Going West: True Crime - Jennifer Harris // 203

Episode Date: May 25, 2022

In May of 2002, a 28-year-old woman returned to her hometown in Texas to start anew. But, after spending the evening with an anonymous person, she disappeared. The next day, her Jeep was found, followed by her body floating in the Red River days later. Rumors circled the town regarding love triangles and a potential pregnancy, but who murdered her? This is the story of Jennifer Harris. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Fort Worth Star Telegram: https://www.newspapers.com/image/646260695/?terms=jennifer%20harris&match=1 2. Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dfw/name/jennifer-harris-obituary?id=16593696 3. Red Rabbit Justice: https://redrabbitjustice.com/#5d51d2ce-1d06-464b-99d5-9cea5afc45b5 4. 48 Hours Episode: https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/video/k0pgF5gA2oV1XK09IE9ZXKWSUgvwCQNo/ 5. KXIIi: https://www.kxii.com/video/2022/05/12/we-want-answers-remembering-jennifer-harris-years-after-her-unsolved-murder/ 6. Barry's website: https://www.wernickfordallas.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to Prime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Welcome everybody. Thank you for tuning in to yet another episode of going west. Yes, thank you guys for tuning in. Just wanted to let you guys know that we just released a brand new Patreon episode on the devastating case of Daniel Levec. That one took place in Victoria BC, so please head on over to patreon.com slash going west podcast. If you want to check out that episode and many, many more, add free. Yes, I know we do, you know, two episodes a week, but that is not enough content for some of y'all, which I totally understand.

So we do have like over 65 full length bonus episodes that are true crime episodes like we would cover on going west. We just have not covered them on going west and will not because they're on Patreon. So go check it out if you guys want. And thank you so much for tuning into this episode. I found this one a long time ago and I've been wanting to cover it for a while,

so we are finally doing so. Yeah. And can't wait to hear what you guys think of it because it is bizarre. Yeah, it's one of those ones where I feel like there's just more, there's just so many questions and very little answers. Yes. Totally. Yeah, totally. Yeah, so all right guys, this is episode 203 of Going West,

so let's get into it. In May of 2002, a 28-year-old woman returned to her hometown in Texas to start a new, but after spending the evening with an anonymous person, she disappeared. The next day, her Jeep was found, followed by her body floating in the Red River days later. Rumors circled the town regarding love triangles and a potential pregnancy. But who murdered her? This is the story of Jennifer Harris. Jennifer Lynette Harris was born on October 26, 1973 to parents Jerry and Alicia Harris, and then her younger sister Alyssa joined them about four years later.

The Harris is lived in a cozy, arranged-style home in Bonham, Texas, about an hour and a half northeast of Dallas. Bonham is described as a quintessential American small town with a population of about 10,000 people, and I know we have a ton of Texas listeners, so I'm sure you guys are familiar with this area. The border of Oklahoma sits just 15 minutes north of central Bonham across the Red River, which does play a role in this story. Yeah, and if any of you guys are like college football fans, you know about the Red River rivalry,

which is between Oklahoma and Texas. So not to take away from the story, I just thought I would mention that because I thought it was interesting. Y'all a football guy. That's me. So Jennifer was known for her brown eyes and signature curly red hair, which was so beautiful. And according to her sister, Alyssa, she was a bubbly, popular teenager with a ton of friends. Yeah, I think some people actually described her as kind of like, Lucille Ball-esque.

I love that comparison. So she was a teenager. Oh my god, not a teenager. Cheerleader. She was a teenager. At one point. While she was a cheerleader, she also played tennis and she was also in student council at Bonham High School.

