Crime Weekly - S3 Ep288: Jennifer & Adrianna Wix: The Four-Door Mustang (Part 1)

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

On March 27, 2004, 21-year-old Jennifer Wix and her 2-year-old daughter, Adrianna, were reported missing. They hadn’t been seen or heard from since March 25, when Jennifer told multiple family members she was scared and unhappy living with her boyfriend, Joey Benton, and his parents in their rural Robertson County, Tennessee home. When asked where Jennifer and Adrianna were, Joey gave multiple conflicting stories before settling on one—claiming he had dropped them off at a gas station on the night of the 25th, where they got into a white four-door car with two people he didn’t know. But nothing about this story, or the others, made sense. As Jennifer’s family searched for answers, they uncovered contradictions, missing details, and a troubling history of control and isolation, all of which left them questioning…what really happened to Jennifer and Adrianna Wix? We're coming to CrimeCon Denver! Use our code CRIMEWEEKLY for 10% off your tickets! https://www.crimecon.com/CC25 Try our coffee!! - www.CriminalCoffeeCo.com Become a Patreon member -- > https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeekly Shop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shop Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcast Website: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.com Instagram: @CrimeWeeklyPod Twitter: @CrimeWeeklyPod Facebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod ADS: 1. https://www.FastGrowingTrees.com - Use code CRIMEWEEKLY for 15% off your first purchase! 2. https://www.HelixSleep.com/CrimeWeekly - Get 25% off SITE WIDE! 3. https://www.PDS.com/CrimeWeekly - Complete your free debt assessment to see what options are available to you today! 4. https://www.HelloFresh.com/CrimeWeekly10FM - Get up to 10 FREE meals and a FREE high protein item for life! 

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21-year-old Jennifer Wicks and her two-year-old daughter, Adriana, were reported missing. They hadn't been seen or heard from since March 25, when Jennifer told multiple family members she was scared and unhappy living with her boyfriend, Joey Benton, and his parents in their rural Robertson County, Tennessee home. When asked where Jennifer and Adriana were, Joey gave multiple conflicting stories before settling on one. He claimed he had dropped them off at a gas station on the night of the 25th, where they got into a white four-door car with two people he didn't know. But nothing about this

story or the others made sense. As Jennifer's family searched for answers, they uncovered contradictions, missing details, and a troubling history of control and isolation, all of which left them questioning, what really happened to Jennifer and Adriana Wicks? Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Crime Weekly. I'm Stephanie Harlow. And I'm Derek Levasseur. So today we're jumping into a new case that we gave you a little information about in the teaser. We can dive right in unless you have something you want to talk about. Nothing to add. Ready to go.

So let's start by talking about one of the main victims in the case, who is Jennifer K. Wicks. She was born on August 16th, 1982 to parents Kathy and Michael. She was their first child, and Kathy said Jennifer taught her what love is all about, which I think is a pretty common sentiment. Actually, when you have children, you think you've loved before, but you realize, I've never loved before. This is what true love is. And Jennifer had a very kind spirit and a deep love for writing and animals, especially horses. And she spent most of her life in Robertson County, Tennessee, a small county north of Nashville, right near the

Kentucky border. Now, in the early 2000s, when this story takes place, the county had fewer than 60,000 residents, and it was that kind of small town place where everyone knew everyone, and the good old boys could get away with just about anything. Now Jennifer spent time in many of Robertson County's cities, but the ones that come up most in this story are Cross Plains, which had a population of fewer than 1,500 people, and Springfield, the county's largest city, which still had under 15,000 residents. When Jennifer was still a child, her parents Kathy and Michael divorced, and Jennifer stayed with her mom in Robertson County, but she remained close with her dad.

Kathy eventually remarried and had two more daughters, Heather and Casey, and Jennifer was close with both of them, but her bond with Casey, who was six years younger, was extra special. Jennifer treated her like a baby doll, constantly wrapping her arms around her, holding her, and even calling her hers. Their connection was unshakable and only grew stronger with time. Jennifer's father, Michael, also remarried and had three daughters, Holly, Jamie, and Megan, which made Jennifer the oldest of six girls, a role that she absolutely adored. Michael eventually moved about an hour away, but Jennifer spent weekdays and summers with him, making sure to

stay connected with both sides of her family. Family meant everything to Jennifer, and she was close with her siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and she loved growing up surrounded by them. One day, she hoped to have a family of her own, one that would grow up just like she had, always around loved ones. By the spring of 2001, 19-year-old Jennifer was living with her mom, stepdad, and two younger sisters, Heather and Casey, when she found out she was pregnant. At first, the news came as a shock, but her family came together in support, and Heather and Casey, who idolized their big sister, couldn't wait to bring the baby home. On January 14, 2002, Jennifer welcomed a daughter she named Adriana Nicole Wicks.

For years, no one really knew who Adriana's biological father was. And it wasn't until 2024, when the podcast Missing in Hushtown came out, that the truth was finally revealed. Jennifer's sister, Casey, worked with the host of the podcast, Jules Thorpe, for 18 months. And together, they obtained exclusive interviews with multiple people including Adriana's father Billy. Jules shared their exclusive information with us to help put this series together. Now during the interview Billy shared that he met Jennifer when they were both 19 years old at a field party. After leaving the party they spent a few hours just talking on the hood of Billy's car. They hit it off and started dating, but things moved a little too fast for Billy,

who just wanted to live his life to the fullest at that time. So they broke up and he didn't see her again for a few years. Billy actually had no idea that Jennifer was pregnant when they broke up, and he wouldn't find out for two more years that Jennifer had a daughter and that he was the father. Real quick, what's a field party? I'm assuming it's out of field, but for the city boy, we didn't have any field parties. So could was very rural, a field party would be, yes, it's an outdoor gathering, right? You probably get a bonfire, probably get a keg. It's a field party, right? I mean, it sounds like a blast, but I—

It does. You've never been to a field party? No. No. Anybody who knows where I'm from knows that the biggest field we had was, I don't know, probably a baseball field. That was about it. Football field, we didn't have any fields where you were like going out there and chilling and hanging out. Although it does sound like, I feel like the movie Friday Night Lights. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So you got pickup trucks and you're playing music out of the

pickup trucks and they're kind of circled around a big fire going. There's a couple kegs. You know, it's a field party. It's outside. You've never had an outside party, like outside of someone's yard. Outdoor party in the backyard. Yeah. Not in the backyard. Not a field party. When you said field party, I'm thinking like, like out in the middle of nowhere, like they're just, like you said, like racing tractors and stuff like that.

So I grew up pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And that's what I'm saying. You're, you're upstate New York. I figured you've maybe been to a field party. Oh, yes. A heyday. Well, the field parties were important because if you are not of the age to drink, which if you're in high school and right after, right, you can't have a party in your backyard. Well, you never drank when you were underage. I did.

Yeah. Oh, you did? Mm-hmm. Yeah. How dare you? I think most people have. Not me. I'm not going to lie to you.

Never. Yes, you have. Never. Listen, the field party comes in clutch. You can't have a party in the backyard. You can't go to the local bar, right? Because then your parents are probably also at the local bar and they'll see you. And then so you pick a field and it's pretty easy because it's like way out there, right? It's at night. No one's out in the fields or even like a wooded area. Pick one of those. You get all the pickup trucks set up.

You play your country music. You put the fire going. You get the kegs. And then if you also drink too much and you need a place to throw up, the field is your oyster. Although that could be a problem if you're just walking through there at night. I'm sure you're walking into things you don't want to walk into. Yeah. Corn, corn fields are great for this. That would be cool. Maybe we need to do a crime weekly field party. Yeah. But can we do like a haunted corn maze too? Cause that'd be awesome.

Yeah. Okay. Back to the story. We've had fun with our field conversation. So this is interesting because originally in your teaser, you mentioned Joey Benton as the current boyfriend at the time. But now we're learning that. And I initially thought that Joey was the father. He is not the father. It's Billy. And I noticed we didn't say Billy's last name. I'm assuming there's reasons behind that.

Glad he's willing to come forward and speak and do interviews. But clearly, for the sake of privacy, we're not going to mention his last name, although we don't even have it here. So we couldn't, we couldn't even slip up and do it. Yeah, we couldn't, but that's good to know the dynamic here. Billy's the father.

