Chapter 11: ...And Now We Know

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At a very early age, I was taught that there are bad people in this world, and I've spent the last twenty years of my life living in fear that what happened to Jennifer and Adriana can happen to me or someone I know, someone I love. And the unfortunate truth is that it can, and it can happen to anyone, And no one's really going about their life thinking about things like this unless you've been through it like me. But I guess this podcast to me is more than Jennifer and Adriana. Of course I I did it for them and I and I want it to help spread awareness for the case. But the deeper I got into it, and. You know, the more I've. Thought about it, I really think that Jennifer and Adrian are gone. And if they're gone, then I want to use their names and their story to help other people, to tell other people as far and wide as I can yell it to anyone who will listen, to. Not let your guard down, don't. Just accept people at the surface, because a lot of times people are not who you think they are, and. They almost always turn out to be someone you don't think they are. And so yeah, I guess this podcast. I just want to let it live on and their legacy and you know, teach people that I want them to be aware of their surroundings, to get out of bad relationships, to use Jennifer and Adrian a story to make sure that this stops happening to other people, and that they are always aware of their surroundings and looking out for the best interests of their children, And that anytime anyone that you love anywhere is in distress, you find a way to get to them as quick as possible. And don't let any time play into that. Just just get there. And so, yeah, it could happen to anyone. And that's a very ugly truth that it's a truth that needs to be told, and it's something that needs to change. And so I guess I'll just start here. This is missing in Hushtown Book one, season one, chapter eleven, and this is the last chapter of this book. I want to tell you it's not the end of our series. We promise there is a sequel already in production. We've been meeting weekly and recording behind the scenes currently as I write this podcast now, and in this episode, we're going to dive a little deeper into Casey's pursuit of justice for her sister and her niece. This episode is a bit more conversational. I'd like for you to get to know Casey and stick around. The last minute of this podcast just may change everything. March twenty seventh, twenty twenty four. I was on my way to get groceries, my carefully curated list of our regulars in hand, my wonderful mother at my home, watching my boys reading the list over eggs, milk, cotta, cheese, bananas, more bananas or in a perpetual banana fas here bacon kilbasa pasta. When my phone starts blowing up pun intended on the family's Facebook page, Justice for Jennifer in a Wicks, Casey posts about police activity at the Benton home. I hurriedly put on my seatbelt and reverse down my long gravel driveway. My bluetooth starts trilling through my speakers, Casey answers, and before she can tell me anything, I tell her, do you need me to go to the Benton home? Now? I am on my way unless you say otherwise. And she didn't say otherwise. In fact, she asked me to stay until she could arrive for nine hours. I walked up and down the street in front of the Benton home, knowing it was eerie timing, as it was almost to the minute the twenty year anniversary of when a missing's person's report on Jennifer and Adriana Wicks was filed. It was this day, twenty years ago that Kathy caught up Robertson County Sheriff's office and demanded to know why they didn't alert the media of a missing mother and daughter. And now I stood in the cemetery the same cemetery where gunshots were heard at the four year anniversary vigil, the same cemetery where two gunshots were heard at the memorial vigil for two missing individuals. The bent And home was full of law enforcement activity, unmarked federal cars belonging to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the local detectives, the bomb squad, and the Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms squad all in attendance, and we didn't have answers. Was this for Jennifer and Adriana? Were they searching for the girls' remains? What was the new lead? Was it a tip? Was today finally the day to bring the girls home? Casey and her husband Pat arrived to the scene with Kathy. They get out and we walked to the cemetery to get a good look into the Benton property and that home that was being built just after the girls went missing in two thousand and four. That log home, that's the one they were searching. That's the home that Joey, his mother, and his father now all currently reside in. Casey was intacted by the TBI and was told that there was a search warrant being executed on the bent And property, but it was not for Jennifer and it was not for Adriana. News crews started pouring in and I watched just Casey composed herself like a media professional to get information out in a matter of fact and straightforward manner. Here are some clips from videos that Casey and I film that day. Hey guys, so we are still here at the scene of the investigation. I guess that's just where