The Misery Machine - The Case of Jessica Ridgeway

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

This week, Drewby and Yergy head over to Westminster, Colorado to discuss the case of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway. Jessica vanished on October 5th, 2012, while walking a short distance to meet friends for school. Her backpack, containing her glasses, was discovered two days later in a neighborhood roughly seven miles away. Her torso was found on October 10th in a park in Arvada, Colorado. Austin Sigg, then 17 years old, was identified as the killer after his mother, Mindy, called police to report his confession on October 23rd, 2012. DNA evidence later linked him to the crime. Austin also confessed to an attempted kidnapping of a jogger at Ketner Lake in May of 2012.Support Our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join Our Facebook Group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram: miserymachinepodcastTwitter: misery_podcastDiscord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#themiserymachine #podcast #truecrimeSource Materials Available Upon Request.

Jessica Christine Ridgeway was born on January 23, 2002. She loved music, art, books, and animals. She wore glasses with purple frames and carried a pink Victoria. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board Buck slot machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package.

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Working at it. Zootopia, too. Now available on Disney Plus rated PG. Her favorite school subjects were math and phys ed, and she wanted to be a cheerleader when she got older. Jessica attended Witt Elementary School where she was enrolled in the fifth grade. Her teachers and classmates were both captivated by her charming and sweet personality. Her great-aunt Gay Moore said about her.

She's a giggler. She giggles a lot. That's all she ever does. She loves try-out jokes on the family, and she's actually got some pretty good ones. Jessica is the light of our life. She's a special girl. Jessica's father, Jeremiah Bryant, lived in Missouri,

while she lived in Colorado with her mother, Sarah, and grandmother Christine. The former couple weren't on the best of terms. They spent the better part of their time separated in the legal battle over child custody. Jessica was an independent child. Her mother said that she wanted to be a teenager before she's a teenager. She was incredibly self-sufficient for her age. On school days, Jessica could wake up, eat a small breakfast, and get dressed on her own without assistance.

Her independence wasn't due to Sarah's absence because both mother and daughter were part of each other's morning routine. Sarah worked night shifts in the tech industry and slept in while Jessica was at school, but she always woke up early to make sure her daughter had her midday snack prepared, and everything she needed packed for school. Like many other kids in her neighborhood, Jessica walked to school every day, and she preferred to do this overtaking the bus. She would meet one of her friends at a nearby park,

and they would continue the rest of the way together. On October 5th, 2012, Jessica would do just that. It was snowing that morning, so she was bundled up in a warm black coat and boots with pom-poms. She stepped to make a snowball before she crossed the street. Before she could resume her walk, Jessica was snatched off the street by a little. a stranger. He grabbed her, pulled her into his Jeep, and bound her, and sped off. She screams,

but there was no one around to hear. She was so scared she wet herself. The stranger told her that she would be all right, but they both knew that was a lie. Jessica's school held out to contact Sarah until around 10 in the morning. Their call went to voicemail since Sarah was still asleep. They left a message saying that Jessica wasn't there and they wanted to make sure everything was okay. Sarah woke up later in the afternoon and listened to the voicemail. She knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. She checked in with Jessica's friends' parents and the school's front desk, and when she didn't get the answer she needed, she called 911. My daughter's missing. I guess she never made us to school this morning. How old your daughter? She's 10? Okay.

Is she being with a father or anything like that? No, her father's in Missouri. Okay, what's your daughter's name? Jessica, Bridgeway. Okay, and when did you last year? This morning when she lost at 8.30. Did she walk? Yeah. I checked her prince's house and she walked and they're not answering the door.

Okay. You said she walks to school with a friend? Yeah, I don't know the exact address, but it's right down the street. It's about two blocks away. Do you know if she made at the school? I don't know. I tried to go up to the school, and the office already closed. Is she ever going to miss before?

No. Okay. And you don't have any family that could have picked her up or anything like that? No, I checked with everybody that would have. Okay. She doesn't have a phone or anything like that? No. Does she have a bike?

Yeah, but she doesn't write it to school. Is it at the house? Right. And you said that there's school called, so that you went? Right. And I worked nights, so I slept through the call. That's what happened before? No.