Billy doesn't even know that he's the father, even after Adriana is born. So that's, that's interesting as well. But to learn that clearly at some point, Billy's out of the picture and Joey comes in, I'm interesting to see where that transition takes place. I also think it's a little strange because like, was Billy from a different area, right? Was Billy, cause it's, they keep talking about how it's a small town and everyone

kind of knows everyone. So how did he go two years not knowing that Jennifer was pregnant? You know, was he from a different area? Well, I think maybe, could he have known, maybe I'm reading this wrong, but could he have known she was pregnant and had a child, but just not have known he was the father? No, I believe that he had no idea that she was pregnant when they broke up and he wouldn't find out for two more years that she had a daughter and that he was the father right okay okay yeah i mean he could have moved away like you said he could have yeah she could have moved away yeah there could have been something there where they lost touch with each other um but at the time i mean they must have stopped talking before she even started

started showing oh obviously yeah it kind of seems like they got together, maybe hung out for a few weeks. And then he was like, you know, like most young men at that age, no offense, guys, but teenage boys aren't ready to settle down and maybe don't even want to be that exclusive right away. So he was kind of like, this is going too fast, maybe getting a little intense. I'm going to detach a little bit here. And then clearly, I mean, she didn't even call him when she found out she was pregnant. So I don't know if it ended super well or if she just kind of was like, I don't want him to be with me because he thinks he has to be. I'm going to do this alone, which would have been my kind of perspective on it personally. There could be more to the story, but is it really important to what we're discussing? Not really. We need to know the players in this game. And we know about Adriana. We know about Jennifer. We know about Billy so far.

We know the dynamic. As far as how it all went down, I don't know if it's going to contribute too much to what we're talking about tonight. Yes. So we know that at least when she meets her new boyfriend, she's single. She has a daughter from a previous relationship. And that's where we're at. That's where we're at.

I think, yes. And that's important. Unless as the story transitions, and I don't think it's going to go that way, especially if he's speaking to another podcast, if Billy is a person of interest in this case. Well, I mean, at this point in where we're traveling with the story, anybody could be. Anybody's a fair game at now. We're hoping that window gets narrowed down a little bit, but yes, that's where we're at right now. So once Billy learned the truth, he did set up a time to meet his daughter, Adriana, and he and Jennifer arranged a visit. So I do definitely give him props for that because a lot of guys, especially that young, they'd be like, well, she didn't tell me. She don't want me to know.

So I'm going to just keep on acting like I didn't know. So at that point, he spent about 30 minutes with Adriana, who he said looked just like him as a baby. And then he and Jennifer stepped out onto the porch to talk. Billy told her that he wasn't going to try to get custody, but he would like to see Adriana from time to time, and Jennifer agreed. But sadly, this would be the first and only time Billy ever got to meet his daughter. And it sounds like things were pretty amicable, right? Like, yeah, we're not together, but this is my child. I'm not going to try to take her from you, but I do want to be in her life. But as we know, Jennifer and Adriana, they go missing when Adriana's two, and she's about two years old now. So by all accounts, Jennifer was a wonderful mother to

Adriana. Casey said that Jennifer was incredibly caring and nurturing, and it was sweet to watch the two of them together. Adriana was Jennifer's whole world, and Jennifer worked second and third shift jobs doing whatever it took to make ends meet while Kathy babysat. As Adriana grew older, she developed her own personality, and she was described as comical, sweet, and kind. In late 2002 or early 2003, Kathy and Casey moved to Vegas after Kathy was offered a job promotion. Heather, Jennifer, and Adriana stayed in Tennessee. Heather moved in with Kathy's parents, while Jennifer and Adriana bounced around, staying with Jennifer's paternal grandparents and her maternal aunt Lisa and Lisa's two children, Jeffrey and Samantha, in Cross Plains. In July of 2003, 20-year-old Jennifer was staying with her Aunt Lisa when she met William Joseph Benton, who goes by Joey. He was close friends with Jennifer's

cousin Jeffrey, and he'd come over to hang out. Jennifer was very excited after meeting Joey, and she immediately called her mom to tell her all about him. Now, Kathy would later learn that Joey was the youngest child of Cindy and Joseph Benton. And at the time he met Jennifer, he was still living with his parents in rural Robertson County. In a police report, Kathy later stated that Joey's parents seemed to keep a watchful eye on him, and he was rarely let out of their sight. Many people later shared with the Missing in Hushtown podcast that Joey appeared to struggle with drug dependency. And there were police reports filed against him by other girlfriends for aggressive behavior.

So I actually have a few questions that I want to ask you as a previous detective. But we'll take a quick break and then I will ask you those questions. Okay, we're back. So I thought it was interesting that Kathy said Joey's parents seem to keep a watchful eye on him and that he was rarely let out of their sight when it does appear that he is, you know, over the age of 18, technically, quote unquote, a grown man. An adult, yeah. And then other people shared with the podcast that he appeared to struggle with drugs and that there was police reports filed against him by other girlfriends. So do you think, from a detective's perspective, do you think his parents kept a close eye on him

because they were overly protective or because they knew that he kind of was prone to get into trouble? Yeah, he had a short leash. Yeah. I think that's very obvious. If he had a drug dependency issue and he had some run-ins with the law in the past, yes, you would like to think in theory, and you're there with one of your children at this point, but you think that your parenting job stops at 18. We all know that's not the case.

It's not always the case. I think with some people, they mature quicker. They kind of always have a more responsible nature about them. And when they go off to college or leave the house, you can sort of take a breath and relax a little bit. But with some, when they do have issues with drugs or alcohol or psychological issues, tempers, things like that, yeah, you still are going to feel responsible because whatever they go out in the world and do is still going to reflect on you, whether they're eight years old or 18 or 28.

And I would even say on a lighter note, even if your kids go off to college and they're doing everything right as a parent, you're still going to be hovering over them a little bit, being like, how's the grades? Are you being safe? Are you doing the right things? So so yes I think there is a transition at the start of maybe 17 18 where you let the bird out of the nest if you will you know but with someone who's having some struggles

I know parents that are still taking care of their kids and they're in their 20s and early 30s and they're still having to watch over them because they haven't necessarily made the right decisions. They're still paying their rents and doing all these other things. Oh, I know people like that too. Of course. It's a classic case here where you have someone who's struggling and the parents are feeling a responsibility to keep an eye on them as good parents to try to keep their kid on the right path. Yeah. I mean, hopefully as good parents, but- As much as you can. Yeah. I also wonder, was that leash always so short or maybe when he was younger, it kind of wasn't and they kind of let him do his own thing and that's how he kind of

went the way he did and that could be possible. But what I also find interesting is after meeting in July of 2003, Joey and Jennifer did start dating, but by late summer, they were on a break. So July is, you know, I would consider it midsummer. August, end of August would be late summer. So once again, this initial relationship is already having issues about a month and a half, two months in. And that should- Not a good start. Yeah, not a great start. It should be kind of a red flag. If you got to go on a break and you haven't even been together three months, it might not be the relationship for you. Well, you see it all the time though, right? Like these passionate relationships where

they start off really hot and heavy and strong and maybe a lot of sex going on, all these different things. Attraction, intensity. Yeah, everything's going great. And the adverse side to that is there's also when there's a downtime, when there's an argument, where there's a fight, it's equally as passionate and as volatile as it is when things are going good. And there's all that emotion that's on the good side of the spectrum. So you do see this a lot where when people start off fast like this, and it's really, I don't know the words to describe it, but, you know, it's hot and heavy.

That's the best way I can say it. And we also have to keep in mind this is a young relationship, right? 100%. Jennifer's 20. So, I mean, at that point when you're that young and you're starting off, you're not really thinking about who somebody is and how they're going to be with you in times of trouble or loss or stress. You're just like, hey, this is a good time. We're having fun. I'm attracted to them. And that's all that matters right now. And then as you kind of get to know each other and get deeper, you start to see each other's dynamics and each other's

coping mechanisms in times of stress. And maybe they're not so much of a match. However, that huge physical intensity and attraction is still there. So it's hard to pull away from something, even if in your head, you're like, maybe we're not that compatible. You keep trying, you keep hoping that something will click and it usually does not. But during this very early break that they took, Jennifer and Adriana actually traveled from Cross Plains to Las Vegas to visit Kathy for three weeks. And while she was there, Jennifer confided in her mother that she didn't know what to do. She didn't like living with her grandparents.

They were retired, and she worried that having a baby around was disrupting their lifestyle. But it's unclear if that's how they actually felt, because Jennifer's grandfather definitely did have a special bond with her daughter, Adriana. Every evening, they would sit on the porch swing together, rocking back and forth and singing songs. It seemed like the grandparents did enjoy having Adriana and Jennifer around, but maybe Jennifer didn't realize that. Maybe she kind of felt guilty, just the baby's crying at night, your grandparents are trying to sleep, you feel bad, you're kind of projecting that onto them. So Kathy suggested that Jennifer move in with her in Vegas. But Jennifer said, no, Las Vegas is too far away.