they're executing a search warrant for an ongoing case. And we cannot confirm if it is for Jennifer and Adriana wis. But I do have Jennifer's sister, Casey with me here. Can you tell us what's going on? Yeah, we've been out here since around like six o'clock or so. I got here as fast as we could today with everything going on. Started getting a bunch of messages today, a bunch of people reaching out, neighbors, to the to the Benton family, and they were saying, you know, you got to get out, there's something going on. So we didn't have any idea what was going on, but we just came out here. We've been kind of hanging out to see, you know, if we can find out anything. We were all evacuated a little bit ago, and the neighbors were as well, just due to some things that they found potential bombs or explosives or something like that. So it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds and if it turns into something. Yeah, we'll keep you guys updated. Like I said, I am working with Casey to try to get a word out there. So the best thing you can do is share it and share Jennifer and Adriana story and their picture and hashtag justice for Jennifer and Adriana Wicks. Thanks guys. We were soon cleared a few blocks back by the fire department because there was now a valid threat of bombs discovered on the bent And property and this was recorded that night. Hey guys, it's Jules and I am going to update you on the Wicks case. So I am still here. It is eight o'clock Central and I am still on scene. I am with the family member, So Jennifer, who has been missing for twenty years, her mother Kathy and her sister Casey are here with me as well on scene and I will be here as long as I need I am needed, and if it's all night, then that's all night. So I will update you as much as we know right now. We have been evacuated for threats of bombs that were bomb making materials that were found in the residence of the Benton home. Now. Jennifer and Adriana wit missing in two thousand and four and haven't been seen or heard from since. Today at six point thirty eight PM, was the twenty year anniversary of when the missing person's report was filed. Jennifer twenty one, was dating Joey Benton at the time of her disappearance and was said to have been the last person to have seen her alive. Joey Benton still lives at this residence and it's the same residence where Jennifer and Adriana two were living at the time. Now, Adriana was not the daughter of Joey Benton, but she was living there with her mother Jennifer at the time. As of right now, we're just sitting. We're waiting for any more updates whereas close as we can get per the evacuation orders. We're not in any threat back here, we don't feel, but I will update you as we know more information. I cannot confirm this is about Jennifer and Adriana Wicks. We have no confirmation of that. We watched as trucks carried high risk crates out of the site. We read forms of people speculating on what happened. Everyone was asking, is this It is this when we find the girls? But it wasn't. As everyone was packing up close to nine pm that night and the last law enforcement officer drove away, we ourselves packed up a little bit defeated, but there was a spark I hadn't seed in Casey's eyes yet, a spark of hope. And here's what we learned about that night. Joey's father, Joe Benton, was out on probation for an aggravated assault charge after a physical altercation with his own wife, Cindy, on their family property. Cindy then proceeded to file a police report against him, and what's interesting is that report wasn't filed immediately but a few weeks later. Either way, it violated his probation and he was arrested. Then, someone in the Benton family provided law enforcement with a computer owned by Joe Benton which contained material which constituted a charge against Joe Frank Benton of sexual exploitation of a miner. The Wicks family was able to confirm to the public that it was a photo of a miner taken twenty years ago. With this information, the small town starts talking, but more loudly this time. People started asking out loud, is that photo of Adriana twenty year old photo of a miner in your anniversary? And we find a twenty year old photo of a miner? Is it Adriana? But alas it was not Adriana, but it was someone It was still a victim, and it is still someone out there who fears. Joe Benton will not release this individual's name, nor will I ever. This individual is also a victim. This individual is a victim on the Benton family side, and we don't believe that it just stops at one victim. It's tragic, it's disgusting, and we're so sorry. Since March twenty seventh, two thousand and four, I've gone to the Robertson County Court House in Springfield, Tennessee, to watch each one of Joe's hearings. You know, he's tall, He's much taller than I imagine, and he looks ill, frazzled, fragile, and confused. His hair is gray and looks unkept. Since then, I've been able to see him a few times in court, and he looks worse each time, And I fear will this man die in court? And will what he knows about Jennifer and Adriana die with him. He has over forty charges of bomb making material and firearms against him from that rate on March twenty seventh, Folks, he's not getting out of Jailly time soon. We hope his trials it starts this October. He has pleaded not guilty for sexual exploitation of a minor. For me, it's no longer become a question do they know? But what do they know? And how do I know this? Well? How do I feel so confident to say that publicly on a podcast that's going to reach thousands of years. I'm going to let Casey explain it herself. Oh, don't go anywhere, We'll be right back. Six one five real Estate Advisors People Overprofit. Sixty one five real estate advisors are committed to bringing people in our community home every single day. 