Every Town - Hunted Down In A Graveyard - The Chilling Case Of Jessica Keen

Episode Date: September 14, 2024

Today we’re heading to Columbus Ohio to learn about an utterly disturbing case. It’s a story of a life cut short due to a series of circumstances that could have been avoided, but of course hindsight is 20/20 and unfortunately, we can’t go back in time to fix things.  👀 Watch This Episode On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/scarymysteries 👁 Our Movie ‘AN ANGRY BOY’ is Available NOW On Demand: ALL Links and more info https://www.anangryboy.com 🎧 Our Other Podcast Scary Mysteries: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZooEZMoZ421WdsOVJhVkT 💀 Exclusive Videos, Podcasts & Perks: https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries  👁 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg 👁 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald 👁 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial 🗣 Business Inquiries, questions and comments hit us up at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Every town has a dark side. The brutality of harming someone so young reveals a depth of malice that is both incomprehensible and deeply disturbing to anyone with a sense of humanity. That's exactly what you're going to hear in today's case. Because in the spring of 1991 in Ohio, 15-year-old girl was running through the dark in a rural town, fleeing for her life from her abductor. Despite being so young, she had somehow managed to escape, and refusing to surrender, she fled finding herself in a nearby graveyard.

Moreover just as the young girl saw a glimmer of light and a pitch black darkness, tragedy struck. This is the heartbreaking story, a 15-year-old of Jessica Keene. Hey guys, it's Andrew, and thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of Everytown. But today, we're heading to Columbus, Ohio, to learn about an utterly disturbing case.

It's a story of a life cut short due to a series of circumstances that could have been avoided. But of course, hindsight is 20-20, but unfortunately we can't go back in time to fix things. So let's head over to Ohio now, and digging in the story of a monster in the night, the chilling case of Jessica Keene. Born September 24th of 1975, Jessica was the second child in the family. Her sister Heather was four years older and together with their loving parents, Rebecca and James,

they settled down in good old Columbus, Ohio. James and Rebecca were young parents. He was just 21 or Rebecca 20 when Heather was born, and so they didn't have a ton of money, but the family worked hard to make ends meet. James had always been an entrepreneur at heart. As a kid, he had a newspaper route, and even created a miniature golf course in an empty lot near his home.

And there he sold memberships to neighborhood kids, so he always had a knack for business. When he was older, needing to provide for his family, James worked as a stockboy at first at a warehouse paint center. It's dedicated to his workplace over the course of the next 20 years, while he climbed the ranks and eventually became president of the company. Rebecca, on the other hand, worked as a long-distance operator at the Ohio Bell Telephone Company for nearly a decade, before eventually moving to Time Warner Cable,

where she took the role of utility coordinator. The parents wanted nothing but the best for their two girls, as any good mom and dad should. and things were really good for a while. But sometimes life can get tricky, and that's exactly what happened for the Keynes. It was at Oakview Elementary School where Jessica first showed just how smart and promising she was. And placed in the gifted students program in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade, she had an IQ somewhere in the mid-130s, which if you look at the labels for IQ scores, means she was moderately gifted. Things started getting shaky at home, and after her,

elementary school, unfortunately, her parents decided to separate after she graduated from seventh grade. And Heather, already attending high school, stayed with her father, while Jessica moved in with her mother in 1988 when she was 13 years old. And by ninth grade, Jessica was a freshman at Columbus Wesleyan High School, where she wanted to branch out a little bit from just being focused on her studies. So being the smart girl she was, she joined the football cheerleading squad, and suddenly her circle of friends opened up, and she was part of the inside.

With becoming more popular, comes some new experiences. Staying in all the time with her face in the books was a thing of the past. Jessica was able to go out with some of the older kids now who could drive while she was still just 15. Nikki, one of Jessica's new friends, introduced her to 18-year-old Sean Thompson, a football player and senior. The two hit it off, and soon they were officially dating. This was a big and different step for Jessica. Her first real love and would mark a turning point in her life as she became infatuated with the young man.

Her school performance began to suffer as a result. Her mom was none too pleased by this to say the least. She watched as her daughter was changing right before her eyes and not for the better in her opinion, hanging out with a crowd that might not bring out the best in her little girl. Jessica started skipping cheerleading practice and even class. to spend time with Sean, and got to the point where the school contacted Rebecca to inform her about Jessica's declining grades and absenteeism, and so enough was enough. Rebecca then told her daughter that it was over between the pair, and forbid her from seeing

