January 17, 2023 • 27 mins
Some Lakeview neighbors and an entire online community rally for justice for Jessica. One neighbor tells his story about aggressive and volatile messages between himself and someone who he believes is Justin about a year after Jessica’s death – in which, the person sending those text messages, confesses to some things surrounding her case. Another neighbor is the eyes and ears for Jessica’s family, taking photos and circling the neighborhood to see what’s happening around Jessica’s home. And a couple stumbles upon another piece of evidence where Jessica was found seven months earlier. Audrey goes to the virtual village – social media and starts an online petition – and someone with power in NOLA takes notice.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, listeners, Jessica here. Be sure to check out new
episodes of Undetermined every Tuesday for free wherever you get
your podcasts. For early and ad free listening, check out
Tenderfoot plus on Apple Podcasts. The views and opinions expressed
in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed
(00:24):
and participating in the show, and do not represent those
of Tenderfoot TV and Resonate Recordings. All individuals described or
mentioned in the podcast should be considered innocent until found
guilty in a court of law. This podcast contains subject
matter such as violence and graphic descriptions, which may not
(00:45):
be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You wanna, let's just maybe walk up to the tracks
and look and see like that vandage point, and then
we'll walk down to where she was bound.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
This investigation has taken us many places and led us
all around the city of New Orleans. Well. One place
we've spent a lot of time in is the area
where Jessica's body was found back in August of twenty nineteen.
As you walk down Kenilworth Street and look over at
the rows of houses, it makes you wonder could one
(01:33):
of Jessica's two thousand plus neighbors have seen something? Could
they know something? Could there still be evidence hidden somewhere
in the small field where her body laid. There's a
lot to take in here and a lot of things
to consider. All right, let's walk this way. But on
(01:54):
this day, what has our attention is the street sign
at the intersection of Orleans Avenue in Kenilworth Street, just
a short walk from the field where Jessica's body laid,
A roadside memorial inside a rather upscale neighborhood, it seems
out of place. Sticking out from the ground is a
(02:15):
large wooden cross bearing Jessica's name. A neighbor actually made
it and placed it there. Tied to the bottom of
the cross are a teddy bear and a bundle of
pink and purple silk flowers. Just above the memorial, Attached
to the pole is a custom flyer, giving a little
more context to any unknowing passers by. It's faded from
(02:40):
the unrelenting New Orleans sun.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
The plastic sign is now bent and just kind of
waving in the breeze. It's almost somber out here by itself.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's very sad it's got the crime stoppers number. What
happened to Jessica Easterly And contrary to.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
The memorial, the flyer was actually Audrey's doing. She figured
if anyone had any information, there was a good chance
they'd be a resident of Lakeview. Her hope was that
posting signs around the neighborhood would maybe open some doors
or at the very least bring awareness to her sister's case.
(03:22):
You can definitely say they got people's attention.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I remember the missing posters going around, and I was like,
nobody goes missing in Lakeview. That's something that happens on
like dateline. I never would have thought it would have
happened like in my little niche family neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
We're still like, how did this happen here? Like? What
did we miss?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
I just feel very strongly because it's my neighborhood, and
because I have become friends with Audrey, that I feel
like I'm not going to stop until something is done.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
When Audrey came up with the idea of posting signs
around the Lakeview neighborhood, with similar posts made across social
media platforms, she didn't know if anything would ever come
of it. All. She knew is she was in a
position where she felt she needed help from anyone willing.
The old adage it takes a village right true in
(04:45):
many cases, and certainly true in this one. Because those
signs Audrey posted did have an effect on some locals.
How could it not. This type of thing doesn't happen
in a neighborhood like lake.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Lakeview is one of the safest neighborhoods in New Orleans.
That's one of the reasons why I moved here.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
This is Laura, a Lakeview resident.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
I grew up Uptown, and then when I got married
and decided to have kids, we moved to Lakeview because,
as you can see right now in the afternoon, people
are out walking their dogs, kids ride their bikes. It's
a very family friendly neighborhood. Like completely, you can feel
safe here. You can walk everywhere. That's why I like
living here.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
We're seated under the shade of a carefully groomed tree,
just outside a favorite neighborhood spot, Nola Bean coffee shop.
Across the street, bells ring at each new hour, drowning
out the traffic, just in front of a large stone church.
It's an idyllic setting. Again, not the kind of place
(05:49):
where something like this would happen.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I remember the missing posters going around. I think it
was like August eleventh. They're twelve when they're out. And
then like I saw a Facebook post and next door posts,
and so I started like reaching out to people that
were posting stuff, just like asking him to know her, let's,
you know, do a search thing. And then before you
(06:13):
can get anything together, her sister found her body. And
then I was like, been involved with that ever since,
because I have friends that are like, Laura, why are
you involved you, Harley, You didn't even know her, you
never even met Her'm like, I know it didn't, but
I was like there's something in me that I'm like
I have to be her voice. So like I just
feel like I was have to do something like if
that was my sister or my mom or a friend,
(06:35):
like I would hope people would do the same for me.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
When the preschool teacher first learned that Jessica was missing,
she remembers having an immediate visceral reaction. I, in my
gut said that she's not missing.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I was like, she's she's dead. Wherever she is, she's dead.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Of course it wouldn't take long for that notion to
be confirmed. Like Laura said, just about a week later,
the neighborhood learned that Jessica's body had been found again.