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Hometown Connect your local list, Hometown connect your ultimately bringing communities together through small town business connections. They're your go to app for all things Middle Tennessee. They empowered local businesses and promote the shop local revolution through advanced technology, while never sacrificing online privacy. With innovative Bluetooth proximity marketing, direct customer messaging, and in app marketing tools. They're your ultimate local list hometown connect. Obviously this year, a lot of people know about the grade at the Benton home in March or on March twenty seventh this year, and you were there with me for quite a bit for the last couple of months, so you know. But I just really wanted to let the world know where we're at and what we've been going through the last couple of months, just kind of behind the scenes. And there's not a lot that I can share as far as details of what I'm going to say will probably sound vague and maybe a little bit frustrating because I know that I'm going to leave some holes where people are hoping to get this information. But any information that I share right now, with the investigation being open, if I give any details or anything like that, it could potentially hurt the case and our chances of prosecution. Everyone knows really about the raid back in March twenty seventh of this year. Joe had been arrested a few. Weeks prior to that, and he was a convicted felon, so he wasn't supposed to have firearms there at his home. He wasn't supposed to be in possession of them, purchase any of them, anything like that, and so that wasn't what they were originally there for. I'll tell you a little bit about that. About a month after that, March twenty seventh grade. On April twenty ninth, I got a message which I find really strange because I had reached out to Joey before this and just kind of asked him, you know, hey, will you talk to me? And I you know, he wasn't responding really, And on April twenty ninth, I get a random Facebook message from Amy, his sister, and I didn't recognize the name on the account. It went to like that weird in box thing, and I didn't see the message in time. I had stepped away from my phone for maybe like ten minutes to play with the kids or something in the backyard. The next thing I know, the music on the speakers outside just kind of goes silent, and that just means I'm getting a call with my mom, And I guess my mom had gotten this same message from Amy from this random Facebook account, and she said she needed to send us some urgent information and ask for our emails. So my mom sent her email and I did two and she and Amy ended up forwarding me the same email. But she'd written me a letter, and just to summarize the letter, I'm not going to. Go into a lot of detail, but to summarize. It, she wanted to let us know kind of the background about the raid on March twenty seventh, the reason why, you know, her dad was arrested and what he was in jail for what they had found, and they had found some things that his family felt like that they needed a turnover to law enforcement, and so they turned that over to law enforcement. And that does have to do with one of his charges, the sexual exploitation of a minor. So what they found they turned over to the Robertson County Sheriff's Department, and I from Amy of course, according to her, she says that that's what they were there looking for, is whatever else they could find pertaining to that. And I guess while they were there they found weapons and explosive material and whatnot from you know, being there at the search that day, and things that law enforcement had come across whenever they turned in some things to law enforcement. So she wanted to bring me up to speed on that or bring us up to speed, she said, we deserve to know. She did talk about Jennifer and Adriana some I'm. Not going to share what she talked about for Jennifer and Adriana, but she just talked about having her own children and grandchildren and how much she has to look out for them. And she talked. About how she, her brother, and her mom have been treated over the years by her dad and how horrible it's been. And so she just wanted to kind of give me background, I guess, and bring me up to speed. And so yeah, I got that first email, and I was like, whoa, Like she just opened up a can of worm. She just opened up dialogue with me. And gave us a plethra of information that you know, we didn't know before because we didn't know what the raid was for at that time. We hadn't seen any new charge yet at this time, you know, so we didn't know. And so yeah, we got that email on April twenty ninth. And