You don't know what kind of pants are. anything she's wearing? I think she's wearing jeans, but I know she changed and I forgot to look. Okay. Is your name Christine? It's Sarah. Sarah. Sarah Laster's on the way over to help you out, okay? Okay. Have you worked? Have I worked? Looked for her. Have you looked for her in there? I went up to the school and my sister's walking up to the school the same way that she walked with her dog. So, and I went to her friend's house. and kind of looked around where at the park that's down the street, there's no kids there. After Sarah spoke with the police, an Amber Alert went out.

Jessica's father, Jeremiah, got a call as he was about to leave work. He said, it was about time to get off work when I got that phone call. I told my boss I had to leave. I couldn't stay. I've been lost ever since. Firefighters, the police, and volunteers search parks, fields, and lakes for any sign of the missing 10-year-old. Investigators went door to door to every residence in the area. They explained why they were there and what they were doing and collected hundreds of DNA samples from willing participants.

One house they visited belonged to Mindy Sig, who had a 17-year-old son named Austin. One of their neighbors gave law enforcement a tip to look into the teenager, but Mindy didn't think much of it at the time. To her, Austin would give a DNA sample and the investigators would be on their way. Austin Sig was born on January 17, 1995. His parents divorced in 2001 and he had a younger brother. His father Robert was in and out of jail with charges ranging from bank fraud to burglary to family violence. Mindy largely raised her two sons alone and had a deep fear that one of them would be a victim of an abduction or... It's mushrooms with me, Maddie Matheson.

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While he had academic potential, he wasn't good about doing his homework. He dropped out of high school during his junior year and got his GED. He attended Arapaho Community College, with an interest working in the death care industry. It unsettled some people in his life, but Mindy thought somebody has to do it, so she was supportive of his studies.

He placed second in a hosa crime scene investigation competition for college students. One of his classmates was working on a project related to Ted Bundy. He asked her about it and laughed when she mentioned that Ted Bundy didn't feel any kind of pity for his victims. Over the course of a year, Austin's friends and classmates noticed that he became more argumentative and short-tempered. He told his younger brother that he'd put a lot of thought into how he could get away with murder. Mindy had made jokes and comments about helping Austin work zip dyes.

Austin also spent up to three nights a week completely MIA. When asked about his whereabouts, he gave conflicting answers. Austin accompanied some friends on a walking trail and they passed a woman named Christy Mueller and her dog. Christy said Austin stared at her as she passed, intently in for far too long. She thought if she hadn't been with her dog, Austin would have had done more than just stared. Austin was neighbors with a woman named Elizabeth Alexander. Elizabeth's daughter confided to her that Austin made her uneasy.

When Jessica's disappearance made the news, the young girl immediately suspected Austin. Elizabeth said she was freaked out by a teenager staring at her at the park. After Jessica was kidnapped, she told me she knew who it was. I didn't believe her. Austin showed signs of his troubled nature quite early on. When he was 12, Austin was caught actively seeking out CSAM images. He was sent to counseling as a result.

The time went on without incident, Mindy thought the worst was behind them. What she didn't know was that Austin kept his perversions a secret, and it eventually escalated into him planning a violent crime. Austin would get in his Jeep and drive aimlessly around in an activity that he called hunting. He was looking for someone he could kidnap, assault, murder, and dismember. In May 28, 2012, a woman went jogging near Ketner Lake. She had the misfortune of crossing paths with Austin. He tried to kidnap her.

It was thankfully unsuccessful and she immediately called the police. She described Austin in her report and how he grabbed her from behind and tried to cover her mouth with a rag that reeked of chemicals. Officers met with her in person and managed to collect a DNA sample from her clothes, but after that, all police could do at the time, was keeping an eye out for their suspect. Austin took the worst possible lesson from his failed kidnapping attempt. Instead of realizing he could face serious legal consequences from snatching someone off the street, he decided he could try again was someone less likely to fight back. His next target

would have to be a child, ideally alone, in an area he felt would be too far to be heard if they screamed, someone like Jessica. Cover all their bases, the police looked into Jessica's family, especially her mother and father. Sarah and Jeremiah understood the investigators were only doing their job and cooperated fully. The sooner they were each ruled out from the suspect pool, the sooner law enforcement resources would be turned elsewhere. On October 9th, a May... Exema is unpredictable.