Laura had an instant reaction to the news.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
She was murdered when she went missing.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I was like, she was murdered, Like people don't go
missing here, Like this is not just a missing person.
Like if there was a missing person, like it would
have been on the news, it'd been all over place.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
It was really nowhere.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
It was like from Jessica's friend Maria posting on her
social media I think it was Facebook. When she first
posted it, it went like viral onto the lake View
next Door app and like I put it on there,
another girl neighbor put it on there, and so it
kind of just blew it.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
From that, Laura quickly noticed that Jessica's friend Maria was
making quite a splash on social media, spreading word about
Jessica's case, so eventually she reached out.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
I privately messaged her friend Maria and was like, I
know you don't live here.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
I know you don't know me. I did not know Jessica.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
If there's anything I can do on the grounds here,
like I can be your eyes here, and I kind
of have been that for them.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Over the years, Laura has formed quite a bond with
Jessica's loved ones. After some back and forth with Maria,
Laura would get in touch with Audrey and she hasn't
looked back since.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I feel like I've become like part of friends with Audrey,
like even though I've never met her in person, like
I've been talking to her since twenty nineteen. People say
that my husband says it too, like, Waur, why is
it matter?
Speaker 5 (08:28):
You don't even know?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Her voice is gone, She's dead, like that cross that
is in her moral Me and the other neighbor as Sam,
we're the ones that put it there. And I emailed
Audrey and I asked her, do you want us to
put her name on it? Do you want it to
leave it blank? What would you like? Like, I am
not looking for a reward, I'm not looking for anything.
I'm looking for literally justice for her. Like I believe
the NOPD has not done their job. Doesn't take rocket
(08:51):
science to figure this out, you know. And I understand
you can't just arrest somebody you don't have enough evidence,
But I feel like they didn't even do enough to
get evidence. It's like they didn't want to find evidence
to prove this.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Laura feels strongly that ineptitude within the n OPD has
hindered the investigation. Because of that, she never passes at
an opportunity to remind the police that they have a
job to do here.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
I would call NPD third District Lebrono. He does not
like me, but guess what, that's fine. I don't care.
Every Wednesday of the month, it's the first Wednesday every
month we have neighborhood meeting. Because the third district is
for Lakeview and you get on it every day. I
would say every meeting, I know you're not going to
tell me anything about the case, but is there anything
you can update us on Jessica Easterly, like anything. I
(09:43):
know it's still under investigation, so you're not allowed to
say anything, but you need to tell us something. And
he would just get annoyed because he wanted to just
talk about like the car hand pulling and the doors
getting smashed whatever, the windows being smashed all the time.
He did not want to hear Sam and I when
we would get on there, he would try to ignore
us and change the subject every single month. He hates
those meetings. Literally, when he sees my name on the
zoom thing, He's like, great, Laura's here again.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Laura has sort of become a chain of communication with
n OPD locally, whether they like it or not. She
jokes she's driving or walking through the neighborhood and sees
anything she thinks could be of importance. She shares it
as an investigative journalist covering crime. One thing police have
always told me when it comes to tips, send them
(10:29):
in no matter how insignificant you think they are. Let
them be the judge of that. Of course, Living just
a few blocks away, Laura often drives past Justin and
Jessica's house.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
So I'll drive by and I always see cars parked
with the license plates always to the house in the
front of the car, like most people just pull in
their driveway. So I always thought that was weird. And
there was always always a range drover there. Right when
Jessica went missing, it was just a range drover and
a motorcycle. The motorcycle disappeared shortly after her body was found,
(11:04):
and then the range river disappeared. Because after the range disappeared,
all of a sudden like a Mercedes and a BMW
showed up on the driveway, and I was like, okay,
this is sketchy like because the BMW will sometimes be
there by itself, then it disappears for a while, then
the Mercedes. Same thing, and then there's another guy that
lives there, which is weird. That appeared after Jessica was
(11:25):
found dead.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
She thinks it was about six months after Jessica's death
that the man moved in with Justin, his father and
his daughter. Laura admits she rarely sees Justin or anyone
living in the home for that matter, yet there's always
enough activity to keep her thinking. For example, not too
long ago, that range Rover that had gone missing for
(11:47):
some time, all of a sudden reappeared.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
It's still weird to me out I'm like her car
was gone right after she died, and then now it's back,
like where was it?
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Where was it?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
For the past year, and more recently, in October of
twenty twenty, something very out of the ordinary caught her attention.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
So I drove by and it was a futon and
a headboard to a bed and they're putting it out
like almost when dusk was coming.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
It was like nighttime.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
I called Audrey and she was like, will you drive
by and take pictures?