She wanted Adriana to grow up around her cousins and aunts and have the same kind of close-knit family connections that she herself had growing up. So after this trip, Jennifer and Joey got back together. And by September of 2003, Jennifer's family saw the first major red flag in their relationship. One day, Kathy got a call from Jennifer. She was distraught and crying. She had just been dropped off at her grandparents' house by Joey's mother, Cindy, after Joey threatened Jennifer, Adriana, and himself with a gun. According to police reports, Kathy later said, quote, Joey had in the recent past pulled a gun on Jennifer and threatened to hurt them all.

He called his mother to come and get them before he hurt them all. She did and took Jennifer and Adriana to her grandparents, end quote. So this is kind of showing me that Joey's got some emotional instabilities. He's not super emotionally regulated. And once again, his parents seem to know this. But is there also some enabling going on where it's like, yeah, my son pulled a gun on you. I'm going to drop you off at your grandparents' house so you're safe. Why is this kid not getting help? Why are the police not being called? Why are his parents kind of almost

protecting him and just like removing people from around him instead of saying to him like, hey, you need to get it together? Yeah, no, I'd love to speak to Cindy to ask her some of these questions to say, hey, what's going on? And I'm sure based on the circumstances we're dealing with now, Cindy has been questioned and we're probably going to dive into that. But for me, as we're going along with this timeline, kind of chronologically, we're looking at September of 2003. And just to refresh everyone, March 27th, 2004 is when the incident took place where Jennifer and Adriana are missing. So that's important to keep that in mind because it's not too far from that point.

And this is just the first thing. And we've talked about this a million times on Crime Weekly where the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. And when you have someone who shows the ability to do something like this, they will do it again. And so that's something we have to consider as we move forward. And obviously based on the teaser, Joey's going to be a big part of this story as we continue throughout this series. But yeah, you have trouble in paradise already in 2003. And this is not just an argument. This is serious to the point where mom has to get involved,

but the fact that he has this gun, so he has a means, he has the ability to do it. And he couldn't come down enough to bring them home. He had to have his mom do it. That's a concern. And it makes me wonder how bad it really was. Yeah, where he was like, you guys have to get away from me.

Like you guys have to get away. It's like he knows he's out of control and he's not just pulling a gun on his girlfriend, but her two-year-old daughter. Two-year-old daughter. And so we know he has some drug dependency issues allegedly, but it also, as you mentioned, seems like he has some anger issues. Now that could be because of the drug dependency or it could be separate.

It could be a separate problem that he's also dealing with, but either way, not good. And you said he also threatened to hurt himself as well, possibly? Yeah. So there's also a level of some suicidal tendencies as well. Yeah, not emotionally regulated. Yeah, no coping mechanisms. And who knows what triggered this, but it doesn't matter. Who cares?

It doesn't matter what triggered this. Threatening a two-year-old with a gun? Threatening anybody with a gun. It doesn't really matter the reason behind it. So what we've got is Joey and Jennifer getting together in July. By mid to late August, They're taking a break, which I suspect has something to do with him and the way that he behaves, whether it was the drugs or his emotional instability. And then they get back together in September, not long after they break up, right? Probably

Jennifer spends three weeks with her mother in Vegas, probably shortly after she gets back. They get to get back together. And within no time, there's another incident. And that's a sign to go, by the way. That is a sign to go. I agree. Especially if it's happening this early for everybody listening or watching. That's it. Yeah. So following this terrifying incident, Jennifer did break up with Joey, and her mother Kathy was so concerned for Jennifer and Adriana's safety that she quit her job in Vegas and moved back to Cross Plains. Kathy's mother had just moved into a new house, and her old one wasn't on the market yet, so Kathy started renting it. Within weeks of getting that call from Jennifer, Kathy, Casey, and Heather moved into the house, and in the basement, Kathy set up a little apartment for Jennifer and Adriana. They moved in as well, and for the first time in a while,

things settled down and felt stable, and Kathy believed Jennifer and Adriana were safe from Joey. But then, just before Christmas of 2003, Heather heard Jennifer talking to Joey on the phone. Heather immediately told Kathy so she could handle the situation, but then Joey showed up at the house to pick up Jennifer and Adriana so they could move in with him at his parents' place. He just walked inside and started helping Jennifer pack, while Kathy, Casey, and Heather followed them around, telling Jennifer what a bad idea this was. Kathy made it clear that she didn't want her daughter or granddaughter anywhere near the Bentons. And that's when Joey got about an inch from Kathy's face and said, quote, you don't have a daughter anymore, bitch, end quote. The scene was obviously chaotic.

Almost two-year-old Adriana was crying, completely inconsolable, while everyone else was on high alert. And once again, this is concerning behavior. This is controlling behavior. Not only has Joey talked Jennifer into moving back in with him, but he's going inside, helping her pack to make sure that she does it and to make sure that her family, who's there and cares about her, can't talk some sense into her and talk her out of it. And when her mother tries to get involved and is like, hey, I don't want, this isn't safe. Remember, he pulled a gun on you. He tells Kathy, you don't have a daughter anymore, which is exactly what abusive people do. They cut you off from your support system and your loved ones. Yep. Classic move, right? Bad situation. He has to separate anybody who could give her some good advice. Yeah. So at one point, Joey

actually carried some of Jennifer's belongings out to the car. And while he was outside, Kathy shut and locked the front door. 15-year-old Casey held Adriana trying to comfort her while Kathy pleaded with Jennifer not to leave. Joey started banging on the door, and as Kathy physically tried to stop Jennifer from going, Jennifer pushed her out of the way. Heather saw what happened and immediately went after Jennifer for pushing their mother. Jennifer and Heather had never been in a physical fight before, so obviously the whole situation was just shocking and becoming more chaotic. Jennifer yelled for Joey to help her and he actually kicked the door down while Casey ran to the bedroom with Adriana and called 911. She later said this was the most traumatic thing she had ever been a part of,

at least until her sister Jennifer and her niece Adriana disappeared. Jennifer left with Joey before the police arrived and Adriana stayed behind with Kathy and Casey. Kathy filed a police report and later Joey's mother brought Jennifer back to pick up Adriana. After that, Joey's father Joseph took Jennifer to town to file a report against her own family. Following this, Jennifer cut off contact with her mother for a short time. So yeah, it looks like with Joey's parents, we have some enablers here. We have some problems. We got some problems. And I will say this because I want to be as objective as we can be. I don't think it's going out on a limb here saying that there's more to the story between Jennifer and her family.

What that is, we don't know. But clearly at that point, they weren't on good terms. I'm not saying it's justified. Wait, you're saying at this point when she's living with her mother? When Joey comes to pick her up. Yeah. At that point, there must have been some dissension within the house. They're not getting along.

There's a reason. I don't agree. You think everything was going great. And out of nowhere, Jennifer just like says, I'm leaving abruptly. What it looks like here is that you've got course of control that Joey is putting on Jennifer, right? So you could have a perfectly fine. I mean, her mother left her job where she got a promotion in Vegas, had a good job paying, to move back and get a house so that her daughter Jennifer and her granddaughter didn't have to live with this crazy person who pulled a gun out on them, set up an apartment for them in the basement. She's

bending over backwards. I think everything was fine, but you have this abusive, controlling, coercive asshole in your ear like, well, they don't care about you, not like I do. And they're always trying to control you. And you're a grownup and you could do what you want. And I actually, when I pulled the gun out, like I was in a really bad place, but I've gotten help and I'm doing better. And they'll never, they'll never accept me. They'll never see that I'm growing.