then the next day I text Joey and I was like, will you just talk to me please? And he wrote me back like less than five minutes later, which is uncommon because before he wasn't responding, and he just said sure, and I said, uh, okay, Well, he said, give me like ten or fifteen minutes or something like that. He was like, I'll give me ten or fifteen minutes and we can get on a call. I said, okay. So I scrambled around, I found my notebook. I wrote down a bunch of questions. You know, it's been twenty years. What am I going to say to him? I have no idea, and I don't want to just rant on and on and not ask him the important things that I want to ask him. I wanted to be ready, so I jotted down a few questions. You know, I wanted to ask about the picnic. Did you have the picnic? I wanted to ask about, you know, did you love Jennifer? Did you take them to the gas station? Can you walk me through that? You know whatever? So I told him, I was like, okay, I have like thirty minutes. And I said, so, I've got like thirty minutes and we can talk again if you want to after that. But we jumped on a call. We were on the phone for like an hour, and you know, I said I had thirty minutes, but I was in school pickup line, and I did not want my kids to get in the car in the middle of that conversation. But I stayed on the phone all the way until you know, I was going through the line and almost ready to pick them up. And I got quite a few of my questions answered on that. Call, you know. I you know, I called him. And he picked up, and I was like, Hey, is this Joey And a lot of people don't call him that, and he was like, uh, you know yeah, And I said, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while and he said, yeah, I'm sure. And you know, I started it off by saying like, I don't want to take that too much of your time. And I mean, he was very you know, cordial on the phone call. He just said, I mean that's okay, you can talk to me anytime. I've been fine with y'all talking to me. He was like, you can call me any night after seven, and so I was like, oh, okay. You know, so we're on. This call and I'm you know, empathetic to the situation that they're going through about the raid that had happened and things that they're uncovering about his dad and you know what's happened in their home, and you know, I do have empathy there, and I shared that with him. I told him, you know, we're not horrible people. We don't want you know, we don't wish bad things on anyone who's innocent, you know. But at the same time, you know, and. He said, he said, I understand the reason why y'all have been upset and the reason why you didn't believe me because my story, like I don't have much to go off of, and I can't prove it. And so he like understood, like the gas station story, like there's nothing we can go off of, no one can prove it. He even told me on that. First call, like he I said, it is the did you take them to the gas station? Did you take them to the food value and then to the gas station? He said, yes, all of that is true with a lot of conviction. And so I was like, okay, And then I said, and then she came back to your house the next day and he said, he said, yeah, she came back to my house the next day, and he said that he was there, and he said his dad was there, and he said that he don't think his dad saw Jennifer, and he said that Jennifer came in, you know, got a few things and left and said, you know, did y'all you know. Talk at all? And he was like, no, not really, I mean she's just got some things, said she come back the next day, and I'm like, okay, well, you know, I asked him, you know, like did y'all have the picnic? And he said, I mean, I wouldn't call it a picnic. Like Jennifer, you know, had just made some sandwiches and we went to the barn to have like alone time and talk. And you know, that was the first time that I had ever gotten, I guess, the confirmation about the picnic that I have been looking for, Like I've always wondered, did the picnic happen? Did it not happen? You know, because he, as far as I know anyways, does not mention the picnic to law enforcement in his statement. But Jennifer mentioned it to her dad on the phone, and you know, so I was like, it must have happened. But I hadn't had any confirmation up until I talked to him on this conversation that I had, and so I was able to get that confirmed. You know, he told me that they were driving the Explorer, the Ford Explorer. I mean, he told me that Jennifer was pissed that day. He said that she wanted to move out of their house. He said he never knew why she wanted to move out, and that he you know, didn't really ask why. He was just in the dark and she didn't share with him. But she wanted to move out. She wanted to move back into the barn, and he didn't want to because they had a baby, and that there was no running water in the barn, and he was like, that just doesn't make sense, like we'll just stay in the house. But she wanted to move out, and so they argued about that. And he said the night before whenever, you know, he was asleep in the room whenever they were sleep training Adriana and Jennifer talked to mom on the phone. He said that, you know, he was kind of mean to her that night. He had to work early the next day, be at