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I need like evidence.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
So I did one of the side street took pictures
of it, and then all of a sudden, I was like,
oh my god, Audio, I drove by again and there
was a NOPD like forensics truck or something. I was like,
oh my god, the forensics truck is there now, and
she was like, are they taking it? I was like,
it doesn't look like they're taking this stuff. I said,
it looks like they're like taking swabs off it or
(12:45):
like testing it. I was like, I never took the stuff,
and it sat out there for like a week or two,
and then I was gone.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
According to Laura, it appeared as though the NOPD took
swabs at the furniture for testing, but if they did,
no one in the family knows of any results, nor
does Laura. She doesn't necessarily expect the police to tell her,
but as a Lakeview resident, she'd certainly like to know
what it was about. I mean, it's not every day
(13:15):
you see authorities swabbing your neighbor's belongings. Laura admits she's
thankful to see that investigators are working the case, at
least they appear to be, though for her in no
way makes up for the past.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
I mean, there's so many things I feel like they
messed up in the beginning, Like how can I fix
it now to get answers for the family? You know,
I thought the police are here to help us, you know,
I'm here to back them if they back us. You know,
it makes me nervous that I did call in the
beginning and when harass in OPD and say, hey, I'm
calling about the dusk Easter the case, and sometimes the
(13:51):
third District would say, I don't even know who you're
talking about, and I'm like, excuse me. We shouldn't be
fighting to get this, like the police and the authority
should be wanting to help. No one should have to fight,
you know, for a family member or anything like this.
Like I couldn't imagine if I was Audrey, how they're
feeling having to deal with the sadness of the whole
(14:12):
situation and then still having to fight, you know, and
keep strong, you know, be very strong.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
I feel that.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I'm her voice here in the neighborhood, and maybe me
being annoying to all the police here, our da our
council member, anyone that they'll maybe do something, because if
we don't stop harassing them and stop fighting for her,
no one will, and then it will get just dusted
(14:44):
under the rug and the another cold case that just
sits there. And I just feel very strongly because it's
my neighborhood and because I have become friends with Audrey,
that I feel like I'm not going to stop until
something is done.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It's not just Laura who feels this way. Many neighbors
have become invested in this case, and while some like Laura,
have taken a very direct and intentional approach, others got
involved sort of by accident, like this couple we met
named Chuck and Margaret, who shared a rather interesting story
(15:21):
of how they got involved. March fifteenth, twenty twenty, felt
like an ordinary day for Chuck and Margaret. They were
out on their typical leisurely stroll near the area where
Jessica was found some seven months earlier. Surprisingly, the couple
(15:43):
was hardly even aware of the incident involving their neighbor Jessica,
so it's not like they were out there looking for
anything or trying to take part in the investigation. But
they would end up finding something on their track that
would make them a part of this story indefinitely.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
We were walking the dog, were heading towards City Park,
and we were going between the railroad and that security
building that they built for pump operators when pumping station
operators when there's a hurricane. So we're between there, and
I think Margaret spotted a woodpecker and this tree, and
(16:23):
she went off this way, and I'm walking the way
we were going toward the pumping station, and I spot
that ID on the ground.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
An id peculiar, yes, but also not the strangest thing
to stumble upon. After all, many people passed through this
area on any given day. Therefore, anyone could reach in
their pocket or purse and drop their idea in the process.
But Chuck was about to learn that this wasn't just
any random person's ID.
Speaker 6 (16:56):
And it appeared from looking at it, it was kind
of wow. It looked like it had been hit by
the more So, we've walked there quite a few times
and I never saw it before, but so I picked
it up, and I walk over to her and I
show it to her, and she says, oh, that's a
(17:17):
woman who was.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Killed at the time Chuck had no idea what Margaret
was talking about, but it turns out she knew a
little bit about Jessica's case and therefore understood the potential
importance of the ID they just found.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
I had heard about it because I had surgery in
the summer, and so I spent a lot of time
resting and looking at my phone. And I don't think
I read about it in the newspaper. I think I
read about it on this neighborhood Facebook group.
Speaker 8 (17:52):
And.
Speaker 7 (17:53):
We had her name from the ID, so I guess
I sort of searched the old posts and found the
name of her friend that had posted it. So I
sent her a message say, and we found it.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
That same day, an officer with the NPD came out
to Chuck and Margaret's house to collect the evidence. Things
stay quiet for a while after that, until about five
months later, when the lead detective at the time, Anthony Lunn,
finally gave them a call. They gave their story and
answered any questions he had. But to this day, nothing
(18:31):
more has come of that discovered ID, nothing that we
know of, since the NOPD isn't relaying any information to
us from the investigation. Really all it's done, is added
to the mystery surrounding this case.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
It seems kind of weird that, you know, you find
out that she supposedly didn't have any ID, which you
would assume that was because, oh, well, maybe your purse
was still at the house. But then why would she
take that unusual ID with her, just that one unusual ID.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Initially it was difficult to make sense of this. One
can obviously speculate, but Chuck and Margaret aren't going to
do that. They just hope that the small part they
played and what they found can help lead to some
resolution At the end of all this, though the idea
has only added more questions to the mix. There was
(19:33):
one thing about it that we were able to determine.