They'll never see that I'm changing. And I can't have people around who keep reminding me of who I was when I'm trying to be a new person. This is what course of controlling abusers do. I don't think that there was any issues with the family besides normal like, you know, you didn't do the laundry or you drank all the milk stuff. So what I was trying to say more of the sense of,

and it aligns with what you were saying, the same thing, but I think it could be there was a buildup to this. I personally think that there may have been some indications prior to this that Jennifer was talking to Joey and there may have been some discussions, also arguments where Jennifer's family is pushing back on that saying, why are you talking to him again? He's bad news. This is why we came back here. And there's some arguments happening. And I think that's, I think you don't know him. You don't understand all those things where there here and there's some arguments happening and i think that's i think you don't know

him you don't understand all those things where there's there's a divide and there's dissension within that household to the point where jennifer ultimately chooses joey over her own family and i'm sure happens a lot i'm sure and this is where i was going with this i'm sure j sure Jennifer is also telling a certain version to Joey and his family, which is why maybe Joey's father is willing. Joseph is willing to take Jennifer to the police station because Jennifer is giving them an alternate version of what's happening in the household. And I just want to say this, and I never want to disparage a victim here, but we always got to call it how it is. And clearly Jennifer wasn't always making the right decisions either. And that is not even up for debate when you consider the fact that in that moment where the police are coming and Jennifer has a chance

to stay behind and tell her version to law enforcement, but instead she decides to leave with Joey, leaving Adriana behind. If I'm her, if I'm, that's my, if that's my kid, I'm not leaving without my kid. So for me personally, as a parent, there's some issues there. We're not going to spend too much time on it because they're bad decisions. We can acknowledge it and move on. But I think we're not doing this case of service by at least stating that out loud because Jennifer wasn't clearly making the right decisions at all times. She was not, but she's 20 years old. She has a 21 year old daughter. 21 at this point, right?

I believe. Either way, 2021. But yeah, she's young. Yeah, she's young. That's fair. She's got a two-year-old. Like, yes, obviously, she has not made the best decisions in life. I was there myself. I got pregnant at a young age. I had a child.

And I didn't always make- Hey, my mom had me at 18, my brother at 19. Yeah, but you don't always make the right decisions. And your brain's not even fully developed. And not only that, but these kinds of abusers, these kinds of men and women will specifically target people who are kind of people pleasers and who do have something that they want and they verbalize that. So Jennifer most likely was like, hey, I had a baby with a guy who isn't around. I do want my child to have a family. I want my child to have a mother and a father and get to experience all these things

and have holidays with two parents. And most likely, Joey, he told her all of those things, right? Oh, yeah, I'm gonna raise your child with you. I love her like my own. I'm always gonna be there for you both. You'll never have to be alone again. Now, this is something that would be very appealing to Jennifer.

And so she's holding on to this fairy tale that he's saying, hey, if you just come with me and cut off these people that are trying to keep us apart, I'm going to promise you a fairy tale life. And she believed that, right? And it's very manipulative. It's very deeply rooted. But they get in your head and you do things that are out of character. And I think that even Jennifer's family, her sisters are like, this is crazy.

I've never experienced anything like this before. Why would Jennifer physically push our mother? This is not who she is. What's going on here? You will act out of character and you'll do things that are not that or that you wouldn't normally do under this very manipulative control because you think you're going to have something better because that's what this person has promised you. So and you're probably right. She was most likely telling Joey's family. Yeah, a different version that things were, you know, maybe a little exaggerated, maybe a little worse. My mom's controlling. She's not letting me live my life. My mom hates Joey. She hates him. And his parents are going to obviously always think he's got the potential for change and that he does have good in him. And his parents aren't going to want people around him that don't see the best in him or don't support his journey or

whatever. So, yeah, I can understand that maybe not everybody's getting the full story. But at the root of this all, it doesn't matter who you are as a partner of anybody. You don't isolate them from their family. You let them make that decision. That's their journey. If they feel they have toxic dynamics in their family, you don't get in the middle because then either you're the one responsible for breaking up this family or down the road, this person's going to make up with their family and you're going to be the one that interfered and got in the way. So it's always best to just step back and not let this, not try to interfere with other people's family dynamics, even if it's your girlfriend or your

boyfriend. You got to let that be their journey, but he's specifically trying to isolate her from her support system in this case. And like you said, that's the best move you can do if you're him, because if you allow these people to continue to talk sense into her, maybe something will get through. Maybe something clicks, yeah. And you won't be able to accomplish whatever goal you have. So I'm with you. And this is a story I've heard a million times.

I think we've had, even if you're not a police officer, just where you have young people thinking that it's them against the world. And that can almost embolden them and bring them closer together. When as a parent, what you're trying to do is tell your son or daughter the right thing and where they're going wrong. But it's tough to get through at that point. I'm looking forward to the teens and young adulthood for my two daughters. Are you being sarcastic? A little bit.

Yeah. A little bit. Yeah. It's tough. It's tough. All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. So Jennifer and Adriana moved in with Joey on his parents' rural property in Springfield. Joey and his parents lived on a six-acre lot surrounded by 50 additional acres owned by the Benton family. Joey, Jennifer, and Adriana initially stayed in a shed on that lot. Casey later described it as the kind of shed you can buy at Home Depot. So I think like those prefabricated sheds. Yep, they're used in the parking lots. You can see them. They're steel or plastic. Plastic sometimes, yeah.

It was about 18 to 24 feet. It did have carpet and drywall, but it wasn't in great condition. Before long, Jennifer realized it was too cold to sleep in at night, so she, Adriana, and Joey moved into the Benton family house. The brick home had three bedrooms. Joey's parents had one. Jennifer and Joey took another, and the third was where Adriana was supposed to sleep. But Adriana didn't like sleeping alone. So most nights she crawled into bed with Jennifer and Joey. And she always brought her favorite stuffed Elmo named Melmo with her because she couldn't sleep without it.

And this is another question I have. If there's three damn bedrooms in this house, why are these two people and this child sleeping in a shed on the property? I mean, when you said it, I just, I don't get it. It's almost like Joey wanted to keep her isolated even from his own parents. I mean, that could be it. It also could be as simple as they just wanted more privacy. And I'm not going to go into those details, but as a young teen and a young adult myself, you just want to be as far away from your parents as possible. If your girlfriend or I guess boyfriend's over, I don't know. Maybe I'm looking too, maybe I'm just being too simple about it.

18 by 24 feet long with a two-year-old, you ain't getting much privacy. Yeah, but the kid sleeps. I don't know. I don't want to go down this road. I don't want to go down this road. This is not going to end well for me. The kid sleeps. I mean, listen, we've all been there. We have children. Okay. Sometimes you got to do what you got to do. You got to do what you got to do, man. Okay. And especially it seems like that Adriana did not like sleeping alone, that

she was used to almost sleeping in the same bed as her mother. So yeah, you're not really getting much privacy whether you're sleeping in the house or the shed at this point. But Jennifer did become increasingly isolated while living with the Bentons. She didn't have a car. She didn't have a job. She didn't have money. She didn't even have a cell phone. And the only time she could leave was if Joey took her somewhere. And even then, she depended entirely on him. The Bentons never allowed her to drive any of their family vehicles, which made it nearly impossible for her to leave on her own. On January 14, 2004, Adriana turned two years old. Jennifer, at this point, was still not speaking to her family, so her sisters and mother weren't allowed at Adriana's birthday party, which was held,

surprise, surprise, at the Benton home. Eventually, Jennifer did start talking to her mom again. And every so often, Joey would drive Jennifer and Adriana to meet Kathy at McDonald's so Adriana could play and see her family. No one in Jennifer's family wanted Joey around. But at this point especially, Jennifer depended on him for everything. She doesn't have a car. She can't get anywhere. She doesn't have a job. She doesn't have money. So they tolerated him in short kind of bursts. However, they did make it very clear that they did not want Joey in their home. In late

February, Jennifer's sister, her younger sister Casey, celebrated her 16th birthday and Joey brought Jennifer and Adriana over to Kathy's so they could see Casey. Now, Joey stayed in the car because, as we just talked about, Kathy, Casey, and Heather did not want him inside. This is the last memory that Casey has of seeing Jennifer and Adriana. She's not sure if it's because of trauma or if because it was truly the last time that she saw them. In the months that followed, Jennifer and Joey's relationship started to deteriorate. They had always fought, but things got worse leading up to their disappearances. Kathy believes the problem stemmed from Joey's alleged drug use and tension with his parents, who actually at this point no longer wanted Jennifer and Adriana staying in the house.