work early and wake up early, and Jennifer was. Wanting to talk to him about something. He just said, she wanted to talk to me about. Something, not about the barn part and wanting to move into the barn but she wanted to talk to me about something, and he said he just kind of blew her off and was kind of mean to her and was like, no, I don't want to talk about that right now. And he went into the room basically to get away from having to discuss things with her, you know, and be annoyed with a with an argument whenever he has to work in the morning. So he went into the room with Adrian at a sleep train that night. So and on that call, I mean, of. Course, and rightfully so, I guess like he was still really worked up about, you know, what had happened at their house on March twenty seventh, and his dad potentially getting out of jail. You know, they they're. All pretty fearful of that, and so we talked a lot about that. And yeah, So that phone call lasted about an hour, and I thought it went really well, and I you know, thought about that conversation over and over and over again, and I just remember feeling like, like, wow, he could be telling the truth. So that was on April thirtieth, my call with him. On May third, we had our first meeting with the district Attorney General Nash and. That meeting went really well. They told us that they'd been in contact with joe who was currently in custody there at the Robertson County Detention Center across the street from where our meeting was, and that they had also been in touch with Joey and his mom, Cindy, and. His sister Amy, and so. They had been I guess interviewing them and talking to them trying to get more information about Jennifer and Adriana already, and so we were just kind of brought up to speed a little bit, and we got more information and had a more like open conversation during the meeting with the district attorney than we typically do whenever we're just meeting with law enforcements. And so he doesn't currently they don't currently have our case, but they potentially will. Meetings started, I was like, listen, we are passionate about getting justice for Jennifer and Adriana, and we all want to work together. We're all on the same team. And I really left that meeting that day, and my mom and Billy, Uh, I think we all agreed leaving that meeting that we felt supported and heard and validated, and it was really good for mom. Because she had never gotten that in the past. Right before we broke from lunch, the district attorney's office gets a phone call and we start seeing everyone get up from the table. I mean there's about like ten of us in the room, you know, total, when everyone starts like one by one, like getting up, and they tell us, you know, Joey's called up to the district Attorney's office and we're like, oh, really, And he had text me on the way to the district attorney's appointment and asked what time the meeting was. Of course, he may have seen it on social media because he already knew we had the meeting, or I might have mentioned it to him on our call because our call was just a few days before that, and I probably told him, But he had asked me, like, what time is your meeting? And I went straight into the meeting and didn't respond and didn't see him asking or whatever. But he called up to the district Attorney's office, and we don't know what he said to them, but they came back in, sat down and was like, we're gonna break for lunch. So we all went to lunch for about like forty five minutes and then whenever we get back, we're walking in and our TBI agent comes outside and he says, you're not gonna like it, but we're gonna have to ask you to leave. And we're like what, and he's like, yeah, we're gonna have to ask you to leave. Joey's gonna come up here, you know he did. He came, and we waited and waited and waited because we were like, surely they're gonna call us back in there at some point we didn't get to finish our meeting. Mom and I drive back and we of course debrief and talk about everything on the way home. We get home, we're eating dinner and we just feel like exhausted after the day. Like adrenaline's big whenever you're like meeting with these people and it's a super important meeting. You know, you don't want to make any mistakes or say the wrong thing, and you know, emotions are heightened, your adrenaline's going. Anyways, we're eating dinner and just feeling really like exhausted and deflated, and I get. Another message. And the message is from Amy and she's sending more emails, and the emails that she send I'm not gonna go into detail about them, but there's two or three of them. And she says, hey, I need to send you some more information. And the one thing that I will point out is. The very first line of her email says, and this is a quote. She says, quote She's. Certain that I can tell you where to find Jennifer and Adriana and end quote, and then she gives a potential location. Again. I find it very interesting it's coming from Amy. But Joey messages me later in the evening and says, you know, hey, can you talk. I was already in bed and missed it, but he says, hey, can you talk. The email that my. Sister sent is wrong. All through May, I'll just say, Joey and I text back and forth here and there. You know, after