When Todd and I visually compared the ID that the
neighbors found with the idea that Justin should police the
night Jessica was reported missing, we could confirm that both
were Louisiana state ideas. Neither were a driver's license, and
both had her name listed as Jessica Easterly her maiden name.
(19:57):
Both had issue dates of twenty nineteen, and both had
expiration dates of twenty twenty three. What we could determine
visually was that they were not the same ID. They
were both vertical IDs. However, the one left at the
house had a completely different layout. At the top of
the ID there was text above her photo, and the
(20:20):
one found by neighbors in the field had her photo
at the top of the ID without text. Could it
have been placed there after Jessica was found and if so,
why or was it simply overlooked at the scene. Remember,
according to Justin's original statement to the NPD, it was
(20:40):
reported that Jessica's keys, phone, medications, purse, wallet, and her
ID were left at home. So how does a second
ID end up right where her body was found seven
months after the fact. And why an ID in the
first place? Why not a credit card too, or a
wallet to carry? Why not any of the other items
(21:03):
that were left behind. The only thing we do know
for certain, as Todd reminded me, is that a piece
of new evidence like this has great investigative value in
this new era of touch DNA. It took detective Lawn
about five months to reach out to Margaret and Chuck
about the ID, and that was way too long in
Audrey's mind. So during that waiting period in April of
(21:26):
twenty twenty. She actually decided to file a formal complaint
nine months since she found her sister's body in the
same area the couple found her ID.
Speaker 9 (21:37):
So when I found out that the couple in Lakeview
who found Justica's ID had not heard from the detective,
I decided to file a formal complaint with the Public
Integrity Bureau and we listed all the things that NPD
had failed to do to properly investigate.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Four months pass and Audrey receives no reply regarding the complaint,
but she persists.
Speaker 9 (22:07):
So we had to email E Creighton. His name was E.
Creighton our formal complaint. Then, I'm gonna say it was
probably May June or so I called him to find
out what was going on with it, and he said
(22:27):
that he couldn't find it in his email, that I'd
have to do it all over.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Again, send it to him all over again.
Speaker 8 (22:34):
And so I sent it all over to him again,
sent him everything, and then I kept calling and calling
and finally got a hold of someone and he gave
me a control number, and I gave him the control number,
and they're like, yeah, well, you're just gonna have to
talk to him so I would leave messages. I literally
(22:57):
called every day for weeks on end, never heard back
from him.
Speaker 9 (23:01):
And then finally on August sixth, I talked to mister
Creighton and he informed that they were going.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
To be investigating.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
This was a small win for Audrey and the rest
of Jessica's family, a step in the right direction. As
a reminder, Audrey wasn't the only person out there working
the authorities. Laura, the Eyes and Ears of Lakeview had
also been busy.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
I feel like my constant pushing got somewhere because he
got so annoyed that you know, it went to other places.
And Joe, our council member, he would email the corner
because I was like the Corners, according to Lobrono, the
corners who is holding this up because he classified her
(23:54):
death as undetermined. I would get friends and post it
on Facebook and on next door to call the number,
email and just say her family deserves her body.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
Harass the coroner.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
I mean, which is so sad that you have to
harass somebody to get the body of your loved one
like that should not have to happen to anybody, you know,
And I mean I don't know if it happens in
other cities, but I'm embarrassed that it's happening here in
New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Just as a reminder, at this point, when the Public
Integrity Bureau got involved in Jessica's case, her body had
been at the coroner's office for a year.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
I mean it's almost been two years, and there literally
has been zero answers for her family, literally nothing. I mean,
they don't know how she died, they don't know how
she ended up there. Maybe a set of new eyes,
a set of new ears, everything would maybe find something
that NPDS not.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
I feel like NPD messed up so much in the
beginning that it scares me that they lost a lot
of evidence that they could have found.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
Like, it's still weird.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Laura believes someone out there holds the answer, and she
hopes this new interest in the case will get Jessica
one step closer to justice. But it turns out there's
one other neighbor in Lakeview who believes he may have
found some answers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
When I realized that he thought I was somebody else,
I decided to press him a little bit, and I said, well,
why don't you come clean and give the family, some peace.
It just became more and more obvious to me. What
would happen. I'll never believe anything else happened.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Undetermined is a production of Resonate Recordings and Tenderfoot TV
in conjunction with Cadence thirteen, Written and hosted by me
Jessica Nole and produced by Dennis Cooper and Todd mccolma's
with additional production by Whitney Bozarth. Executive producers are Dennis Cooper,
(26:25):
Mark Minnery, Jacob Bozart, Donald Albright, and Payne Lindsay. Our
senior producer is John Street. Editing, mixing, mastering and sound
design by Caleb Melcher, Dayton Cole and pat Kick Kleider
of the Resonate Recordings team. If you have a podcast
or are looking to start one, check us out at
(26:48):
Resonate Recordings dot com. Our theme song and original score
is by Dirt Poor Robbins, with additional scoring by Dayton Cole.
Our cover art is by Station sixteen. You can follow
Undetermined Podcast on Facebook and on Twitter at Undetermined Pod.
