get her in there, potentially to take her
to the Bailey property or another secluded location, but that
she resisted strongly enough and that he resorted to using
his gun to kill her.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
Oh, the poor thing.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
So these findings helped slidify the fact that she had
been in close proximity with him before or after being murdered.
So to put it plainly, it was essentially a slam
dunk case. Now you have the actual smoking gun and
the DNA.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
Well back to the cousin he because now he's letting
this guy just go rogue. Yeah, and so this is
another person that's died. Correct, correct, So, oh my goodness.
He never spoke up, never said anything, He let this continue.
So again Devil's advocacy. The point he saw Jessica's body

(50:52):
is at the very least the point he became aware
of the situation. Yes, and he could have done more
to protect other victims, and yeah, this is one of
those victims he could have protected totally. Jeffrey went on
trial on October seventeenth and twenty seventeen in Muskegon County
Court for the murder of Rebecca Blesh, but the prosecutors
presented the evidence as part of a broadern pattern, not

(51:15):
just this case. They argued that he targeted vulnerable women,
typically when they were alone and isolated. The courtroom was
shown images of the items found in his possession, the restraints, masks, chains, lubricants, ammunition,
and other material investigators described as a functioning rape kit.
The prosecution also introduced the digital material recovered from his home.

(51:37):
This included the folders labeled with initials matching victims, as
well as graphic videos and violent pornography consistent with fantasies
of control and coercion. Now, again, these files do not
prove the crime, but they helped durors understand the psychological
backdrop the prosecutors believed motivated this guy's attacks. They would

(52:00):
go on to discuss the DNA found in his van,
as well as the matching firearm fountain in his possession,
the one used to actually commit the murder. But throughout
the trial, Jeffrey showed very little visible reaction. Observers frequently
commented on his lack of emotion, especially during the presentation
of graphic evidence. The jury began their deliberations on November two,

(52:22):
twenty seventeen, and they returned with a verdict the same
day for charges of first degree murder and felony fire use.
Jeffrey Willis was found guilty on all charges. Now because
the charges carried a mandatory life sentence without parole, the
outcome meant that Jeffrey would remain in prison for the

(52:42):
rest of his life. In that sentencing, he refused to
listen to victim impact statements from Rebecca's family, an action
that later led to Michigan lawmakers to pass the Rebecca
Blesh Law, requiring convicted offenders to remain in the courtroom
during the statements, forcing.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
Them to listen.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Oh like he just left.

Speaker 1 (53:04):
Yeah, he wasn't in the courtroom.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Oh wow, I mean that doesn't surprise me. Constring what
kind of person he is.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
Right, jeez? Now. Jeffrey Willis would go on trial for
the kidnapping and murder of Jessica. Hearinga in early May
of twenty eighteen, prosecutors laid out the events of that
fateful day when she disappeared on April twenty six, twenty thirteen,
starting with Jessica's routine work day and ending with the
eleven to fourteen PM call that first alerted police something

(53:33):
was wrong. They presented the evidence found at the gas station,
you know, Jessica's belonging still inside her car untouched, and
the droplets of blood found the rear of the building.
They also highlighted the discovery of the battery cover that
belonged to the Walther P twenty two laser site, matching
the model recovered from Jeffrey's possession. When it came to

(53:54):
reconstructing the night, witnesses and their testimonies would play a
very significant role as well. Example, the manager of Jessica's workplace,
the exit station, described seeing a silver minivan behind that
station at eleven PM, with a man moving around the
back of it and opening the rear hatch. Their description
of the driver, a man in a red or orange

(54:15):
sweatshirt with wavy crazy hair, aligned with other accounts. Surveillance
footage from nearby businesses supported their statements, showing a silver
Chrysler Town and Country leaving the area at the exact
time Jessica disappeared after witnesses. Prosecutors then shifted towards the
evidence connecting Jeffrey to the van and the timeline his

(54:35):
coworkers had noticed his vehicle was unusually clean after Jessica
had disappeared. Phone records placed him near the Bailey property
shortly after the van was last seen leaving the station too.
But the most significant portion of the prosecution's case involved
the digital evidence found years later. They introduced the Vick's

(54:56):
folder and the subfolder labeled with Jessica's initials, and the
images and news articles that he had saved about her.
When they showed the jury messages, search histories, and downloaded
files that suggested a long standing interest in abduction and
sexual assault, it put a big exclamation on the case now.