this information that they're giving us, and this is crazy information that if I did share it with people, they would be like like, oh my god. And I can't share it. And I don't even wish that I could. I would never send what they sent me to anyone because it's awful. But they have sent some crazy information that just like made all of us be like what on earth? Like this is the biggest like biggest piece of information and biggest lead. In our entire case existence. And so of course I'm keeping contact with Joey in you know, the weeks after that in May, we're texting back and forth, cordial, and he said, do y'all have the wooden rocking horse? And I said no, I thought probably y'all had it. He was like no. He was like, if we do, it'll be you know, in our storage barn or shed or whatever. And he was like, if we got it, you can have it, you know. And We've had like moments like those where I've been like you know, like where I've been all over the place, like mentally in my head, just being like he's telling the truth. Like you have to remember, like. We had that first conversation a couple weeks prior, and I'm like building this relationship with him, and he I called a relationship. I don't know what it is, but you. Know, he he built my knees, this playhouse and this wooden rocking horse, and he's saying I can have it. Like he's telling the truth. You know, he's he's. Gotta be and that those are the thoughts that are going through my brain, like he's helping. He's he's finally coming forward and helping, you know, And and so I really felt like we were on the right path at that time. I really did. Like a couple weeks into May, and we knew law enforcement was out there searching it. You know, we knew that they were out there. We knew there were things going on. Again, I'm not giving that location out, but it is local to Robertson County. And in the beginning of June, like the first week of June, I had a lot of like unreturned text messages from him, like he just like stopped like being as reciprocating to like whatever we were doing there. But around June. I think it was June tenth, we had our second DA meeting, and you know, we wanted to talk to them about like, Okay, we know y'all are out there searching this location, you know, like it was given to you by them, by you know, by the Bentons, and so like where do we go now now that y'all been given this information and been told this extra information. So anyways, that meeting went really good. We learned some things in that meeting that I can't share, but again I can let you know that law enforcement was, you know, in contact with Joe and with Joey, and I believe by this time Joe had been appointed his. Attorney. As it's Jewels from podcast Missing in Hushtown, Thank Casey than Casey. Casey is Jonnithan Wicks's sister and Adrianna Wix's aunt and Casey, do you want to explain to everybody. What we're doing. Yeah, we're at Joe Benton's court date today. He is having arraignment for his charges. So yeah, we're just anxiously waiting right. Now, dinner all day. He's about to come up in front of the dead and we are waiting to see where that leaves. You will be there and we'll let you know. It was after the second DA meeting that I was just kind of like, okay, Like he has a lawyer, the district's attorney is working with his lawyer, his attorney, uh, Joe's attorney, and if he's working with him, like Joey only has so much time before his dad is gonna come forward and say something. And we had been. Told uh by an anonymous source, uh, someone that knows someone in my family and supposedly they worked at the jail, but we had been told that his dad had told Joey uh since he had been in jail, that he was gonna tell them that he did it, that. Joey did it. Whether that's true or not, we don't know. We can't hear the recorded phone calls, but that's what we had been told. And so by this time, Joe's been appointed this attorney, we're working with a working with the distric's attorney. They're out there searching for Jennifer and adrianas remains at this potential location or up any potential locations. And we were like, Okay, Joey, you. Don't have that much time. So I leave this district attorney's meeting and I'm like, he has to do something, he has to help us, and so I just at that point start urging him, Like I just remember messaging him later that evening and just being like, like, you've got to do something. You have to come forward and tell what you know. If what you've told me is true, fine, but if it's not, this is the time to say it, because your dad is gonna say something first. And I mean, I just remember talking back and forth with him about that. We sent a few text messages. Back and forth, you know, and he was like, you know, I'm trying to help, I'm trying to think of things whatever, you know. And at this point we had heard something from law enforcement and the district attorney, but we had not heard him directly from Joey. So I keep responding. To Joey and keep, you know, keep on him about you need to help us, you need to show us, you need to come up with something. There's got to be something that that you can help point us in the right direction where our Jennifer and Adriana what happened to them. There's got to be something somewhere, you