Show notes as well as bonus content can be found
(27:10):
on our website undeterminedpod dot com. If you enjoyed this episode,
please take time to subscribe, rate, and review. Your feedback
is greatly appreciated. And finally, if you have any information
about this case, call crime Stoppers at one eight seven
(27:31):
seven nine zero three seven eight sixty seven
Hey, listeners, Jessica here. Be sure to check out new
episodes of Undetermined every Tuesday for free wherever you get
your podcasts. For early and ad free listening, check out
Tenderfoot plus on Apple Podcasts. The views and opinions expressed
in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed
(00:24):
and participating in the show, and do not represent those
of Tenderfoot TV and Resonate Recordings. All individuals described or
mentioned in the podcast should be considered innocent until found
guilty in a court of law. This podcast contains subject
matter such as violence and graphic descriptions, which may not
(00:45):
be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
You wanna, let's just maybe walk up to the tracks
and look and see like that vandage point, and then
we'll walk down to where she was bound.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
This investigation has taken us many places and led us
all around the city of New Orleans. Well. One place
we've spent a lot of time in is the area
where Jessica's body was found back in August of twenty nineteen.
As you walk down Kenilworth Street and look over at
the rows of houses, it makes you wonder could one
(01:33):
of Jessica's two thousand plus neighbors have seen something? Could
they know something? Could there still be evidence hidden somewhere
in the small field where her body laid. There's a
lot to take in here and a lot of things
to consider. All right, let's walk this way. But on
(01:54):
this day, what has our attention is the street sign
at the intersection of Orleans Avenue in Kenilworth Street, just
a short walk from the field where Jessica's body laid,
A roadside memorial inside a rather upscale neighborhood, it seems
out of place. Sticking out from the ground is a
(02:15):
large wooden cross bearing Jessica's name. A neighbor actually made
it and placed it there. Tied to the bottom of
the cross are a teddy bear and a bundle of
pink and purple silk flowers. Just above the memorial, Attached
to the pole is a custom flyer, giving a little
more context to any unknowing passers by. It's faded from
(02:40):
the unrelenting New Orleans sun.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
The plastic sign is now bent and just kind of
waving in the breeze. It's almost somber out here by itself.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's very sad it's got the crime stoppers number. What
happened to Jessica Easterly And contrary to.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
The memorial, the flyer was actually Audrey's doing. She figured
if anyone had any information, there was a good chance
they'd be a resident of Lakeview. Her hope was that
posting signs around the neighborhood would maybe open some doors
or at the very least bring awareness to her sister's case.
(03:22):
You can definitely say they got people's attention.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I remember the missing posters going around, and I was like,
nobody goes missing in Lakeview. That's something that happens on
like dateline. I never would have thought it would have
happened like in my little niche family neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
We're still like, how did this happen here? Like? What
did we miss?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
I just feel very strongly because it's my neighborhood, and
because I have become friends with Audrey, that I feel
like I'm not going to stop until something is done.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
When Audrey came up with the idea of posting signs
around the Lakeview neighborhood, with similar posts made across social
media platforms, she didn't know if anything would ever come
of it. All. She knew is she was in a
position where she felt she needed help from anyone willing.
The old adage it takes a village right true in
(04:45):
many cases, and certainly true in this one. Because those
signs Audrey posted did have an effect on some locals.
How could it not. This type of thing doesn't happen
in a neighborhood like lake.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Lakeview is one of the safest neighborhoods in New Orleans.
That's one of the reasons why I moved here.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
This is Laura, a Lakeview resident.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
I grew up Uptown, and then when I got married
and decided to have kids, we moved to Lakeview because,
as you can see right now in the afternoon, people
are out walking their dogs, kids ride their bikes. It's
a very family friendly neighborhood. Like completely, you can feel
safe here. You can walk everywhere. That's why I like
living here.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
We're seated under the shade of a carefully groomed tree,
just outside a favorite neighborhood spot, Nola Bean coffee shop.
Across the street, bells ring at each new hour, drowning
out the traffic, just in front of a large stone church.
It's an idyllic setting. Again, not the kind of place
(05:49):
where something like this would happen.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I remember the missing posters going around. I think it
was like August eleventh. They're twelve when they're out. And
then like I saw a Facebook post and next door posts,
and so I started like reaching out to people that
were posting stuff, just like asking him to know her, let's,
you know, do a search thing. And then before you
(06:13):
can get anything together, her sister found her body. And
then I was like, been involved with that ever since,
because I have friends that are like, Laura, why are
you involved you, Harley, You didn't even know her, you
never even met Her'm like, I know it didn't, but
I was like there's something in me that I'm like
I have to be her voice. So like I just
feel like I was have to do something like if
that was my sister or my mom or a friend,
(06:35):
like I would hope people would do the same for me.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
When the preschool teacher first learned that Jessica was missing,
she remembers having an immediate visceral reaction. I, in my
gut said that she's not missing.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I was like, she's she's dead. Wherever she is, she's dead.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Of course it wouldn't take long for that notion to
be confirmed. Like Laura said, just about a week later,
the neighborhood learned that Jessica's body had been found again.