(55:18):
Of course, Finally, prosecutors also presented testimony from Jeffrey's cousin Kevin,
who described seeing Jessica after she was abducted and helping
dispose of her remains. Although the defense challenged his credibility,
the prosecution argued that his provided details were consistent with
evidence already gathered, consistent with evidence that was not known

(55:40):
to public. The defense attempted to cast doubt by pointing
a lack of physical remains, lack of a body, the
absence of direct eyewitnesses in the possibility that someone else
had driven a similar van, but it didn't help. After
approximately ninety minutes of deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict.

(56:00):
On May sixteenth, twenty eighteen, Jeffrey Willis was found guilty
of kidnapping and murdering Jessica. Hearing one month later, he
received a sentence, once again, of life in prison without
the possibility of parole. Following his conviction, the relief for
Jessica's family came with a painful reality Jessica was still

(56:24):
missing and the one person who knew where she was
wasn't revealing anything. For her parents, Shelley and Jim, the
verdict closed only one part of a long exhausting chapter,
but the other the hope of bringing their daughter home,
remained unresolved. In the days after the trial, investigators again

(56:45):
reviewed areas where the two men had apparently allegedly buried Jessica.
Kevin had taken the police into the wooded area near
Sheraton Road and Laketon Road. However, despite hours searching, Kevin
struggled to pinpoint the up exact location. He admitted that
years had passed, the landscape had changed, and that the
burial happened at night under stressful circumstances, and as a result,

(57:09):
without more precise information, they simply could not locate remains. Now.
Kevin eventually accepted a plea agreement for his involvement. He
had already pled guilty to lying during earlier stages of
the investigation, and in twenty seventeen he pled no contest
to being an accessory after the fact in Jessica's disappearance

(57:30):
in exchange for cooperation, and because he had already spent
time in jail awaiting resolution. His final sentence amounted to
times served, followed by five years of probation and a
requirement to wear a GPS teather for at least one.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Year, that is not enough for him.

Speaker 1 (57:47):
Yeah, you're not alone in that thought. Many people in
the community thought the same thing, that that penalty was
way too minimal, especially compared to you know, Jeffreys serving
life sentences.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
Now, well, I'm realizing commit the murder, but his shadiest shit,
and he could have prevented another murder from happening. So
it's like, no, I don't think that that's not enough
at all in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
I agree, but legally, without a full confession that could support,
you know, be supported with evidence, prosecutors had very limited
options and did what they could. Apparently now, over the years,
dozens of locations were combed through fields, wooded lots, marshalands,
rural properties looking for Jessica's remains, but each search ended

(58:32):
the same way, with nothing being found. In the months
after Jessica's disappearance, one question resurfaced repeatedly within the Norton
Shore community. How could something like this happen in a
public space under bright lights with cars passing by? While
the answer, many felt came down to a lack of
basic safety measures. Jessica had been working alone late at night,

(58:54):
a situation that left or exposed and the gas station
had no security cameras. Because parents Shelley and Jim became
the driving force behind a push to prevent another family
from going through what theirs had to endure. They worked
with lawmakers to draft what became known as Jessica's Law,
a proposal requiring gas stations and convenience stores that operate

(59:16):
between eleven PM and five AM to either install and
maintain working security cameras, or at least ensure two employees
were on duty during night shifts. The proposed law was
introduced to the Michigan House of Representatives in late twenty thirteen,
only months after Jessica went missing, but despite the emotional

(59:37):
weight behind the bill, it stalled. Small business owners, especially
those with standalone over overnight stores, expressed concerns about the
cost of installing security systems or paying the additional staff.

Speaker 2 (59:50):
Oh, my goodness, that would be minimal the security cameras
being installed.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Yep. Jessica's Law sat installed in a pending state for
a while, revisited peers periodically, but as far as I
could find, it was never passed into law. Alongside this
effort was another law, Rebecca Bleshed Law. As I already
talked about It was passed in twenty eighteen requiring convicted
defendants to remain present to hear those victim impact statements

(01:00:16):
in court when sentencing. In the decades since, this story
is primarily told as Jessica's story, but it's well, it's
so much more than that. It's about Jessica, Rebecca Madison,
It's about safety, monsters, and so much more. But perhaps
it's Jessica's story because one piece of that story remains

(01:00:38):
painfully unresolved, and that's because Jessica has never been found.
Her parents have lived for years without the ability to
give her a burial or even confirmed what had happened
to her in final hours. That absence is the lasting
ache at the center of this tale, even with a
conviction of life sentence that was handed down. And that's
the story of Jessica hearing it, and Rebecca Madison and

(01:01:04):
every woman whose life was impacted by Jeffrey Wilson's actions.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
What would it be to him to just freaking say
where the body is he? But maybe he doesn't even
remember either, But that is so terrible to me that
the family has no closure with that.