Jennifer had always been a dreamer and a free spirit, and she knew that she wanted to experience the world outside of her small town of Bonham. So after graduating in 1992, she left to attend Steven F. Austin University in Nakadooshis, Texas, I hope it said that right, about three and a half hours away from Bonham, closer to the Louisiana border. Jennifer was thrilled to be starting a new life away from her small hometown in the comparably larger city of 30,000 people. Passionate about health and fitness, she pursued studies in aquatic biology, wellness and nutrition

and kinesiology, which is the study of how our movement impacts our physical health and well-being. It's very interesting that she's going from a city of like 10,000 to 30,000 and that's kind of like the big city. I know it is funny. Because yeah, it's just so interesting that that would be the size of like, you know, a college town or whatever. It's so true, yeah.

And maybe this felt like a big change for her. You know, but also I think it was also probably just getting out of your hometown. You know what I mean? Like maybe not, of course I think it was also going to someplace a little bit bigger, but I think for her it was probably, I just wanna get out of where I've always been.

You know? And now you're going to college as well, so that's awesome. Exactly, so yeah, that is true. She had like a destination there. But also as we will discuss, she does end up in a much bigger city, so that was probably kind of her goal.

You know, but we will get there. So Jennifer left a huge part of her life behind. Her boyfriend since the sixth grade, Robert or Rob Holman. Jennifer and Rob had been elementary school friends turned boyfriend and girlfriend when he was in the fifth grade and she was in 6th, and they had been inseparable ever since, so much so that the Harris is considered him a part of the family.

In 1996, when Jennifer was almost 23 years old, the couple got married at a picturesque wedding in the country, every detail planned by of course Jennifer. But sadly just a year later, Jennifer, her sister and her father Jerry lost her mother Alicia to cancer. According to Jennifer's sister Alyssa, Jennifer was never quite the same after their mom passed away. Though she did push on to accomplish her goals still, and about two years later in 1999, Jennifer's dreams of leaving small town life for the big city actually came true, and she and her husband Rob bought a house in Dallas, Texas. Now in her mid-20s, Jennifer seemed to come into her own, and what she wanted to become

was more clear. She enrolled in a local massage therapy school with aspirations of opening her own business as a masseuse, and she started embracing holistic living. Rob, on the other hand, hadn't changed all that much since they started dating. He had always worked in landscaping and preferred the small town life of Bonham over a big city like Dallas. Jennifer seemed to be changing, and he seemed to be staying the same, putting them at odds with each other and causing tension in the relationship. While studying to become a massage therapist, Jennifer met a man in school named James Hamilton. James was also in a relationship.

He had a young child with his girlfriend, with whom he was living, and she was pregnant with their second child, yet he and Jennifer fell for each other pretty quickly. So it's safe to say things at home with Rob had just gotten worse and worse. And James probably felt like a welcome escape for Jennifer. But this was probably a bit messy because he lived with his girlfriend. He already had one child with her, and she was pregnant. So not really shitty that James is cheating on her. Yeah, it seems kind of messy on both sides.

Absolutely. So one night during this time, Jennifer actually called her sister Alyssa, sounding tearful and shaken up. Jennifer told her sister that Rob, her husband, had forced himself on her, though nothing formal ever came of this accusation. And Jennifer possibly wanted to like protect Rob from potential legal ramifications, but it's unclear. And another point during the deterioration of their relationship, Jennifer's dad Jerry

visited her and Rob at their new suburban Dallas home, and said that he observed holes punched in the walls sometimes in clusters. Which of course, if you're a dad, you're looking at that and you're like, that's not a good sign. Absolutely, that was probably very concerning. So these incidents were major causes for concerns in general for Jennifer's tight-knit family,

like her sister too, was really of course not stoked about this. Rob however, maintained that Jennifer was the rash and unpredictable one, claiming that he would have to hold her to contain her physical aggression against him. And of course that is just what he said. So in his initial interview with police, he's quoted as saying, she was hot tempered when we were married, and it was generally her way or no way. Sometimes I'd grab her, wrap her up to keep her from hitting and shit.