Laura had an instant reaction to the news.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
She was murdered when she went missing.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I was like, she was murdered, Like people don't go
missing here, Like this is not just a missing person.
Like if there was a missing person, like it would
have been on the news, it'd been all over place.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
It was really nowhere.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
It was like from Jessica's friend Maria posting on her
social media I think it was Facebook. When she first
posted it, it went like viral onto the lake View
next Door app and like I put it on there,
another girl neighbor put it on there, and so it
kind of just blew it.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
From that, Laura quickly noticed that Jessica's friend Maria was
making quite a splash on social media, spreading word about
Jessica's case, so eventually she reached out.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
I privately messaged her friend Maria and was like, I
know you don't live here.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
I know you don't know me. I did not know Jessica.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
If there's anything I can do on the grounds here,
like I can be your eyes here, and I kind
of have been that for them.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Over the years, Laura has formed quite a bond with
Jessica's loved ones. After some back and forth with Maria,
Laura would get in touch with Audrey and she hasn't
looked back since.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I feel like I've become like part of friends with Audrey,
like even though I've never met her in person, like
I've been talking to her since twenty nineteen. People say
that my husband says it too, like, Waur, why is
it matter?
Speaker 5 (08:28):
You don't even know?
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Her voice is gone, She's dead, like that cross that
is in her moral Me and the other neighbor as Sam,
we're the ones that put it there. And I emailed
Audrey and I asked her, do you want us to
put her name on it? Do you want it to
leave it blank? What would you like? Like, I am
not looking for a reward, I'm not looking for anything.
I'm looking for literally justice for her. Like I believe
the NOPD has not done their job. Doesn't take rocket
(08:51):
science to figure this out, you know. And I understand
you can't just arrest somebody you don't have enough evidence,
But I feel like they didn't even do enough to
get evidence. It's like they didn't want to find evidence
to prove this.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Laura feels strongly that ineptitude within the n OPD has
hindered the investigation. Because of that, she never passes at
an opportunity to remind the police that they have a
job to do here.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
I would call NPD third District Lebrono. He does not
like me, but guess what, that's fine. I don't care.
Every Wednesday of the month, it's the first Wednesday every
month we have neighborhood meeting. Because the third district is
for Lakeview and you get on it every day. I
would say every meeting, I know you're not going to
tell me anything about the case, but is there anything
you can update us on Jessica Easterly, like anything. I
(09:43):
know it's still under investigation, so you're not allowed to
say anything, but you need to tell us something. And
he would just get annoyed because he wanted to just
talk about like the car hand pulling and the doors
getting smashed whatever, the windows being smashed all the time.
He did not want to hear Sam and I when
we would get on there, he would try to ignore
us and change the subject every single month. He hates
those meetings. Literally, when he sees my name on the
zoom thing, He's like, great, Laura's here again.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Laura has sort of become a chain of communication with
n OPD locally, whether they like it or not. She
jokes she's driving or walking through the neighborhood and sees
anything she thinks could be of importance. She shares it
as an investigative journalist covering crime. One thing police have
always told me when it comes to tips, send them
(10:29):
in no matter how insignificant you think they are. Let
them be the judge of that. Of course, Living just
a few blocks away, Laura often drives past Justin and
Jessica's house.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
So I'll drive by and I always see cars parked
with the license plates always to the house in the
front of the car, like most people just pull in
their driveway. So I always thought that was weird. And
there was always always a range drover there. Right when
Jessica went missing, it was just a range drover and
a motorcycle. The motorcycle disappeared shortly after her body was found,
(11:04):
and then the range river disappeared. Because after the range disappeared,
all of a sudden like a Mercedes and a BMW
showed up on the driveway, and I was like, okay,
this is sketchy like because the BMW will sometimes be
there by itself, then it disappears for a while, then
the Mercedes. Same thing, and then there's another guy that
lives there, which is weird. That appeared after Jessica was
(11:25):
found dead.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
She thinks it was about six months after Jessica's death
that the man moved in with Justin, his father and
his daughter. Laura admits she rarely sees Justin or anyone
living in the home for that matter, yet there's always
enough activity to keep her thinking. For example, not too
long ago, that range Rover that had gone missing for
(11:47):
some time, all of a sudden reappeared.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
It's still weird to me out I'm like her car
was gone right after she died, and then now it's back,
like where was it?
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Where was it?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
For the past year, and more recently, in October of
twenty twenty, something very out of the ordinary caught her attention.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
So I drove by and it was a futon and
a headboard to a bed and they're putting it out
like almost when dusk was coming.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
It was like nighttime.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
I called Audrey and she was like, will you drive
by and take pictures?