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participating stores only while supplies lastly app for full terms. And called the tip line and reported finding a backpack nearest house. Officers collected Jessica's purple glasses, her pink Victoria Justice backpack, and her water bottle. The same one Sarah had filled the same day Jessica went missing. Her things had a distinct smell of urine. Sarah was hopeful. The DA was less so. Hal's sergeant didn't share his thoughts in front of the family, but eventually said, The glasses tell you she's dead. There's a reason he chose the items that smelled of urine. Her jacket and socks and other items of clothing he threw out.

He chose carefully. Jessica's family didn't speak to the press until October 9th because they wanted to wait for Jeremiah to arrive so they could make a statement together. They both denied being responsible for her disappearance, and neither Sarah nor Jeremiah blamed each other at any point. In the interview, Jeremiah said, there's no way she did it. The same way she'd tell them there's no way I would do anything like that. I don't see how any parent could do something like that to their child.

Sarah said in part, I know I didn't do anything. Everybody that's here knows I didn't do anything. Nobody in this room did anything to harm her or a tiny hair on her little head. If they have to eliminate me, go right ahead. I know it's something that has to get done. They have to get it out of there. She's all of our rocks.

She's the one that when you're kind of down, she's going to come along and she's going to make you laugh. She's going to give you a hug. She's going to give you a kiss. She was the light of the house. With all the people there, it's still too quiet. It's way too quiet. It needs to be lively and happy again. She's my rock.

I mean, she's all of our rocks. The bright voice of my little girl, she needs to come home. I try to stay positive about it, but yeah, it's hard. I watch her walk out the door, and I shut the door, and that's the last time I saw her. I want to go walking through that door. You get the pit in your stomach that you don't want any parent, any parent, to ever experience in their whole entire life, that you know your child's just been taken. That is not ever, ever anything I want, ever any parent to go through. I felt a sliver of hope.

I figured, you know, if something really bad happened to her, they wouldn't have got rid of the backpack just sitting there. I just want to find my daughter. I just want her back home. Five days after she went missing, a child's remains were located in a field in Arvada, Colorado. On October 10th, 11 miles from her home, Jessica was found. She had been dismembered and stuffed in black garbage bags. Not all of her was accounted for, but there was enough to identify her. When the missing person's case became a homicide case, local law enforcement reached out to the FBI for help. They continued to collect DNA samples and test them, gradually ruling people out one by one.

The community created a memorial in Chelsea Park, a public park near Jessica's home. They left flowers, stuffed animals and balloons in her favorite color purple. Over 4,000 tips came in from concerned citizens, reporting anything from suspicious vehicles to other alleged kidnapping attempts. Jessica's funeral services were held on October 12th at the Faith Bible Chapel. There were approximately 3,000 attendees clad in purple from all over the state, all gathered to mourn Jessica and support her family. John Hickenlooper, the governor at the time, made a short speech about light in times of darkness. Austin's mother, Mindy, didn't have any idea what her son was hiding.

She followed the investigation's progress on the local news outlets, as many other Westminster residents did the time. Hank joined BJ's wholesale club the day he became a father of 30. I coach football. Now Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices. 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pregame. He knows teamwork and BJ's knows savings.

This is your home, coach. Home of the Save. Join for just $20 at BJs.com slash SW Fort Worth and save 10 cents a gallon on gas for six months. Now open, limited time offer new members only. BJ's Home of the Save. Like we mentioned earlier, Mindy was especially haunted by just, Jessica's disappearance due to her own personal fears for her kid's safety and because of how close the little girl was to Mindy's house. One report described the physical features the perpetrator may have and she thought it sounded like Austin. She texted him that the officers were searching for someone

that looked like him. The pieces had not yet come together in her head. Austin responded, where did you hear that? By this time, the local police and the FBI had created a behavioral profile for their suspect. They collected more DNA samples from Jessica's remains and belongings. Test results matched those samples to the sample from the jogger who was almost kidnapped in May. Law enforcement thought they were looking for a full-grown adult, not a 17-year-old. When this development was reported in the news, Austin got scared. He told his classmates and his mother that he wasn't feeling well. He slept in his mother's bed that night. Austin thought that because he gave his DNA to investigators that his time was running out.