Things escalated even further after March 22nd when Adriana developed a fever and was clearly in pain. Adriana was so sick that Jennifer told her mom that she needed to take her daughter to the ER since it was after hours for urgent care, but she had no way to get there. She didn't have a car, and even though Joey's mom, Cindy, was a nurse, she refused to take them. No one else in the Benton family, including Joey, would help her either. So Kathy obviously immediately offered to pick them up, but Jennifer told her not to. She was scared of what would happen if her mom pulled into the driveway. She said Joey's parents hated Kathy because of what had happened in December when the police were called after Joey broke down the door to her house. And she was afraid that they

would shoot her if she showed up. Jennifer added, quote, they are always playing with guns, end quote. So this dude breaks down Kathy's door. Kathy calls the police and Joey's parents are like, we are really upset that you called the police after our son kicked down your door. Like, how could you? Well, this is what you were talking about earlier, right? With these parents who, they're not their child, not their child. And I do think, not that it was enough, you probably had Jennifer supporting their beliefs with a fictitious narrative. Like, yeah, my mom's mean and she's controlling and she lies a lot. But ultimately, Joey's parents chose to just basically lean into what they wanted to hear. They knew that deep down,

their son probably had some issues, but whenever there was a justification or an excuse or an ability to blame someone else, that's what they chose to do. Not their little Joey. He was a good boy. Which I mean, I think does have a big impact and is rooted in why this guy at his big old age was still acting like a petulant child all the time. Right. And nobody's holding him accountable. Yeah. So Jennifer says to her mom, don't come here. They hate you. And I'm afraid they might shoot you, red flag. And even though her daughter is sick and has a fever, none of these people that she lives with will bring her to the doctor, which in my opinion is once again, a form of

course of control where they're trying to show her, you move when we say you move. You go where we say you go. It's also child abuse. Yeah. Well, they would say it's not their child, right? So it's not their responsibility. And that's kind of wherein lies the issue. So Jennifer then called her grandmother, Juanita, who picked her up. She picked Jennifer and Adriana up, took them to the ER. After being examined by a doctor, two-year-old Adriana was diagnosed with vaginitis. Before I go any further, I do want to say that normally I wouldn't go into too much detail about this kind of diagnosis for a young child, but Jennifer's family believes it's important to the story

and may have played a role in why she and Adriana went missing just days later. So I am going to go into it a little bit. According to the Mayo Clinic, vaginitis is an inflammation of the vagina that can cause itching and pain. It's typically caused by a change in the balance of vaginal bacteria, a yeast infection, or an STD, but in Adriana's case, the ER couldn't determine the exact cause. It could have been something as simple as a diaper being left on too long or maybe irritation from a bubble bath, or it could have been something far more concerning like sexual assault. Since the ER staff didn't know for sure, they recommended a follow-up with her pediatrician. The next day, which was March 23rd, Grandma Juanita drove Jennifer and Adriana to see Adriana's pediatrician because Jennifer wanted to know if her daughter was being sexually abused.

It's unclear exactly what happened at that appointment because Jennifer never really got the chance to talk much about it. But later, when police reviewed the medical records, they said that no signs of abuse were found. The reports stated that Adriana may have developed a rash from wearing a wet diaper for an extended period of time. Although Kathy never got to speak to Jennifer in detail about this, she believes that at least Jennifer thought Adriana was being abused, even if there wasn't proof. And that makes Jennifer's family wonder if that's what ultimately led to Jennifer fighting with the Benton family the next evening. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Yeah, no, but I think this is important to bring up and I understand why we're discussing it,

because when you think about motive, that could be the motive where if Jennifer goes in there and accuses Joey of sexual assault or even Joseph of sexual assault, then they may want certain people to disappear because they wouldn't want that getting out. But I do think it's important to acknowledge the facts of what we have. Yes, Kathy is saying that Jennifer believed that potentially Adriana was being abused, but from what we have, there's no evidence of that. There is indications that it could have been that, but according to what we have from the pediatrician, at least doing this kind of surface

level examination, there was no indications of sexual assault. So I think both points are important to make. It's interesting that Jennifer, if this is what she believed, that living with her daughter and the Bentons, that she would have suspected it was possible. It says something about the plausibility of that. I think so. I agree. And I would also say this, whether Adriana was being sexually assaulted or not, if Jennifer believed that she was and approached them about it and confronted

them on it, that could still be the motive. Doesn't have to be true. Just the allegation of it could have scared them enough to want to do something about it. So I still think it's important to mention because regardless of the truth, if Jennifer was walking around believing that her daughter had been assaulted, then that could have been enough. And Derek, it is interesting because in 2024, so last year, Joey Benton's father was actually arrested for possessing a photo of a minor. So it's not as if this is completely far-fetched that something could have been going on with Adriana and that her own mother would have sensed that. Yeah. And I think at some point

they could have actually tested Adriana to see if she did have, in fact, have something. But yeah, we will never know at this point. Well, after the pediatrician visit, Kathy met Jennifer in a parking lot and gave her some homemade balm to help soothe Adriana's discomfort. And that was the last time that Kathy ever saw her daughter and granddaughter alive. In the evening hours of March 24th, Jennifer called her mom upset over an argument with Joey and his mother, Cindy. In the background, Kathy could hear Adriana crying and Cindy yelling at Jennifer. Jennifer told her mom that Joey was passed out in Adriana's room, then explained that they had started sleep training Adriana so she would stop sleeping in bed with her and Joey. But Adriana didn't want to sleep in her own bed, so she would obviously start crying.

I tried this with Bella. Bella was not a great sleeper. I think I did this for like two nights, this whole sleep training thing where you basically just put them in the crib and let them cry it out. And I could not do it anymore. And I think new evidence and research has come out

to show that that's actually very detrimental to children to let them cry it out because they're developing basically a feeling that when they need something, babies don't cry unless they need something, right? They don't know how to be like selfish or manipulative really. They cry because they feel like they need something even if it's just human comfort or they need their mother. They genuinely feel in that moment they need this thing. And that's why they're crying. So if you withhold that from them, you're basically teaching your kid that when they need something, the adults in their life will not come through and they do not have that support system. So it's like actually detrimental to their mental health. Oh my God. You're going to have people coming at us in the comments for that one. I mean, that's just, that's a new research I read.

So we got to see the whole cried out method is not super great. And I know for me, it was absolutely torture. How's that worked out for you? Well, I know. Bella's still in bed with me. I always say that. And Jess, it's funny because half the time we got to record, Stephanie's like, can't do it yet.

Bella's not sleeping. Yeah, I know. She's very attached. Love you, Bella. You'll see this one day. Love you, Bella. And I've tried different things. It's not like I just let it go. I've tried different things, but it's kind of one of those things where when she's ready, she'll be ready.

She'll be ready at 21. My sister, oh, I shouldn't say this. I should not expose my sister for how long she slept in bed with our mother. But hey hey some kids need more than others okay you guys don't know how many times and i've had i'm guilty of this too there's been times uh definitely with bella and even with tenley at some points where we're recording it in the middle of it stephanie's like all right bella gotta go to sleep bella will pop up in the camera and just wave at me she'll be like hi and then they're just like hi but she can't hear him because i have headphones and she's like i can't hear him because I have headphones in.

She's like, I can't hear him. And I'm like, all right, we're almost done. Yep. More times than you guys know. I love it, though, because I know one day very soon she'll be like, ew, what do I want to hang out with you for, man? I don't know, man. I think Bella's going to be with you for the long haul. We're besties, man.

I think she's going to be with you for the long haul. I think I'm going to be FaceTiming and be like, hey, about the case tomorrow. And 21-year-old Bella's going to be like, what up, Derek? She'll just be my co-host. For real. Yep. So obviously, the same as me, Jennifer could not stand to hear her daughter, Adriana, cry. So she would give in and bring her back to bed with her and Joey. And that infuriated Cindy, who started going nuts anytime Jennifer did it. And that's exactly what was happening at that moment that Jennifer was calling her mother. Kathy told Jennifer to forget sleep training for now and just put Adriana in bed with her. This was already a stressful situation. There was no need to make it worse.

Yeah. And you could see this, this, some of this is common, right? Where I've heard this story before as well, where you have other parents giving their opinions on how to raise your child and especially like a mother-in-law figure, right? Yep. Mother-in-law figure comes in there and this is how we did it. This is what worked for me. And mom's saying, well, that's not what I'm doing. And that can cause some arguments. So that to me is- Maybe these are the Bentons.

They're like, well, this is our house. Right. And so you're going to do what we want you to do in our house. Right. Well, that's a great point too, right? There's extremes to it where for most people, it's like, oh, my mother-in-law is aggravating me or whatever. And you move on.

And ultimately the mother-in-law steps back because they realize it's ultimately mom's decision. But however, like you just said, Cindy could be looking at it differently, saying, hey, this is my house. So it's my rules. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that at this point, probably what's not helping Adriana sleep and have a peaceful night is everybody around her screaming about this, right? As Kathy, Jennifer's own mother, said, like, listen, this is already stressful. This isn't going to help anybody get a good night's rest. So just for tonight, you know, bring your daughter back in bed with you because this is where she feels safe. This is how she falls asleep.