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I need like evidence.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
So I did one of the side street took pictures
of it, and then all of a sudden, I was like,
oh my god, Audio, I drove by again and there
was a NOPD like forensics truck or something. I was like,
oh my god, the forensics truck is there now, and
she was like, are they taking it? I was like,
it doesn't look like they're taking this stuff. I said,
it looks like they're like taking swabs off it or
(12:45):
like testing it. I was like, I never took the stuff,
and it sat out there for like a week or two,
and then I was gone.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
According to Laura, it appeared as though the NOPD took
swabs at the furniture for testing, but if they did,
no one in the family knows of any results, nor
does Laura. She doesn't necessarily expect the police to tell her,
but as a Lakeview resident, she'd certainly like to know
what it was about. I mean, it's not every day
(13:15):
you see authorities swabbing your neighbor's belongings. Laura admits she's
thankful to see that investigators are working the case, at
least they appear to be, though for her in no
way makes up for the past.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
I mean, there's so many things I feel like they
messed up in the beginning, Like how can I fix
it now to get answers for the family? You know,
I thought the police are here to help us, you know,
I'm here to back them if they back us. You know,
it makes me nervous that I did call in the
beginning and when harass in OPD and say, hey, I'm
calling about the dusk Easter the case, and sometimes the
(13:51):
third District would say, I don't even know who you're
talking about, and I'm like, excuse me. We shouldn't be
fighting to get this, like the police and the authority
should be wanting to help. No one should have to fight,
you know, for a family member or anything like this.
Like I couldn't imagine if I was Audrey, how they're
feeling having to deal with the sadness of the whole
(14:12):
situation and then still having to fight, you know, and
keep strong, you know, be very strong.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
I feel that.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I'm her voice here in the neighborhood, and maybe me
being annoying to all the police here, our da our
council member, anyone that they'll maybe do something, because if
we don't stop harassing them and stop fighting for her,
no one will, and then it will get just dusted
(14:44):
under the rug and the another cold case that just
sits there. And I just feel very strongly because it's
my neighborhood and because I have become friends with Audrey,
that I feel like I'm not going to stop until
something is done.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It's not just Laura who feels this way. Many neighbors
have become invested in this case, and while some like Laura,
have taken a very direct and intentional approach, others got
involved sort of by accident, like this couple we met
named Chuck and Margaret, who shared a rather interesting story
(15:21):
of how they got involved. March fifteenth, twenty twenty, felt
like an ordinary day for Chuck and Margaret. They were
out on their typical leisurely stroll near the area where
Jessica was found some seven months earlier. Surprisingly, the couple
(15:43):
was hardly even aware of the incident involving their neighbor Jessica,
so it's not like they were out there looking for
anything or trying to take part in the investigation. But
they would end up finding something on their track that
would make them a part of this story indefinitely.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
We were walking the dog, were heading towards City Park,
and we were going between the railroad and that security
building that they built for pump operators when pumping station
operators when there's a hurricane. So we're between there, and
I think Margaret spotted a woodpecker and this tree, and
(16:23):
she went off this way, and I'm walking the way
we were going toward the pumping station, and I spot
that ID on the ground.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
An id peculiar, yes, but also not the strangest thing
to stumble upon. After all, many people passed through this
area on any given day. Therefore, anyone could reach in
their pocket or purse and drop their idea in the process.
But Chuck was about to learn that this wasn't just
any random person's ID.
Speaker 6 (16:56):
And it appeared from looking at it, it was kind
of wow. It looked like it had been hit by
the more So, we've walked there quite a few times
and I never saw it before, but so I picked
it up, and I walk over to her and I
show it to her, and she says, oh, that's a
(17:17):
woman who was.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Killed at the time Chuck had no idea what Margaret
was talking about, but it turns out she knew a
little bit about Jessica's case and therefore understood the potential
importance of the ID they just found.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
I had heard about it because I had surgery in
the summer, and so I spent a lot of time
resting and looking at my phone. And I don't think
I read about it in the newspaper. I think I
read about it on this neighborhood Facebook group.
Speaker 8 (17:52):
And.
Speaker 7 (17:53):
We had her name from the ID, so I guess
I sort of searched the old posts and found the
name of her friend that had posted it. So I
sent her a message say, and we found it.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
That same day, an officer with the NPD came out
to Chuck and Margaret's house to collect the evidence. Things
stay quiet for a while after that, until about five
months later, when the lead detective at the time, Anthony Lunn,
finally gave them a call. They gave their story and
answered any questions he had. But to this day, nothing
(18:31):
more has come of that discovered ID, nothing that we
know of, since the NOPD isn't relaying any information to
us from the investigation. Really all it's done, is added
to the mystery surrounding this case.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
It seems kind of weird that, you know, you find
out that she supposedly didn't have any ID, which you
would assume that was because, oh, well, maybe your purse
was still at the house. But then why would she
take that unusual ID with her, just that one unusual ID.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Initially it was difficult to make sense of this. One
can obviously speculate, but Chuck and Margaret aren't going to
do that. They just hope that the small part they
played and what they found can help lead to some
resolution At the end of all this, though the idea
has only added more questions to the mix. There was
(19:33):
one thing about it that we were able to determine.
When Todd and I visually compared the ID that the
neighbors found with the idea that Justin should police the
night Jessica was reported missing, we could confirm that both
were Louisiana state ideas. Neither were a driver's license, and
both had her name listed as Jessica Easterly her maiden name.