So again, this is, in a time when she cannot speak for herself, so we're not sure how true this is. Eventually, neither of them could take it anymore, and they filed for divorce. Rob moved back to their hometown of Bonham and James, Madison, moved into the house that Jennifer and her husband used to share. The real deal about this new season of their lives, James and Jennifer opened Stone Lee Massage and Wellness Center, so they not only did they start officially dating, but they

opened a freaking business together. Yeah, so it's serious here. Very serious. And James, of course, was very eager to marry Jennifer, and since he wasn't married, this was pretty doable, but they didn't get married. And Jennifer's sister Alyssa didn't hide her disapproval of the whole situation, and even told Jennifer that she didn't think this was a good idea that they were together. After that, Jennifer kept her personal affairs pretty quiet from her family. But it didn't take long for James and Jennifer's personal and professional ventures to take

a turn for the worse. Their massage business failed, their relationship was struggling, and Jennifer was forced to file for bankruptcy. Because of all this, she also moved back to Bonham to just regroup and be close to family. Because remember, she's not actually married to James and wasn't about to jump into another marriage anyway since her divorce, so she moved back home alone. And I think she was staying with her grandmother. Yeah, she is. There she was.

Sorry. But by this point, Rob himself had moved on and he now had a girlfriend in Bonham. But Jennifer was starting to feel haunted by regrets and was open about the fact that she actually wanted him back. Later, Rob admitted to sleeping with her multiple times while still dating his girlfriend. So it seems like they were both interested

in potentially getting back together. And I mean, they had known each other for so long. Like you said, he said earlier. Like you said earlier. He said a little school. Yeah, like he was Rob was considered a part of the family. So it seems like they were probably each other's comfort person.

So it would have been easy for them to kind of fall back into their old selves. Yeah, I can see that for sure. So on Mother's Day 2002, Sunday, May 12th, Jennifer spent the rainy evening hanging out at the house of a friend, Kristi Far. Around 8 p.m., she told Kristi that she was going to meet someone, although she didn't say who,

and that she had to go. Unfortunately, no one knew who she was meeting, where she was going, or why, but Christie was the last person to see her. The following morning, which was Monday, May 13, 2002, Jennifer's grandma Mimi, with whom Jennifer was staying while she got back on her feet, realized that she hadn't come home the night before and reported her missing. That same day, a woman named Rhonda Fitzwater spotted Jennifer's green 2000 Jeep Wrangler on County Road 2610 for the second day in a row, and she finally just decided that she needed to report it.

And just to be clear, not like the second full day, because as we know, she had, or Jennifer had gone out the previous evening on Sunday, but this is just the second time she saw it. So maybe this woman was out like the previous evening and happened to see it and then also passed again this day. Yeah, that's kind of what I'm assuming. Yeah, because she was at Christie's house up until a certain point. Absolutely. yeah. Okay, so the car was found near the Lake Bonham Ho-Down, a bar-turned church and live music venue for bluegrass, gospel, and country. This is near Lake Bonham, just north of town. Now, Rhonda was out walking her dogs the evening of Sunday,

May 12th, and noticed the car there, which was an abnormal occurrence for such a remote location. As we mentioned, this is how she saw the car the first time. Yes, so the night before. Right. So when the car was still there the next day, she notified police that something might be wrong with whomever had left the car there. So lots of red flags here. You know, Jennifer didn't come home.

She had gone off with some mystery person. And now her car is sitting out on this rural country road. So it makes you wonder if something happened to her and maybe someone even planted her car there. You know, because why is our car out there? Yeah. And why has it? Why has it been there for two days? And where is she? So with her car found abandoned and no sign of Jennifer, police began questioning people in her circle. Her ex-husband Rob, and ex-boyfriend James, both agreed to speak with police immediately and without a lawyer.

According to their interviews, neither had seen Jennifer the night she disappeared, so they both denied being this mystery person she was with. James Hamilton had been with a friend at a McDonald's over an hour away, and not only did his alibi check out, but he was also able to pass a lie detector test or a polygraph test, so it seemed clear to police that James likely was not directly involved in Jennifer's disappearance. Rob, however, had less to offer authorities. He claimed that Jennifer had wanted to see him that evening

and that he had told her no. He then, that night, purchased beer from a liquor store and drove around to friends' houses. So that's basically his alibi, as I picked up some booze, and I just drove around. Right, but when no one was home to drink beers with him, he says that he drove around Fanon County where Bonham is located for five whole hours by himself.