He didn't know that an error in the lab had actually cleared his name. He wasn't even matched the DNA on file from the woman he attempted to kidnap. He, by all intents and purposes, was an innocent person. It was his own fear that pushed him into confessing. The next day on October 24th, Mindy came home from work. She took a shower, and when she stepped back into her bedroom, she saw her son sitting on her bed. Austin said, Mom, I've got to tell you something. She asked, is this about Jessica?

What Austin said next made her heart stop, but a part of her knew it was coming. Yeah, I'm a monster. Austin confessed to his mother, Mindy, what he had done. She dropped the floor and sobbed. After the initial shock, Mindy told Austin he had to call the police. He asked her to call them for him, and she did. First, she dialed the Jessica tip line. Then she was transferred to the police department.

She passed the phone to Austin, and he confirmed what his mother said. me to come to my house. My son wants to turn himself in for the Jessica Ridgeway murder. Okay. What's the address? 10622 West 102nd 2nd Avenue. And what's going on there? Not hearing me. He just confessed to killing her. I know. I want you to tell me what's going on. Can you tell me exactly what he said? But he did it and he gave me details and her remains are in my house. Hello.

Is this Austin? Yes, it is. Hi, Austin. This is Molly at the Westminster Police Department. Hi. Can you tell me a little bit about what's going on right now or how you're feeling or how did this come about? I don't exactly get why you're asking these questions. I murdered Jessica Ridgeway.

Okay. I have proof that I did it. There is no other question. You just have to send a squad car something down here, and I will answer all the questions that you want to ask or anyone wants to ask of me as soon as you just need to get down here. Okay. Have you committed any crimes like this before?

I mean, do you have a criminal history of any sort? the only other thing that I have done that before this was the Ketner Lake incident where the woman got attacked, that was me as well. Other than that, the only criminal history I have is a speeding ticket. Police cars arrived in front of the SIG home and Austin was arrested. He didn't put up much of a fight as he knew he wasn't getting out of this. Just as Mindy had said on the call, more of Jessica's remains were on the SIG's property. Austin and his mother were placed in separate police cars and were taken to the Westminster Police Station. Austin admitted to strangling Jessica and dismembering her corpse.

At first, he denied essaying her, but eventually admitted to that as well. Investigators searched the SIG's house and found the rest of Jessica's remains. Her skull and some of her organs were in a crawl space. Austin also had C-SAM on his computer's hard drive. During the interrogation, Austin said that he did not target Jessica. He left his home that morning with the intention of kidnapping someone, taking them to his home and committing essay and murder. Jessica was the first person he found.

He called it a random place, random time, random everything. What did you tell your mom? That I murdered Jessica Ridgeway. I started driving around, kind of aimlessly. Went home for probably five, ten minutes for just walked around. I just remember I wound up finding a place over in her neighborhood where I could park where a car really wouldn't be noticed by anyone, just somewhere where all the fences were. And because while I was driving, I was just kind of looking. And I saw her and I found the place to park and I parked and I parked and I waited.

When she walked by, I grabbed her. I had made her change, and then when she came back out, I had her put all of her stuff away, and then I asked her to turn away from me, and I used the zip ties, and my hands to shank her. He further detailed. I think the second I pulled her into my car, I knew she was dead. She kept asking me questions. I would answer them, and I would lie to her. I would tell her that everything was going to be okay. I would just lie to her. Austin described how he took Jessica into the home he shared with his mother.

He carried her to his bedroom. Jessica saw the litter boxes and asked about his cats. Austin essayed her and attempted to strangle her with zip ties. He couldn't, so instead he used his hands. He said her body was still twitching, so he held her down in a bathtub of hot water. He then dismembered her in the bathtub, kept some of her remains and dumped the rest in the Arvada feet.

In a written affidavit, the interrogating officer described Austin's motive as a fantasy he wanted to act on. Introducing Taco Bell's new jalapeno citrus salsa with bright citrus, real red jalapinos, guahillo chilis. Usually, you add sauce to the food, but when the sauce is this good, the food is just there to get the sauce to your mouth. That rolled cassidia, not a rolled cassidia anymore. Now it's a sauce shovel. Taco Bell's jalapeno citrus salsa, get it with any item on the canteen of chicken menu. While it's here, the participating U.S. Taco Bell locations for a limited time only while supplies last. Contact store for availability.