Let her get a good night's rest. Let everybody get a good night's rest. Revisit tomorrow. Fair enough, right? Right. So let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. All right, we're back. So as we talked about before the break, Adriana, the two-year-old daughter has been wanting to sleep with her mother in bed with her mother and her mother's

boyfriend, Joey. For a little bit. Jennifer tried sleep training Adriana, but obviously hearing her daughter cry all night was very stressful for her. And so she kind of put sleep training aside. And her boyfriend, Joey's mother, Cindy, whose house they live in, she's like, this isn't how this should be happening. Like, you need to hold firm. You need to be strong and do what's right. And they're all fighting about it. Jennifer

calls her mother, Kathy. Kathy's like, cut this shit out. Bring the baby to bed. Go to sleep. Deal with it tomorrow. So Jennifer did pick up Adriana and cuddled her as she told her mom that Joey's father had gotten in her face while Cindy berated her, calling her a terrible mother who didn't deserve to have a child and saying Joey shouldn't be taking care of another man's kid, right? And herein lies the complicated nature of these kinds of scenarios. When you bring another man in to raise a child that's not his, and even if he's good with it and he's, you know, oh, I'm going to take care of it, is he throwing it back in your face later? Well, I'm raising your child. Well, I don't even have to do this. This isn't even my kid.

Are his parents doing that, right? These are- Oh, I'm sure they're all guilt tripping her. And making her feel almost like, well, I should just be grateful. We're doing you a favor. You're an inconvenience. It's very transactional. I should just be grateful that these people are helping me because they're right. This kid isn't related to them. So we should just be grateful that we have them. And it's putting her once again in a position of complete dependence. And also, I better act right and my daughter better act right or we won't have these people that we depend on. It's all transactional. It's all very much like you do

what we want or we could throw you out tomorrow. And I think that's also what happens where they're separating Jennifer from her family, right? She's losing touch with her own loved ones. And so now Jennifer's sitting there going, I don't have my family. All I have is these people. And they know that. So by them threatening to throw her out or not support her, it would leave Jennifer and Adrienne out in the cold.

So they realize that they're in a position of power right now and they're abusing that. What was that case that we did, the multi-parter on it? Was it the Piketown Massacre where she lived with her boyfriend's family and this family was so controlling and they would take the kids and the kids would sleep with the grandparents and it wasn't just the victim, but it was all both of their sons girlfriends and and kids and stuff like that they would just take complete control i think it was i think it was the piktown massacre where those two families remember they the rodent family and yeah and they were staying at the trailer park and she that's obviously where she was killed yeah i

don't remember the specifics about the kids but there was a point where she moved in with them at the trailer park. So, yeah, that could be it. And remember, she said like when they were living there, they took complete control. And then the other son's girlfriend said the same thing. And they even tried to take custody and they kicked her out but kept the kid there. This kind of feels like that a little bit. Similar situation. Yeah. So Cindy then threw Jennifer and Adriana's dinner out the back door and said,

quote, why don't you go eat it off the ground like dogs do? End quote. Jennifer said things were really tense and heated, and it was clear that they didn't want her and Adriana there. So yeah, the Bentons kind of seem like- Assholes. Like they suck. Yeah, they suck. So Jennifer didn't mention anything about this, possibly because she was within earshot of the Bentons, but her family now wonders if the fighting truly began after Jennifer brought up Adriana's diagnosis and how she suspected or was concerned that her daughter, Adriana, may have been sexually abused. And I do have a question for you, Stephanie, just so we're making sure that the Bentons may hear

this. And this information is obviously not coming from Jennifer directly. I'm assuming it's a combination of Jennifer's loved ones because this was relayed to everyone after the fact, correct? Kathy, to Kathy. Yeah, so Jennifer's telling her mother Kathy these things while she's on the phone. Yep, and Kathy's relaying it to law enforcement and the public after the fact. Yes, but it also kind of does sound like Jennifer's on the phone with her mother while this is all happening. So her mother's hearing these things too.

So it might be a firsthand account. Yes. Okay, that's fair. I just want to make sure you put it out there because Jennifer and Adriana are missing. We've already said that multiple times. Nobody's been arrested at this point. We don't want to have tunnel vision. We're just telling you guys the story. You guys can come to your own conclusions. And I'm sure that Benton's, if they had an opportunity to speak or if they chose to speak, I'm assuming they're not, would have a different account.

I think it's fair to assume that they would deny all of this, right? Would you agree? Yes. So allegedly based on the series of events as they're laid out here, the Bentons suck. The Bentons suck. Exactly. Based on the events being laid out here. If that is true and accurate, they suck. Yeah. All right. So before getting off the phone, Kathy offered to come get Jennifer and Adriana, but Jennifer said no, she'd be okay. And she would call back tomorrow. But Kathy never heard from Jennifer again. The next day, March 25th, Kathy didn't hear from Jennifer as expected,

but she wasn't immediately concerned, right? Because Jennifer's kind of been hot and cold here, kind of not super consistent. Then March 26th came, there was still no word from her. And that's when Jennifer's grandmother, Juanita, the same one that had taken Jennifer and Adriana to the ER just days before, called Kathy and said something was wrong. She couldn't get in touch with Jennifer. Kathy reached out to two other people who were in near constant contact with Jennifer to see if they'd heard from her. Jennifer's dad, Michael, and Jennifer's aunt, Lisa, who was Kathy's sister. Through these conversations, Kathy learned that Jennifer had spoken to both Michael and Lisa on the afternoon of March 25th. Jennifer first talked to Michael from around 11 to 1, which was unusual for them. They didn't normally talk for that long,

but Jennifer had a lot to say. She told him everything that was going on at the Benton home and how scared she was. She said Joey's mom, Cindy, was acting really mean. And when Michael asked about Joey's dad, Jennifer said that while he was usually nice, he was also starting to be mean. Michael suggested that she have her mom or grandmother pick her up, but Jennifer said no. She, Adriana, and Joey were planning to go on a picnic later, and Joey was already on his way home from work. So, during the call, Michael could hear cartoons in the background along with a woman's voice trying to talk to Jennifer. Jennifer responded by saying she was on the phone with her dad. She sounded irritated to have been interrupted.

To this day, it's unclear who was there. Cindy, who's Joey's mother, was supposedly at work. And while Joey did have a sister named Amy, she didn't live at home at the time. So we're not exactly quite sure who this woman's voice in the background of Jennifer's call was. After calling her dad, Jennifer spoke to her aunt Lisa and shared what was going on. It's unclear if Lisa heard anyone in the background, but this call was short because Lisa had to leave for a job interview. Before hanging up, she told Jennifer that she would leave a key out in case she wanted to come over later. Lisa lived right down the road, and Jennifer had previously lived there, as we talked about before. In fact,

Adriana still had a bedroom there, making it a familiar and safe place for them. Before getting off the phone, Lisa mentioned that she planned to call Jennifer later, but she never heard from her again. No one did. So this does say to me that there was a lot going on here. So Joey's parents are being mean, but Joey's not necessarily being mean right now. So apparently when all of this was going down the night before,

when Adriana won't sleep, when Jennifer's going to take her in bed with her and she's fighting with Joey's parents, Joey's passed out in Adriana's room, right? So he's not necessarily taking part in this. And so when she's got all these people, her father's like, hey, go with your mom. Her mom's like, hey, I'll pick you up. Her Aunt Lisa's like, I'll leave a key out. There's a place here for you and for your daughter. You'd think she'd leave because of how terrible things were at the Benton home, but we still have Joey there who's possibly like, hey, I don't know what's going on with my parents. I'm sorry they're acting like this.

It's still you and me. We're in this together. I don't know why they're doing this. And once again, as you said with Jennifer's family kind of turning against Joey, now maybe Joey's family kind of turning against joey now maybe joey's family kind of turning against jennifer it's kind of giving them more of a united front like oh all of these people suck we're going to get out of here one day it's you and me against the world so it's not the bentons that jennifer refuses to leave it's joey yeah yeah i mean the whole, when we consider that she goes missing on March 27th, or at least she's reported on March 27th.

She's reported missing, yeah. But nobody heard from her after the 25th. Correct. So you have this chain of events starting on March 22nd, where Adrienne is sick. She goes to the hospital. Then the next day, she goes to the pediatrician. That starts to raise some questions for Jennifer, because she's thinking, what's happening to Adriana in the household? Is somebody doing something to her?

It stresses out the relationship between her, Cindy, Joseph. And that could have been going on for a while, right? They just don't like her being there. Maybe she's just someone that they just personally are not a fan of. And so they're starting to treat her like a piece of shit. Yeah, their son shouldn't be raising somebody else's kid, someone else's kid. So it could be a combination of things. Could it involve Adriana being sick and accusations being made by Jennifer potentially, but it could be just surface level stuff where they just don't personally like Jennifer anymore.