Sean altogether until her grades improve. This, of course, led to a big blowout argument as Jessica saw that her mom was trying to ruin her life. She hadn't been this happy in a long time, and so she was threatening to run away. Desperate for a solution, Rebecca consulted the school counselors, where they decided that Jessica should attend the Huckleberry House, a place for troubled teens. On March 4th of 91, Jessica moved in there to spend a few weeks, where she would attend individual and family counseling sessions

to sort through her issues. Almost immediately, everyone saw a significant improvement in Jessica, and Rebecca felt like she was getting a relationship with her daughter back, But then, on March 15th, just 11 days later and the day before, Jessica was set to go home. So she had one last group counseling session with her mom. And they hugged, and her mom left, things were looking good in their relationship. It was after the session, and Jessica called Sean, excited to tell him that she would be coming home the next day, and she wanted to see him. Her excitement was quickly shattered because after two weeks without having Jessica around,

Well, Sean realized he kind of liked having his independence. And he decided the pair should break up, and explained that he was sick of being blamed for everything going wrong in Jessica's life. And she cried and begged for him to reconsider, but the damage had been done and he was finished. Ashon told her he had to go because he was meeting friends at the mall and had a party that night. I'm desperate to try and save the relationship, Jessica decided she would meet him at the mall so they could talk face to face. It was about a 20-minute bus ride away or a 47-minute walk from the teen center where she was staying. At the Huckleberry House, the teenagers were allowed to come and go as they pleased

just so long as they were back in their rooms by 11 p.m. At around 6 p.m., Jessica walked over to the bus stop where she began waiting. Witnesses reported having seen her there. But by the time the bus did come around, Jessica wasn't there to get on it. She never did make it to that mall, and in fact, she would never be seen alive again. Final headcount came over at Huckleberry House at 11 p.m. when they discovered Jessica was missing.

They'd spend the next hour looking for her, and it was nearly midnight when Rebecca woke up to a phone call from the center, informing her that Jessica was unaccounted for. Rebecca immediately reached out to her daughter's closest friends, trying to track her down. She was actually mad she had missed her final curfew before she came home and never really suspected anything was seriously wrong.

Though she reached out to, said they hadn't been with her, and since it was late at night and she didn't want to disturb too many people, Rebecca decided to deal with it all in the morning. She had assumed Jessica had probably run off to hang out with Sean since they hadn't seen each other in so long, and she had it back to bed. While Rebecca meant well for her daughter, as she always had, by taking her to the counseling center, it would appear that this was a fatal mistake. And as she lay her head back down on the pillow that night, she had no idea that her 15-year-old girl at that very moment was fighting for her life in a cemetery.

The next day, it would still no word. Rebecca called more friends to help search around town. As time went on and still no sign of her, Rebecca began to feel desperate and decided to go to the police and file a missing persons report. But the authorities dismissed her concerns because to them, it was obvious that Jessica had run away from home. and would likely return soon. She had, after all, threatened to do so, and was staying at the counseling home, so they advised Rebecca to just remain calm and wait. The following day, Sunday, March 17th,

the young photography student was exploring Foster Chapel Cemetery, which had some older and creepy-looking headstones. She was wandering around looking for some unique angles, and that's when something in the distance caught her eye. Camera in hand, she moved closer, snapping photos as she tried to make out what she was seeing. She initially thought it was somebody sleeping, but as she approached, realized the figure wasn't moving.

She called out but received no response, taking a few more cautious steps. That's when she discovered a gruesome scene. This individual was not clothed, was covered in blood, and horrified the young woman fled to find a phone, and immediately called 911. Authorities arrived shortly thereafter, and were met with the disturbing sight.

The victim was laying in just her undergarments, and her hair was tangled up in the fence. Nearby lay two pieces of a tombstone. The 70-pound block had been split in half of both pieces covered in blood. The news of the discovery spread quickly when Rebecca heard that a young girl between the ages of 15 and 20 have been found. She called the Sheriff's Department to report that her daughter was still missing. The sheriff visited Rebecca's home to get a description of Jessica, but he quickly discovered there was no need for that.

Upon entering and seeing the family photos displayed on the wall, the sheriff immediately recognized Jessica as the girl found in the cemetery. Looking at the scene in front of them, authorities immediately knew they were dealing with a homicide. Investigators were able to follow Jessica's footprints in the mud to determine the route she had taken. They were even able to determine where she was. she stopped to high behind tombstones as her knee prints were also still visible in the mud. There was a piece of duct tape with hair stuck to it, attached to one of the stones. It was the grave of a teenage boy, killed only a year earlier that Jessica had been hiding behind. The investigators described it as a heartbreaking scene, and they could visibly see how hard

she had tried to fight for her life. And the autopsy revealed that Jessica's cause of death was blunt force trauma. Investigators immediately brought Sean in for questioning, but he was completely shocked to learn of Jessica's murder, as he had been en route to Florida with friends at the time, friends who corroborated his alibi. DNA evidence from semen found on Jessica's body was also tested against Sean's DNA, and he wasn't a match. And so with Sean cleared, detectives turned their attention to his close friend, 19-year-old George Cole. Despite his young age, Cole had an extensive criminal record, including arrest for petty theft and vandalism. Belize collected his DNA, but unfortunately they had to wait two weeks for the results, which ultimately confirmed that George was also not a match.