Austin also admitted to his failed kidnapping attempt earlier that year. He was asked why he did it, what he hoped to accomplish, and he said, probably to do the same to her that I did to Jessica. Austin also said that he cut the zip ties off Jessica and turned on cartoons for her. Investigators weren't sure if he was being truthful about these details. They thought he was trying to humanize himself. He also danced around the question of essay, but there was enough forensic evidence to show that Jessica was essayed before she died. He eventually confessed to this. He threw Jessica's backpack, glasses, water bottle, and clothes far enough away from his house to draw attention away from him and later did the same with some of her remains.

The DA suspected that deep down Austin wanted her found. They also took a new DNA sample, which cleared all doubt that Austin was their suspect. Awesome was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree kidnapping. Mindy didn't speak to the press herself. Instead, Austin's aunt told the press that he turned himself in. He was also charged for the attempted assault on the jogger back in May and for possession of CSAM. Mindy understandably didn't want to return home that night. She spent the night with her sister.

While the rational part of her mind told her that Austin was locked away, she was scared he would come through his aunt's door and confront her. Let me notice to her, Jessica's loved ones were grateful for Mindy. They admired that she didn't try to cover up her son's crimes and took the difficult step of making that phone call to potentially lock her son away forever. Many years later, Sarah said in an interview with CNN. Instead of trying to hide him or trying to run away, she turned him in, and that probably, in my opinion, saved other kids because we don't know if he was going to try to do it again. For her to think of our child, of Jessica, over her own child was amazing. and we thank her every day for it.

There's nothing she did that caused this. I don't think how she raised him had anything to do with what he did. We understand that she lost a son too. It's a different loss, but she still lost a son. Jessica's grandmother, Christine, echoed that sentiment, she said, my heart goes out to her. If we could have hugged her in court and they would have led us, we probably would have, but we couldn't.

I want her to know that we think about her a lot. Mindy attended each hearing for her own sake not to support her son. She said, I needed to know what happened. I needed to know what was going to happen. During pretrial hearing, state psychologist Dr. Anna Salter said Austin displayed sadistic traits. Neither Mindy nor Austin indicated he was a victim of CA or CSA. It was her opinion that his actions were not a result of a troubled upbringing. Austin's case never went to trial.

State and his defense spent a year forming their arguments, analyzing their evidence and speaking with witnesses. And two days before the scheduled opening statements, Austin told his attorneys he wanted to plead guilty. It was all because of his mother and father's persuasion. Since Austin was a minor when he murdered Jessica, he would not face the death penalty. The defense argued for leniency in Austin's sentencing due to his untreated mental health problems. His lawyer said, Your Honor, you are sentencing a child today. Life with the possibility of parole in 40 years is the only possible and legal sentence. They also argued that Austin was mentally unwell because,

because Mindy inhaled paint while pregnant with him. Furthermore, they said his untreated OCD and ADD led to Austin not being in the right state of mind that October morning. We've tried to put our adult rational framework on his actions. That's exactly what we can't do. We are not talking about someone who is developmentally an adult. The prosecution wasn't having it. They said Austin had his mental faculties and his sadistic nature made him a danger to others. They reiterated how violent the crime was and how much he prepared ahead of time.

They said, he is someone who derives pleasure and pain. He derives pleasure and dismemberment. Any claim that this man lacked the executive function to plan and exercise a plan is proved false by his actions. Sarah played a slideshow and music as she read her victim impact statement. I don't think that the defendant has the right to hear how he affected me, my family, or who Jessica was. Once we walk out of this courtroom, we will no longer remember his name, only the legacy Jessica left behind. for the first and only time during the proceedings, Austin cried. Jessica's other grandmother, Angie Moss, said in her statement,

Now when people ask me, how many grandkids do you have? I have to say seven, but I used to have eight. I can't imagine being his mother trying to live with the fact that I raised a child like that, to live with or know that I had raised a child that was capable of doing this. I can't imagine the damage that has been done to his mother. Mindy was in the courtroom, and she hit her face and cried. Awesome was sent. I knew about investing, but I really didn't know how to go about it.