know. And I just say to him one day, you know, like are you gonna help us or are you not? Is everything that you told us a lie? Because if it is, like you need to come forward and tell us right now. And he said, I'm ready to tell y'all everything. And I said, okay, you know, do you want to do that on a call? Do you want to do it in a meeting? And he said I'd rather do it face to face. And I said, okay, well, I'll try to get with mom and and set something up. And he said, I want. To he said, I'm fine if you're there, but I feel like this is something I need to tell your mom face to face. And I said, okay. So I got with Mom and I set up the meeting, and you know, we let law enforcement know that we were going to be meeting with him and when, and you know, we tried to make it like a like an open place, like somewhere visible and out in public, you know, for the safety of everyone, for you know, him to feel more comfortable and for Mom, but somewhere with enough privacy where they could, you know, have this private conversation after all these years. And we were like, oh shit, like what does he mean he's ready to tell us everything? Like he had that first phone call with me and he told me that it was all true that she went to the gas station and that she got in his car and he never saw her again. Like what does he mean He's ready to tell us everything? And so, I mean, it was. Very surreal, very. I was very anxious. Mom was very anxious, and unfortunately I couldn't be there in person, and we didn't want to let this opportunity slip by. So Mom agreed to go meet him in person, and I said that I would be on speakerphone. We would do it together, our private investigator and Billy went and stayed nearby in case Mom needed them. And Mom sat down and waited for Joe to show up. He showed up right on time, and he came in, He sat down, and he just jumped right into it, and he just said, basically, he said whenever, whenever I got home on Thursday, they were dead. And you know, he said a lot more during that conversation. But and I wanted so badly to share, you know, more about these conversations with everyone, but I just can't, Like I just can't bring myself to do it. I can't jeopardize justice for Jennifer and Adrian, and I can't, and I and I won't. But I was on speakerphone, and I had every intention of just letting Mom lead that conversation. And I can't imagine, you know, finally being able to sit face to face with him after all these years. Not that he wouldn't have led us before, but I honestly don't think that anyone had ever tried. And I don't even know that it's it's that they didn't try. I think that it's more that they were just investigating, like on the back end, like like doing behind the scenes stuff, and they never went straight to the source. In the beginning, Mom and Joe sat down, and in Mom's notes it says, you know, they sat down in April, after the girls disappeared in March, and uh, I remember reading it and it said, you know that Joe came by the house to drop Jennifer and Adriana's things off in the black trash bags, her her rocking chair that her granddad made her in, you know, some of her things. And I remember Mom writing down. What Joe said happened, and he said he got home from work and that they were locked in their bedroom and they went for. A drive decided to break up. They got back to his parents' house and Jennifer refused to go in. She said, take me to the gas station, or take me to cross Plains. And I remember reading that and then so all this is like flashing through my brain. Mom's sitting there in front of him, and I'm just like this is wild, Like Mom is sitting face to face with him after all this. Time, Like what guts, like what. Like power and control to self control, to have over and discipline to have over yourself to fit right across from the person who has lied to you for twenty years and may or may not be responsible, but is sitting here telling you I've lied to you for twenty years and they're dead. And Mom didn't falter, she didn't cry, she didn't attack him. She sat there cordially and reserved and had a conversation as sanely as she possibly could. And she said her peace though. She said to him, you know that your dad is evil. She said, you know if you're a victim in all of this, like like, you know, we feel bad for you. And she said, you know, I pray for you. I'm sorry what's happened to y'all. But this is a lot for us to hear. And and of course I wanted Mom to lead that conversation, but of course I. Jumped in trying to keep it on track. You know a lot of times Mom is like the one that. Leads with emotion, and I'm the one that is kind of like the let's stay on track person. And so you know, I'm firing out the questions and I ask, and you know, uh, what did you see whenever you got home? Who was there? Where did you go, what happened after that? Where are Jennifer and Adriana? And he told us? And I don't know if what he said is true or not. And I I don't believe what he told me is the reason for Jennifer and Adriana's deaths. I don't believe it at all. And I think that there's still work to be done, and there's still truth to be told, and I'm waiting on him to do that. I don't know when it will be. I wake up every day checking my phone, hoping that he was