Although they had DNA evidence, they only had the technology to test it against samples. Sadly, though, no new leads or suspects to test. Jessica Keene's case went cold. However, based on all the information gathered, the authorities were able to piece together what they believed happened on the night in question, and it all began back at that bus stop. As Jessica continued to wait for the bus, they believed that the suspect pulled up to see what she was up to, if she perhaps needed help. She likely told the driver she was fine, but looking ahead of the mall at which point

they then offered her a ride. Jessica was not dumb, but she was also desperate to see Sean. and so she likely jumped in something she would have never usually done. She was then driven 30 miles from Columbus to Plain City, Madison County, a rural area of Ohio, dotted with small towns, and of course, Foster Chapel Cemetery. During this torturous drive, at some point Jessica's hands were duct tape behind her back, and was tape placed over her mouth to prevent her from screaming for help.

She was then, brutally, and repeated. assaulted over the course of many hours. In the back seat of the kidnapper's car, Jessica fought desperately. Despite the darkness and her disorientation, her survival instincts kicked in. She managed to knock open the back door and jump out. As evidence of road rash was found on her body. No scared, she ran as fast as she could into the night, hoping to find safety somewhere. Her assailant quickly took off after her. Seeing a distant light of a faunt, she was found. farmhouse. Jessica sprinted towards it, unaware that a cemetery stood between her and potential safety. She hid behind tombstones, trying to evade her pursue her. Eventually, believing she had gained enough

distance, she made a final bid for freedom, and she took off at full speed, running as fast as she could, hitting hard into a fence post, which knocked her to the ground. And tragically, a man caught up with her in a horrifying act of violence, and then pulled up a seven-a-scentral. pound tombstone from the ground and finished Jessica off with it. But all hope was not lost in finding this perpetrator. In this case, we'd have to wait for technology to catch up with it, and eventually it did. 17 years later, investigators finally made a huge breakthrough, reigniting everyone's hope for justice.

On March 17th, the 2008, exactly 17 years to the day after Jessica's body was discovered, Investigators received an unexpected call from the director of the Ohio Crime Lab. They had some promising news as the federal database known as CODIS, or the combined DNA index system, which scans all submitted DNA against unsolved murders and unidentified victims, had found a match. This DNA connected Marvin Lee Smith Jr., men who had been convicted of assaulting two women, sentenced to nine years in prison. though at this particular time he was out on the streets. But during his incarceration, Smith had to submit a DNA sample to the state database for future reference in case he reoffended.

Remarkably, this sample provided a match to the DNA evidence from Jessica's case, closing a chapter that had remained open for 17 long years. On April 9, 2008, police in Burlington, North Carolina, arrested 51-year-old Smith Jr., who denied ever knowing or seeing Jessica, let alone killing her. By this time, Smith likely believed he had evaded justice and moved on with his life. He was married and had a young child with his wife. Of course, though, this wasn't true, and went faced with a death penalty for what he had done. He changed his tune.

In 2009, to avoid the death penalty, Smith appeared in a Madison County courtroom where he pled guilty to first-degree murder and assault of 15-year-old Jessica Keene. And Cordy recounted how he abducted Jessica from the bus stop near the Huckleberry House, then spent hours with her in his car before she escaped. He ultimately chased her down. Smith Jr. was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Currently he's incarcerated at Lebanon Correctional Institution in Warren County, Ohio, where he'll remain at least until March of 2038 when he'll be 84 years old. This case is truly a tough one to take.

I can't imagine how her family feels, especially your own mom. It puts things in a perspective. Was Jessica's relationship with Sean really so bad as to warrant sending her to a facility? Maybe. But maybe not. Sometimes in an effort to help somebody or push people away for something, even if it's for their own good, you can inadvertently push them into something much worse. And Jessica was so desperate to see her boyfriend, she even kept away from, that she was willing to get into a stranger's car, that proved to be the worst decision over life.

In top of all that, a fight that the 15-year-old Keem put up was valiant, but heartbreaking at the same time. And she suffered in a way no human being should. And there are many, many cold cases out there, but as technology continues to advance, more of them are being solved every single day. And so if there's one positive that comes out of Jessica's case, it's that this one didn't remain stuffed inside a filing cabinet in some room. The bad guy was caught and justice was served. The Keens pray that Jessica's story gives hope to other families, desperately looking for answers.

So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. Hope you all enjoyed it. If you want more content, check out our Scary Mysteries podcast, YouTube channel, and Patreon. We have all sorts of other crazy stories for you guys to check out. Thanks for tuning in today and remember to come back next week for another episode filled with scary, strange, mysterious stories. Because you never know.

Maybe your town will be next.