So he's like driving for five hours and drinking and just something. So you're telling police that you're just driving around drinking? And also, like, if none of these friends came forward and said, yeah, like I did see, sorry, I did see Rob that day, like that would make the situation a little bit better. But the fact that he's like, yeah, no one was home. So I just continue to like drive around randomly. Right. And I mean, to be fair, like not everyone has an alibi

every single night of their lives. So if he didn't have anything to do with her disappearance, he shouldn't be looked at as suspicious just because he was supposedly alone that night. But then there's the turbulent history between them, which doesn't look good either. So yeah, and the fact that they had been recently hooking up. Yes. So in Rob's words, he said quote to police, I'm just worried and scared because I know I don't have anybody to say where I was at that night. So he's being open about the fact that he's worried that he doesn't have an alibi. Yes. Which I would be too. So Rob stuck to his claim that he hadn't seen her in person that night,

but when pressed by officers, he admitted that he did see her in her Jeep while she was out driving. But that she didn't see him. He claimed he saw her driving away from Bonham, like she was headed out of town, and as we know, her car was found just north of town. Rob agreed to take a polygraph test, but for whatever reason, he was never given one. The beginning of the investigation was a bit slow because no one saw or heard anything indicating where she could be for five days after her car was found.

This fact was especially hard on Jerry Harris, Jennifer's father, who was only sleeping about three or four hours a night and spending basically all day every day looking for his daughter. And we have to remember, this is only, what, like, five years after Jerry's wife and Jennifer's mother died? Yeah, exactly. So, this is such a terrible tragedy to come so soon after somebody else in the family died.

Yeah, I just feel so bad for Jerry and Alyssa, the fact that they have to go through this again. I know, it's so, so horrible. But on the sixth day of Jennifer being missing, a tragic discovery was made. On May 18th, 2002, six days after she went missing, Jennifer's body was found by two fishermen floating face down in the Red River, and she was badly decomposed. And this area, the Red River, is 10 miles or 16 kilometers north of where Jennifer's car was parked. So that's pretty far. So that's looking very suspicious other than the fact that she's found in a river.

Yeah. And this happened just six weeks after Jennifer moved back to Bonham. So because her body was found on the Oklahoma side of the Red River, her autopsy was conducted there. Her body was so badly decomposed that the medical examiner couldn't determine a cause of death. So her official cause of death is just listed as homicide of violence, which is so horrifying to hear. And so unfortunate because, you know, especially because she was only dead at this point for a few days, but as we know, it can be much more

difficult to narrow down a killer and figure out what happened to a person when they don't even know the cause of death. So just very, very disappointing situation. Well, something the medical examiner did note was that because her lungs were empty, she had not drowned and was thrown in the river after she was already dead. It seemed most likely that she had been killed in Texas and dumped in the river where her body then migrated to the banks of the Oklahoma side. She was found nude,

so there weren't many indicators as to what happened to her. But one small clue they uncovered was from the blue mud found on her front side. According to local fishermen, there are only two spots nearby where this particular mud, blue moral mud, is found, so one of them is likely where her body was dumped. The Fannie County Sheriff believes the culprit to be whoever she left Christie's house to meet that night, so police searched desperately to find out who that person was.

The more of Jennifer's friends and family they talked to, the more details emerged, and the more she seemed to be at a major crossroads in her life. And something I wonder is if Jennifer didn't happen to mention this person's name and if her friend didn't ask, or if Jennifer was specifically keeping it a secret. Yeah, maybe it wasn't something that she just figured to bring up, like, it doesn't really matter, or is she, like, purposefully not mentioning this person's name. I wish we knew. So one startling revelation came when investigators spoke with Jennifer's best friend, Jill Wagner.