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So do like I did and have one of your assistants assistants to switch you to MintMobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. terms at mintmobile.com. It's on November 19th, 2013. For Jessica's murder, Austin was given life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

But District Judge Stephen Missinger saw it fit that Austin served the sentences for the other charges concurrently. In total, Austin was sentenced to 86 years behind bars. Judge Munsinger said during the sentencing, this case cries out for a life sentence. Evil is apparently real. It was present in our community on October 5th, 20th. I expect you to spend the rest of your natural life in prison. Austin, meanwhile, had a blank expression on his face the entire time. Same expression he had throughout the previous hearings.

Jessica's family was present throughout the legal proceedings dressed in purple in her memory. At the sentencing, her grandmother, Christine, said Austin was a monster who took away from me the light of my life. It shattered the core of my family. Austin was originally placed in a Colorado prison, but he was relocated in 2014 to a facility out of state. Due to safety concerns, it wasn't public knowledge where Austin would continue his sentence. To this day, it's still under wraps and not even Jessica's family knows where he is. Christine says she thought that Austin's safety was taken more seriously than that of her loved ones. Austin was approached by the FBI after he was incarcerated. They wanted to interview him as part of

their study to better understand killers. He refused. Mindy was upset when she found out. The park where Jessica was supposed to meet her friend was renovated and renamed to the Jessica Ridgeway Memorial Park. It is accented with purple and green paint, butterflies, and knock-knock jokes provided by Jessica's classmates. Her favorite thing to do on the playground was ride the track ride and a custom 40-foot-one was constructed for the space. During Christmas, a tree with purple decorations is placed in the park. More than a decade later, Mindy spoke with the press about turning her son into the authorities and the toll that it took. on her. Mindy was too ashamed and afraid to say anything outside of police and court interviews, especially to Jessica's family, she said, I had a horrible sense of guilt. Not because I had anything

to do with it, because I brought this child into the world. Mindy did not and does not regret any of the choices she made, even though it thrusts her into a downward spiral. First, she became estranged from her own mother. Mindy's mother did mental gymnastics and talked circles about how her grandson wasn't responsible. After he pled guilty, Mindy's mother refused to speak to her again. Mindy couldn't go out in public without feeling like everyone was watching her, judging her. She struggled with intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and ideation. It took her years of therapy to restabilize herself. She said if she could, she would trade places with Jessica. She hasn't spoken to Austin since he was sentenced. Any updates she does get about him are second or

third hand, she said, part of the reason why I don't talk to him is because I don't feel like I'm going to hear the truth about anything. I can't be lied to by him. I have never gotten an answer as to why, and I need something. Sarah got married in 2016 and got pregnant a short time later. Five years after Jessica passed, Sarah gave birth to a daughter. Shares Jessica's middle name, nose, purple glasses, and blue eyes. Sarah said she would wait to talk about Jessica until her daughter gets older, focusing on the sparkle she left behind. Sarah spoke with NBC after her daughter was born and said in her interview. We talked to Jessica, and I think my daughter kind of turns her head. Sometimes she looks like she's talking to somebody over in the distance. I think her sister definitely comes in visits

and leaves her little sparkle around. I think I'm mostly going to say she has a big sister that left before she was born. I'm going to try not to let what happened overshadow how I raised my daughter. I don't want her to be smothered a little bit. I want her to have her own little life. She definitely has an extra special angel watching over her. The local synagogue in to invite Sarah to their annual Hanukkah services and remembrance. She's attended for over 10 years. In 2022, she said, 10 years is a long time. You start to wonder what she would be doing now and where she would be. But it's also amazing to see how many people still join us and still celebrate with us. As of the date of this recording in January of 26, Jessica would be 24 years old, graduated from

high school, college, or even pursuing further education. Her absence is still felt by the people of Westminster. Her memorial park is a place of joy for many, with children and dogs alike making friends and playing pretend. If Jessica's story resonated with you, then please click here to check out the case of another Jessica, Jessica Lunsford, also known as Jessie. She was a nine-year-old girl from Florida who was murdered in February of 2005 by her creepy neighbor, who buried her alive in his backyard within view of where the police had set up their command post to search for her.