They feel like Adriana is an inconvenience and they're starting to treat her like that, basically wanting her to leave. So you have all these events happening up until the 25th where these phone calls are being made, like you said, the last two to Michael and Lisa, and then all of a sudden that's going to be it. So not a good set of circumstances leading up to it. And at minimum, I think everybody listening to this right now would say, when you consider the disappearance of Jennifer and Adriana, you're obviously going to consider Joseph, Cindy, and Joey. Even though Joey hasn't been a big part of this conversation from the 22nd to the 25th, you have to think that he's

still involved somehow. So here's my question. As two adults, I'm talking about Joey's parents, living in this home, you would kind of think that you wouldn't really care as much about how this child, who's not your grandchild, is being trained to sleep, right? You'd almost think that they'd want Adriana to be in bed with her mother because that would mean she wasn't crying and keeping everybody up all night. Why were they so invested in having Adriana have her own room? And if we go back to the fact that Jennifer may have thought there was some sexual abuse happening and the fact that Joey's father did have an issue in 2024 where he was arrested for having a photo of a minor, was it because there was the potential that these two adults wanted Adriana in her own room, separate from her mother, where she could be more easily

accessed? So it's an interesting point, and I don't have anything to dispute it, but I would just say this to play devil's advocate. In my experience, if there is a male participant involved in sexual activity with a minor, it's most of the time their spouse is unaware of it. So to your point, it could be a world where Cindy's aware of it and she's trying to contribute it. But the fact that Cindy's the main driver of wanting Adriana in her own room. My initial thought is Cindy thinks she knows best. She knows better than this dumb 21 year old girl. Yeah. Cause your son turned out so great, Cindy. Yeah, exactly. That's a whole different story. And so she is, you know, head of the house and things are going to go by her rules. And the fact that Jennifer is defiant in that and choosing her

own path on how to raise her child, that upsets Cindy and causes conflict because Cindy's looking at it like, hey, you don't know what you're doing, which is why you're living under my roof. So not only are you an inconvenience to me, you're not even good enough for my son. I don't want you here. And now you're telling me that you know better than I do about raising your child, which that could be the conflict. But because considering what Jennifer was starting to at least consider at this at this juncture in the story, I think it's worth pointing out. But just from my experience, although there are outliers, the spouse and usually in this case, it's a woman is unaware of unaware of what their significant other is doing to the child.

And it's not until law enforcement becomes involved that they become aware or they figure it out for themselves and report it. But if you were to tell me that you had this crystal ball where we could see behind the curtain and Cindy was aware of it, would I be completely shocked? No, there are cases of that as well.

I mean, I look at the Menendez brothers case, right. Of course. Of course. They claimed that not only was their father doing what he was doing to them, but that the mother knew. Mom knew about it. Exactly. She drank and she kind of went disassociated a lot, but she was aware. Right. It's a great point. It's a great point. So I think it's interesting. It's something we have to bring up. And I think it could be true. It may also not be true. It could just be a coincidence and it could be more just mother-in-law and Jennifer not getting along and butting heads. Yeah. I just don't see why you would care so much about a child that you're like, this isn't even my son's kid. And I'm going to put your food outside so you and your daughter can eat like dogs, but you're super invested in how she's sleeping and how she's being sleep trained. Like some of the arguments are the dumbest things to argue over. Right. I

mean, it's, you think about it, like it could be so simple, like, oh, you left the TV on, you know, but it's at that point, the relationship is so damaged that no matter what Cindy and Jennifer are not getting along. And the only reason Jennifer's there is because of Joey. He's kind of in between because Cindy loves Joey. Jennifer loves Joey and Joey can't take care of himself. So you have these two strong women who are, who are fighting every day and the relationship is becoming more strained as the days progress. And it could have gotten to a boiling point. Yeah. And instead of stepping up and telling his mom, like, Hey, stay out of it. You know, we're trying to look for a place

we'll be out of your hair soon, he kind of just lets it happen. Well, I don't want to get too far ahead, but it's interesting that you say that now because when we think about theories, and we'll get there, this is going to be a multiple part series, but when we think about potential theories,

maybe Joey did choose a side. That's all I'll say for now. Okay, we're going to take our last break. We'll be right back. Okay, so we know that Jennifer spoke to her Aunt Lisa and her father, Michael, on the 25th. And after speaking to Lisa and Michael, Kathy was more concerned than ever. Like Grandma Juanita said, something was very wrong. Jennifer's sister, Heather, called Joey in a panic, demanding to know where Jennifer was.

He told her that they had gotten into a fight and broken up on the 25th and Jennifer had left to stay with a friend. He thought it was a couple named Helga and Jerry Jackson. Now, Heather actually knew who Helga was as Jennifer had worked with her at her last job. So Kathy and Heather immediately started looking for Helga and even went to her workplace. But when they asked around, they were told that Helga and Jerry were out of town. Kathy kept trying to get in touch with Joey, and when he finally answered, he told her a completely different story. He said that on the evening of March 25th, he had taken Jennifer and Adriana to the Food Value grocery store in Cross Plains so

Jennifer could go inside to use the phone, or at least that's what he assumed. After that, he said he dropped her off at the Interstate Exxon near exit 112 off I-65 with some people he didn't know. According to Joey, Jennifer and Adriana left in a four-door white Mustang. Joey also told Kathy that Jennifer would likely come back within a few days because she was waiting on her $500 tax refund check, which was being deposited into his dad's bank account since she didn't have one of her own, and he would get the money to her. None of it made sense to Kathy. For one, Jennifer had been anxiously waiting for that $500. In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, she had talked to Kathy about all the things

she wanted to buy with it. Jennifer didn't have a job and depended on Joey for money, so she never really had her own spending money, let alone $500. That money would have meant so much to her and she had big plans for it. Kathy wondered, why would Jennifer willingly go missing right before the check cleared? Why would she leave when she had no money, no car, and no phone? And then there was that white car Jennifer and Adriana supposedly got into at the Exxon. Joey described it as a four-door Mustang, but Mustangs don't have four doors. Another problem was the location where Joey claimed he dropped Jennifer off. To get there, they would have had to have driven right past Lisa's house and then Kathy's house.

And Kathy wondered why Jennifer wouldn't have asked Joey to take her to either place instead of a random gas station with random people that her own boyfriend didn't know. None of it added up. And by the way, with his controlling behavior, even if they're breaking up, I don't think he, I don't think he drops her off without knowing who she's going with because he's going to assume, oh, is it another man? And he's not going to just, oh yeah, no problem. I'll just drop you off with these random people that I don't know. He would have confirmed at minimum that it was a woman and that he wasn't, he didn't have anything to worry about because if there's one thing we know about domestic abusers is they may not want you, but nobody else is going to have you either.

Exactly. So I don't see him all of a sudden changing gears and saying, yeah, man, she wanted me to drop her off. I drove her out there and I didn't really care who she was going with. And the fact of the matter is even Jennifer's tax check being deposited into Joey's father's account is a sign of control because it doesn't matter whether you have a bank account or not. You get the $500, you go to a bank, you open one, or you just go to a bank with your ID and cash it. Why would you have it deposited into somebody else's account who you're not even on good terms with right now, knowing that this person could get that $500 and be like, well, you've been living in my house for free for a few months,

so let's just call it rent. Yeah, it doesn't make sense. And then you add on top of all of that, you had just laid out a few moments ago that Jennifer had multiple outs. Kathy had said on many occasions, come back. And also her aunt Lisa said, hey, door's unlocked. I still have a room here for you. You're good to go. So Jennifer had outs and yet she would have chosen to go with some random people and not even tell her family. It just seems very unlike her from what we've learned so far. Even if she wanted to go off with some random people, she would have at least stayed with a close by family member for a few days until that money came in and she could get it.

I agree. Or at least stuck it out with Joey at least for a couple more days to let the cash clear and then grab it. Yeah, but I don't think that they ever intended for her to get that money personally. You might be right. That's my opinion. Well, around this same time, Jennifer's Aunt Lisa realized she had an answering machine message from Joey's dad, Joseph, saying he had Jennifer's tax return money. He claimed that she, Jennifer, had come by earlier looking for it and that he wanted to give it to her. Lisa called him back and said, Jennifer came by, that's news to us because no one has heard from Jennifer.