Jill reported that shortly before Jennifer had disappeared, she told Jill that she was pregnant. This claim was substantiated by Rob, who further reported that he and Jennifer had met shortly before her disappearance at the Drive in Movie Theater in Bonham, and she had told him that she was pregnant and that the baby was his. He told police that he didn't believe this claim and just assumed that it was a way of kind of manipulating him and to getting back together with her.

Officials could never determine whether she was pregnant or not, let alone whose baby it was. Because the autopsy found that Jennifer's uterus was missing. So in addition to a murdered woman, we now have a surprise pregnancy and a missing body part. And of course, what's more suspicious than a missing uterus when one of the two people in question for her now murder is the man whose baby it supposedly was. Yeah, in your mind you're like, okay, so you're trying to make a connection there, right? Right, and it's like, obviously,

we had talked about earlier the tumultuous relationship that Rob and Jennifer previously had. And now, the fact that Rob had a girlfriend while they were kind of still hooking up. Not looking good for him. But this case seemed to keep getting stranger and farther away from answers, so law enforcement initially, of course, considered that Rob could have been responsible for cutting her

uterus out of her body, because that would make it a ton of sense, especially since they were divorced at the time of her murder and yet another woman in his life. It was definitely a possibility if he had been trying to avoid the responsibility and financial burden of a child Plus having to face the fallout with the girlfriend he was cheating on However, it was later determined that the missing body part Was likely because Jennifer had spent so much time in the water with fish Turtles and other wildlife and that it could have been eaten while her body decomposed.

What I wanna know is were they able to like officially determine that though? No, so I mean this would honestly be so unfortunate because the detail of whether or not her uterus was removed by her killer is a very important detail to her investigation. Absolutely. So, that's so frustrating that we don't know for sure if it was one or the other.

Well, another clue came in the form of a local caretakers cottage along the Red River, just a few hundred yards from where Jennifer's body was found. It was just a small structure built on a concrete slab along the river, but it had burned to the ground on Sunday, May 12, 2002, the same day that Jennifer had disappeared. Now, the sheriff started putting together a potential sequence of events, and became certain that whomever killed her, met up with her nearby that night, lured her into the cottage, killed her, burned the cottage to the ground to cover any DNA or evidence, and then discarded of her body in the nearby river. While this seemed very possible, with nothing to go on but speculation,

the investigation was at a standstill. In 2010, Alyssa Harris married Barry Wernick without her sister by her side. Barry was a filmmaker from Texas and once he learned about Jennifer's murder, he made it his mission to bring justice to her case for his new wife and her family. What just so awesome. I know Barry just seems like a great guy. So Alyssa and Barry put together a website called Red Rabbit Justice, where you can donate to the $50,000 in growing reward fund or submit a tip if you have any information. Barry was even a consultant on the 48 hours episode of Jennifer's Murder, which aired on CBS.

The same year that Barry and Alyssa got married, Darryl Parker joined the investigation. Darryl was a lieutenant in Fannie County who then became a private investigator and has worked for the family pro bono since 2010, becoming try to solve this pro bono and are putting in you know putting in all this work years years of work awesome so he once said about Jennifer's murder quote if anything happens in this case rain or shine any time of the day i'm on it love daryl

so daryl double down on the theory that she was killed in the abandoned cottage by the river and did a broad search of the area including digging down to the theory that she was killed in the abandoned cottage by the river and did a broad search of the area, including digging down to the water table and diving in a nearby well. One of the only two spots where that blue moral mud is found is just a short walk from the cottage and was also found in this well. Pretty crazy. Yeah. On Mother's Day 2010, so eight years after Jennifer's death, Darryl questioned Rob in his home, hoping that the date would maybe like jog either his conscience or his memory. Hopefully both.

Yes. He even made a point of showing Rob an old picture of Jennifer swimming in muddy, silty water, hoping it would scare him a bit or stir up some kind of guilt if he had any. According to Daryl, he showed Rob a stack of photos, and that one, the one of her swimming, is the first one he picked up, seemingly unable to take his eyes off of it. He called Daryl back later and asked if they could meet and talk, so that's pretty big Rob is like I am down to chat. Yes.