up late thinking about all of this, thinking about my family, thinking about Jennifer and Adriana, and that he has decided to tell me the truth. I think that he's told parts of it, but I don't think that he's told all of it. I don't even believe that when he got home that day that they were already dead. But what I took away from that conversation that day. Was, now we know we've spent twenty years not knowing. We've spent twenty years riding down the interstate, looking over in the lane next to us if a car is slowly passing us, and wanting to see the person in the car to see if it's Jennifer or Adriana. Is she's here somewhere and we just can't find her? Is she like? We spent twenty years doing that. I spent twenty years. Driving down the roads of Robertson County looking at barns after barn after barn, wondering if my sister is in it. Are they being held captive somewhere and someone's shitty basement, chained up like you see on movies, and like you've seen in other cases, and they somehow get free and they get out to tell their story. Was that Jennifer and Adriana. Twenty years we spent doing that, And then whenever we met with Joey, we finally got that conversation on July ninth this year, with that note, you don't have to worry anymore. You don't have to look over into the car next to you. You don't have to wonder if Jennifer just hated you so much that she's just living somewhere else, living her best life. She got a different family. You don't have to wonder if she got human trafficked or if someone actually did pick her up in that fucking white car. Because it didn't happen. It was a lie, and he told us that day and so they sat there for I don't know how long it was, maybe two hours having this conversation, and you know, that was that, and then he just left. And since then we haven't had a lot of communication, maybe like a message here or there. I do remember asking him on that call. Whenever I was on speakerphone at that meeting, I remember asking him like, if this is what you are saying happened, then I want your help. I asked him, can my family come on your property? Can we do a proper search? He said yes, he said yeah, you're not gonna find anything, but come on. And I said, okay, well you might say that, but like we don't know, so can we do it? And he said yes. And then I said, if this is what you believe happened, then you have to help me. I need you to help me. And he's like, I don't know what you're asking me to do. And I said, I want you to come out publicly. I want you to come out publicly and say what you know to be true. I want you to support my family. Finally, I don't want it to be your family against my family anymore. I wanna work together, and I've yet to see that. I think that he's tried to be helpful in ways, or tried to appear helpful. I'm not sure. And uh, there's a lot of distrust there because and. I told him that on the call. I said, you'll have. To forgive me because on our first call, just a couple of weeks ago, you told me the gas station story was true. So you'll have to forgive me that. I may not trust what you're saying now. And he said, yep, yep, I get that. And so you know, there's this person sitting here that a couple of weeks ago told us that what he had told for twenty years was the truth. Yes, yes, it's true, he said. And then now he's saying something completely different than saying. Jennifer and Adriana's last day was March twenty fifth, two thousand and four, and now we knew. Now we know. Missing in Hushtown was executive produced and written by me your host, Jules with An The Audio House LLC. Casey Robinson was co producer. Special thanks to John Thorpe, Patrick Robinson, my parents and Jen Rivera, and to our children, to follow our continued efforts on Justice for Jennifer and Adriana Wicks. You can find us on Facebook at Justice for Jennifer and Adriana Wicks. This page is personally managed by Casey herself and you can find me jewles Hi on Instagram at your host Jules. Notes and updates can be found on our website www dot Missing in Hushtown dot com. Please help us continue to grow by considering leaving a five star review and rating wherever you're listening. If you have a tip for this case, please please call one eight hundred TBI find help us bring the Wix girls home. To donate to this family's continued fight for justice, please visit GoFundMe dot com slash Jennifer and Adriana Wis and To support the podcast and to help us continue this production, you may clicks support the show and the show notes, and donate a Wis Kiss. Ten percent of all profits from season one of Missing in Hushtown will be given to the Wicks family indefinitely. As always, You're wanted, you are loved, and you deserve to be found. Don't you forget it. I'll see you next time. Bye bye Jump Looking for excitement. Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime, play anywhere, Play on the train, play at the store, play at home, Play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in. So what are you waiting for? Don't delay? Chumpa Casino is free to play. Experience social gameplay like never before. Go to Chumbuck Casino right now to play hundreds of games, including online slots, Bingo, Slingo, and more. 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