(19:57):
Both had issue dates of twenty nineteen, and both had
expiration dates of twenty twenty three. What we could determine
visually was that they were not the same ID. They
were both vertical IDs. However, the one left at the
house had a completely different layout. At the top of
the ID there was text above her photo, and the
(20:20):
one found by neighbors in the field had her photo
at the top of the ID without text. Could it
have been placed there after Jessica was found and if so,
why or was it simply overlooked at the scene. Remember,
according to Justin's original statement to the NPD, it was
(20:40):
reported that Jessica's keys, phone, medications, purse, wallet, and her
ID were left at home. So how does a second
ID end up right where her body was found seven
months after the fact. And why an ID in the
first place? Why not a credit card too, or a
wallet to carry? Why not any of the other items
(21:03):
that were left behind. The only thing we do know
for certain, as Todd reminded me, is that a piece
of new evidence like this has great investigative value in
this new era of touch DNA. It took detective Lawn
about five months to reach out to Margaret and Chuck
about the ID, and that was way too long in
Audrey's mind. So during that waiting period in April of
(21:26):
twenty twenty. She actually decided to file a formal complaint
nine months since she found her sister's body in the
same area the couple found her ID.
Speaker 9 (21:37):
So when I found out that the couple in Lakeview
who found Justica's ID had not heard from the detective,
I decided to file a formal complaint with the Public
Integrity Bureau and we listed all the things that NPD
had failed to do to properly investigate.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Four months pass and Audrey receives no reply regarding the complaint,
but she persists.
Speaker 9 (22:07):
So we had to email E Creighton. His name was E.
Creighton our formal complaint. Then, I'm gonna say it was
probably May June or so I called him to find
out what was going on with it, and he said
(22:27):
that he couldn't find it in his email, that I'd
have to do it all over.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Again, send it to him all over again.
Speaker 8 (22:34):
And so I sent it all over to him again,
sent him everything, and then I kept calling and calling
and finally got a hold of someone and he gave
me a control number, and I gave him the control number,
and they're like, yeah, well, you're just gonna have to
talk to him so I would leave messages. I literally
(22:57):
called every day for weeks on end, never heard back
from him.
Speaker 9 (23:01):
And then finally on August sixth, I talked to mister
Creighton and he informed that they were going.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
To be investigating.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
This was a small win for Audrey and the rest
of Jessica's family, a step in the right direction. As
a reminder, Audrey wasn't the only person out there working
the authorities. Laura, the Eyes and Ears of Lakeview had
also been busy.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
I feel like my constant pushing got somewhere because he
got so annoyed that you know, it went to other places.
And Joe, our council member, he would email the corner
because I was like the Corners, according to Lobrono, the
corners who is holding this up because he classified her
(23:54):
death as undetermined. I would get friends and post it
on Facebook and on next door to call the number,
email and just say her family deserves her body.
Speaker 5 (24:07):
Harass the coroner.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
I mean, which is so sad that you have to
harass somebody to get the body of your loved one
like that should not have to happen to anybody, you know,
And I mean I don't know if it happens in
other cities, but I'm embarrassed that it's happening here in
New Orleans.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Just as a reminder, at this point, when the Public
Integrity Bureau got involved in Jessica's case, her body had
been at the coroner's office for a year.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
I mean it's almost been two years, and there literally
has been zero answers for her family, literally nothing. I mean,
they don't know how she died, they don't know how
she ended up there. Maybe a set of new eyes,
a set of new ears, everything would maybe find something
that NPDS not.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
I feel like NPD messed up so much in the
beginning that it scares me that they lost a lot
of evidence that they could have found.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
Like, it's still weird.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Laura believes someone out there holds the answer, and she
hopes this new interest in the case will get Jessica
one step closer to justice. But it turns out there's
one other neighbor in Lakeview who believes he may have
found some answers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
When I realized that he thought I was somebody else,
I decided to press him a little bit, and I said, well,
why don't you come clean and give the family, some peace.
It just became more and more obvious to me. What
would happen. I'll never believe anything else happened.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Undetermined is a production of Resonate Recordings and Tenderfoot TV
in conjunction with Cadence thirteen, Written and hosted by me
Jessica Nole and produced by Dennis Cooper and Todd mccolma's
with additional production by Whitney Bozarth. Executive producers are Dennis Cooper,
(26:25):
Mark Minnery, Jacob Bozart, Donald Albright, and Payne Lindsay. Our
senior producer is John Street. Editing, mixing, mastering and sound
design by Caleb Melcher, Dayton Cole and pat Kick Kleider
of the Resonate Recordings team. If you have a podcast
or are looking to start one, check us out at
(26:48):
Resonate Recordings dot com. Our theme song and original score
is by Dirt Poor Robbins, with additional scoring by Dayton Cole.
Our cover art is by Station sixteen. You can follow
Undetermined Podcast on Facebook and on Twitter at Undetermined Pod.
Show notes as well as bonus content can be found
(27:10):
on our website undeterminedpod dot com. If you enjoyed this episode,
please take time to subscribe, rate, and review. Your feedback
is greatly appreciated. And finally, if you have any information
about this case, call crime Stoppers at one eight seven
(27:31):
seven nine zero three seven eight sixty seven
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!