But wanting to record the conversation, Darryl suggested that they meet the next day at the police station instead. So when they did meet, Rob had an attorney present and wouldn't tell him anything. Ah, frustrating. Yeah, and of course, like Darryl still regrets this to this day, just blaming himself for giving Rob the time to get a lawyer and for putting distance between

When Rob was ready to talk and when they actually met to discuss it which Darryl couldn't have known because he did seem Eager to chat, but it just didn't happen which is so upsetting and Rob seemed like he was ready to talk as well Right, so it's like what does that mean if he was ready to talk and then he's, so it's like, what does that mean? If he was ready to talk, and then he's like, now I'm gonna lawyer up. Yeah. I'm kind of weird. Another hiccup in an already flawed investigation came when locals tried to pin the murder

on someone who had never even met Jennifer and attorney named Miles Porter. The small community of Bonham, as you can imagine, was just rife with gossip, especially after something as horrific as this murder, and the district attorney was somewhere they could place their suspicions. Miles claims that locals were angry about his ruling in a recent case, and they kind of turned on him, creating unsubstantiated rumors.

And he believes that he lost his re-election because because of this and is now in private practice. What I don't understand is if he never met Jennifer like... Why did people think this? Yeah, why do people think this, but also if that's not true, like you're not helping the investigation. Yeah, I completely agree. It's very bizarre. Yeah, absolutely. So in 2017, another private investigator joined the team, a man named Joe Mora, a PI and CBS news consultant from Boston. Critical of the initial investigation, he noted that the case file and the investigation were incredibly weak.

Joe conducted his own interviews with locals and law enforcement, and while Barry and Darryl are certain that Rob is the culprit, Joe believes that James Hamilton was not suspected or investigated heavily enough, and even suggested that police may have purchased his alibi. Joe also made a point of revealing that shortly after Jennifer's death, James contacted

Jerry Harris to ask about her life insurance policy. But police still will not formally identify Rob or James as official suspects in this case. Well, because sadly they have no evidence of anything. Exactly. Other than the fact that she was murdered. Right. So back in 2003, a local woman named Deborah Lambert heard about the unsolved case on the news and called in with a tip. She claimed that she had seen Jennifer the night of her

disappearance and that she had likely been the last person to see her alive. Deborah and her mother were crossing the Red River on the bridge that provides access between Texas and Oklahoma, and that was also close to both the cottage and where Jennifer's body was found. If we're to believe that Jennifer was at her friend Christie's house until 8 p.m. the night of her murder, the timeline doesn't match up here, so it's not a perfect tip, but if it is valid, it's pretty incriminating evidence because here's what Deborah said she saw.

Deborah claimed that she and her mother drove across the bridge around 5pm and saw a young woman with reddish brown hair struggling against the force of three men. By Deborah's description, two of the men had the woman by the elbows, and it looked like she was struggling to get away from them, but was being restrained. Deborah even made eye contact with the girl she saw, claiming she looked terrified, and Deborah's mother apparently said that girl is fixing to get raped and killed. God. Yeah, this is not a good thing to say, Mom.

Like what? Yeah, not good. Yeah, as if Jennifer or any other woman would want to be restrained by three men like that, especially if she looked terrified. Like, this is not her fault. I just feel like that's so casual too. Like that girl's fixing to get raped and killed. It's like what?

I don't know. That's like a superurb fucked up thing. Not a casual comment. No. So when she was interviewed, Deborah claimed that initially she didn't report the citing out of fear of retribution. Retribution, sorry. And didn't want to get involved.