Speaker 1 (01:01:18):
Well, he's he's maintaining his innocence.

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
Oh my gosh, this Sky is out to lunch.

Speaker 1 (01:01:23):
No, he says he's innocent.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
He's so disturbing. I got goosebumps numerous times during this
episode because he is just so nasty.

Speaker 1 (01:01:33):
Nasty, af completely nasty. I like how you brought that
back for this episode.

Speaker 2 (01:01:37):
You're nasty. He's a nasty motherfucker.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
You're right, he really is, honestly.

Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
And then I also just have to touch on Madison
because I feel like she is a the badass of
the day because if it wasn't for her, this shit
could just be continuing, could it not.

Speaker 1 (01:01:54):
You're right, yeah, No, She's definitely the badass of the
day for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
Like she jumped out of a moving van save herself
that miles an hour freaking incredible. Yeah, Like yeah, and
she was only sixteen, so it's like, wow, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
Awesome, props to her for that. That is huge. You're right.
She provided what everyone needed, essentially, uh to bring this down.

Speaker 2 (01:02:16):
So yeah, and you know, when you were presenting this case,
I was almost in my head like I don't know,
I'm I was hoping she would have gone through complete hell,
but I was hoping that Jessica was like still alive
in that house. For some reason, I just felt like
maybe that was a possibility, even though like it really wasn't.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
But I went through the same when I was researching
and learning about the story. When I got to that house,
I was like, Oh, hopefully she's in there, Hopefully she's alive,
and you know, it's a survival case, and that unfortunately
wasn't the situation. Yeah, we just don't know what had
happened to her. The only account we have, and what
happened to her came from someone who helped bury her,
which is even still a second hand account who came

(01:02:56):
in allegedly after she was already dead.

Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
Huh, well, well, good job is always presenting this. It's
just unbelievable that there's people like this in the world. Hey,
it's kind of just messed up.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
Like I said, he's a monster.

Speaker 2 (01:03:11):
Yeah, I think this one. I feel like we present
a lot of disturbing cases, obviously, but there are certain
ones that really stick with you, and this is definitely
one of being like really disturbing to me.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
So well, it's always hard to hear. I mean, there's
so many things to hear that are hard to hear.
When it comes to true crime. But when there's that
aspect of it could have happened to anyone, Yeah, it
hits differently. And that's where things like safety come in.
And I am a big advocate for safety. I've got
a few friends in the safety industry as well, and

(01:03:44):
it's unfortunate to see how people turn such a blind
eye to it. They see the risk, they know the
risk is there, but they don't care because they have
that mentality of well, it won't happen to me, uh huh,
it won't happen to me, So they just keep going
on and then eventually it happens. And I'm not saying
that in terms of Jessica did it. I'm saying in

(01:04:05):
terms of people not putting up security cameras, people not
doing better for their employees, people not trying to reduce risks.

Speaker 2 (01:04:14):
Yeah. Well, the going for a run thing is pretty
scary too. Like I used to run, and lots of
times I think about starting to run again. I don't
know if I'm too old, maybe not, But like out here,
we live slightly rule and I don't know. I mean,
your lots of times probably listening to headphones and shit, right,
So how do you prevent something like that from even happening.

Speaker 1 (01:04:36):
Well, that's kind of the sad aspect that we live
in a world that we question going for a run
in the first place.

Speaker 2 (01:04:41):
Yeah, like, I don't know that's so scary because running
on quiet roads is so nice. But then yes, she
had to worry about someone was sneaking up behind her.
I don't know how quickly she realized she was in
danger and frick.

Speaker 1 (01:04:54):
Yeah. So anyways, hopefully enjoyed today's tale and maybe it'll
put a little bit of perspective on Hey, it can
happen to anyone. Try and keep yourself safe. Minimize those
risks where you can put up a security camera. Honestly,
you can get them on Amazon now, put an SD
card in there and you're good to go, like upload
to the cloud. They're cheap.

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
Yeah, they're not expensive.

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
Yeah, tell someone if you're going to go out for
a run, Tell someone when you're going to get back.
Little things can be the big difference. And if Madison
has taught us anything, put up a fight, put up
a fucking fight, be the badass of the day. Thank
you guys for being here. I'm going to just leave
it at that. Nothing about the description today you're awesome,
and until next

Speaker 2 (01:05:36):
Time, stay wicked.

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