Shortly after, Joey and his father went to Lisa's house to share Joey's version of events, which ended up being different from the other stories he had told before. According to this new story, Joey went to work at his construction job an hour away in Kentucky for part of the day on March 25th. His car was broken down and since the Bentons only had one working vehicle,

which was used by his parents, he rode with his friend and coworker, Jeffrey, who remember that's Jennifer's cousin and Lisa's son. This is how Jennifer and Joey met through Jeffrey. So he rides with Jeffrey to work. Joey said that while he was at work, Jennifer and Adriana were home alone. His mom was at work and his dad was at a court hearing.

Now it's unclear if these alibis were ever corroborated or how Joey got home from work that day. It is possible Jeffrey gave him a ride. However, the truth is unknown as there are contradictions to this part of the story and no one's really sure what happened. Regardless, it's not good. It's not good because he's not giving a consistent story. Completely different stories, by the way. They're not even like slightly modified versions of the same story. It's like way different stories. Yeah.

But to what you said at the end there, I would hope that all these statements were corroborated. And as you mentioned, Jeffrey is a family member of Jennifer's. I would assume they went and spoke to him and confirmed this alibi. But even if they did, it's not really an alibi because the problem is we don't know when whatever happened to Jennifer happened. we don't know when whatever happened to Jennifer happened. We don't know. So he could have went to work that next day and whatever happened to Jennifer may have already occurred

or it could have been ongoing. He could have been sent to work intentionally to create that alibi. But either way, he's giving inconsistent stories and I don't want to skip over the fact that he's talking about a vehicle, describing a vehicle that doesn't exist. So either he's lying or he doesn't know his cars because. Well, now the vehicle is not even a part of it. Now it's not even part of it. So, you know, there's something wrong here.

It doesn't smell right. The question is why? Well, Joey continued to say that after he got home from work, he found that Jennifer and Adriana had locked themselves in their bedroom, though there's no further information on this. He didn't mention anything about a picnic, which is what Jennifer had told her dad was going to happen that evening. Instead, he claimed that he, Jennifer, and Adriana went on a drive, and during the drive, they got into an argument. Jennifer told him she wanted to move back to the shed so she wouldn't have to live with his parents anymore. And this detail stood out because if that were true, then Jennifer must have been desperate to get out of the Benton house. The shed was freezing at night, which is why they'd moved out in the first place. Joey said that after driving around,

he pulled into his parents' driveway, but Jennifer refused to go inside. She told him to take her to the Exxon gas station instead. At around 9 p.m., he drove Jennifer and Adriana into town, even though Adriana's car seat wasn't in the car. Joey said they first stopped at the Food Value grocery store where Jennifer went inside. He assumed she did this to use the phone. When she came back out, he took her to the interstate Exxon. So all of his stories are melding together now. Yeah. I'm just hoping, I mean, this is 2004. So security cameras aren't as prevalent in the household, although 2004, they're still around, but definitely for commercial use, like an Exxon,

you would expect them to have some type of surveillance footage to at least show Joey's car showing up at that location. 100%. I agree. Or even if it's a traffic cam or something, just to show his whereabouts. footage to at least show Joey's car showing up at that location. A hundred percent. Something. Or even if it's a traffic cam or something just to show his whereabouts. And it's an interstate. It's an interstate Exxon.

So it's not like a small town. It's right on the interstate, you know, where like truckers would go and things like that. People out of town. Yeah. And even food value. I mean, all these places or businesses along the way, something to put Joey at those locations at those specific times. And then even more importantly, to see if you can actually witness Jennifer on camera as well. Yeah. Could you see her in the car? Could you see your daughter in the car? Yeah, anything. Anything.

So now they're at the interstate Exxon, Joey claimed that Jennifer and Adriana then got out of the car because someone was coming to pick them up. They waited outside the gas station while he drove across the street to a church parking lot to make sure they got picked up. Why wouldn't you just stay there to make sure they got picked up, dude? He said he saw a white car pull up. He claimed it was a white four-door Mustang, which as we already covered, that doesn't exist. He then described the car occupants as a white female and a white male with ruddy complexions, which basically means reddish. Now, according to Joey, Jennifer and Adriana got into the back of the Mustang. No one got out of the car, so he never saw who was driving, which again, wouldn't be possible as a Mustang only has two doors. At

least one of the occupants would have had to have exited for Jennifer and Adriana to get in. Joey said he then pulled away and left before he could see which direction the car went in. He said that this was all he knew. Jennifer's family didn't believe Joey's new story and they continued searching for Jennifer and Adriana, hoping to find someone who'd actually seen them

outside of those who are in the Benton family. The only thing I will say real quickly is if we're to believe Joey's story, he could have gotten the make of the car wrong. Could have been a white sedan that was four door and it just wasn't a Ford Mustang. It could have been a Ford Escort. I just want to point that out. I don't know if I necessarily believe Joey's account, but that is something that is a simple mistake where you get the make right, but maybe the model wrong. That's possible. Yeah. But I don't believe his story. I don't necessarily believe his story either, but I'm trying to stay in the middle here, Stephanie. I'm trying to hear everybody out because I appreciate you for that. Yeah.

Well, for you, for me, for everybody listening and watching, this is 2004. So it's been 20 years. It's not looking great, but what do we all want? The truth. We don't have any incentive or skin in the game. We don't necessarily know Joey. We don't know the Benton family. We can say that they're pieces of shit, but still they're not be guilty of anything more than just being pieces of shit. So I just want the truth. And so I'm trying to see both angles, not because I want it to go one way or the other, just because I want to know where Jennifer and Adriana are. I do too. Yeah, obviously. And I think that asking about surveillance and, you know, seeing if these alibis, something needs to back this up for him to not have been arrested. I agree. Or he's not arrested because of who he is,

who his family is, certain ties. That could be a possibility. A lot more to cover. So on March 27th, Jennifer's former coworker, Helga, and her husband, they returned from their trip. Because remember, the first story that Joey said was that he thought that Jennifer had gone off with Helga and her husband. So when Helga and the husband get back, they go straight to Jennifer's mother's house. They go to Kathy's house because Helga's co-workers had told her what was going on.

Jennifer and Adriana are missing. Her family was told they were last with you. This is what's happening. Go talk to Jennifer's family. So Helga said that they had not seen Jennifer since November. And if Joey had told anyone that Jennifer and Adriana were with her, then something was seriously wrong. So after this conversation, Kathy contacted the Robertson County Sheriff's Office and filed a missing persons report for her 21-year-old daughter,

Jennifer, and her two-year-old granddaughter, Adriana. She explained that it was completely out of character for Jennifer to disappear like this, and she begged the Robertson County Sheriff's Office to do a welfare check at the Benton home. A deputy agreed and headed over to the Benton property, hoping to find answers. And this visit would mark the beginning of a lengthy investigation into the disappearances of Jennifer and Adriana Wicks and the lingering question, what really happened on March 25th, 2004? Yeah, a lot of questions, not a lot of answers. I will say leaving this will save potential theories for the end of the series, but you basically got two most plausible scenarios. One, the Bentons have something to do with Adriana and Jennifer's disappearance,

or Joey's telling the truth where they got picked up by this car. The problem with that theory for me, amongst many things that we've already discussed is if for some reason, Jennifer decided, I want to reboot. I want to start over. I'm not going to tell my family. I'm not going to call my friends. I'm going to get in the car with these random people who nobody has a connection to because I'm taking my to call my friends. I'm going to get in the car with these random people who nobody has a connection to because I'm taking my daughter and going somewhere else because my life sucks. And I just want to get rid of everyone. Don't you think that that $500 would have been critical for that?

Yeah, she would have waited for the money a couple days. That's what I'm saying. A couple more days and that money would have been in a couple days. You've done 21 years. So the fact that she didn't wait for the money is concerning to me because how do you expect to start that new life with zero income? Nothing, no job, no car, no cell phone, no money. So that's concerning for me, but I'm looking forward to part two. I want to hear more of the story. Now we've talked about what people are saying happened. We kind of have the timeline. Now I want to see what law enforcement did.

I agree. And we will cover that next week in the second and final part of this case. And hopefully we'll have some answers as to what happened to Jennifer and her daughter because it's not looking good for them. Absolutely. On a side note, I just want to throw out there, you guys are seeing this, it's near the end of March. St. Paddy's Day's hoodies are going. We only have probably 50 to 75. There's not a lot. After this month, we're not going to carry them anymore. So if you're interested in them, go check it out on the website. Most sizes should be there. They may be running low now, but if you're interested in it and you want to grab it, now's the time to do so. We will see you guys next week. Until then, everyone stay safe out there. They may be running low now, but if you're interested in it and you want to grab it, now's the time to do so. We will see you guys next week. Until then, everyone stay safe out there. Have a good night. Bye.