Jo Morah actually believes the key to solving this case may have been Deborah Lambert's testimony, but tragically, she and her mother have both since passed away, so that's not much help to the investigation, because we can't talk to him anymore. Yeah, but going back in time a bit to a year and a half after Jennifer was killed, the Texas Rangers took on her investigation. The Texas Rangers are a government-funded program dedicated to unsolved cases with the intent of identifying violent offenders and providing justice for victims in their families. The Rangers interviewed Deborah again before she passed away, finding that she was very detailed and maintained her original story exactly. They showed her a lineup of men, one of whom

was Rob Holman. When asked who of the men she saw in the bridge that night, she pointed to Rob. But on the advice of his legal counsel, Rob would not speak to the Rangers. I mean, that's pretty crazy. Out of all the men that she looked at, she pointed at Rob, but then it's like who are these other two men then? True, maybe somebody just helping him dispose of a body. I don't know. So after all of this time, with all the investigators involved, and with no living, credible eyewitness,

weapon, or cause of death, Jennifer's loved ones are at a loss. When CBS' 48 hours was in Bonham conducting interviews, they asked to speak with James Hamilton by phone and were ignored. Rob was hostile when he met with the team and told them that he would only speak to them off camera. He offered a clinical response via his attorneys. Robert Holman has neither been arrested nor charged with any criminal conduct as it relates to this investigation. This notwithstanding Mr. Holman has, from the inception of the investigation, been treated

by law enforcement as a suspect. Mr. Holman has maintained his innocence from the very beginning and his position has never wavered. This month, May of 2022, marks 20 years exactly since Jennifer's murder, and the only evidence the Fanning County Sheriff's Office has to show for the last two decades is a few boxes filled with paper, interviews, and archives. Evidence and case histories were stored in pods behind the station, and when one flooded, much of Jennifer's evidence was destroyed, including her laptop computer, and clothing found that she may have been wearing the night of her murder, before she was thrown into

the Red River. So, that is so unfortunate because I feel like I keep saying unfortunate in this episode, sorry, but it is because now, you know, after this would have happened, would be the time when DNA testing is getting better and they could have tested her clothes. I also really wonder about her car. Like to me, it seems like somebody moved her car.

Was there any evidence there? Did they test it? I couldn't find that. So I don't know. It's just very, very devastating that that evidence is gone now. Yeah. So whether this was accidental or sabotage is unknown.

Mark Johnson came out of retirement to run for Sheriff in Fanning County in 2016 and won. And he claims that he did this just to revive Jennifer's murderer and bring justice to Bonham's only cold case. He also made a promise to Jennifer's father Jerry, from one father to another, he said, that he would find Jennifer's killer. Jerry is a former Marine and Vietnam veteran who has never given up on finding answers. Alyssa and Barry Wernick now live in Dallas with their three daughters, and Barry is running

for City Council. He has made Jennifer's story a major part of his platform, pledging that his interest in public safety is personal. The Harris Family's website, which again is Red Rabbit Justice, is still active and taking donations. They have hundreds of hours of footage for a docu-series that's now in post-production called Justice for Jennifer. If you have any information regarding Jennifer's death, please contact the Fannie and County

Sheriff's Office at 903-583-2143. You can also check out the Harris Family website at redrabbitjustice.com to leave a tip online or donate to a reward fund. Which heathen are going to do? Absolutely. So in addition to the reward fund collected by Barry and Alyssa, Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a $3,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest of the person or people responsible for this crime. You can call 1-800-252-8477,

and all tips are anonymous. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an all-new case for you guys to dive into. And as we say about most of the unsolved cases that we cover on this show, please make sure that you guys share because especially if you live in Texas, somebody might know something and it's very clear that there are a lot of people out there that are really, really trying to solve this case. It's one of those cases that feels like the answers are right in front of us,

but we don't really know. Maybe it's not Rob, maybe it's not James. It's so unclear, maybe it is. So please, if you have any information, call if you don't just share the episode and hopefully others can listen to. Also, if you're looking for more episodes of Going West, head over to patreon.com slash going west podcast. We just released that episode on Daniel Levec from BC, Victoria BC. So please go over there and check that one out. V.C. Vicar, sorry, from Victoria, B.C. So please go over there and check that one out.

Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you