Chapter 2: March 25th, 2004...According to Joey

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Missing in Hush Town, Season 1 is proudly sponsored by the following.

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Relive Studio, Andy B's boutique, 615 Real Estate Advisors, and Hometown Connect.

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[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Small Towns Talk, and we've been listening.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_04]: This is Missing in Hush Town, Season 1, Chapter 2, March 25th, 2004...According to Joey.

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Hi, I'm your host, Jules.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Let's get started.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Everything that Joey Benton, Jennifer's fiance, says happened after he returned home from his job at a construction site after being called from the Benton home to do so is alleged.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_04]: I want to make this clear.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_04]: So many details of this case have been written as fact because Joey's version has been so widely spread.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_04]: It's been even documented in the media multiple times that people are now believing it to be the truth.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_04]: It makes sense, you see and hear something enough times and pretty soon you assume it's fact, but it has never been corroborated nor has any individual outside of Joey ever confirmed any parts of his version.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_04]: I feel comfortable in this next claim as well.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_04]: No part of Joey's version has been successfully corroborated by law enforcement.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_04]: This includes Robertson County Sheriff's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the TBI.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_04]: So what do we have?

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_04]: We have one last confirmed phone call from Jennifer Wicks from inside the Benton home to her Aunt Lisa.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_04]: This has been confirmed by law enforcement per phone records from the Benton home.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_04]: I am going to take you through Joey's version of events.

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Everything he has said over the last 20 years on record about what happened to Jennifer and Adriana Wicks on March 25th, 2004.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_04]: And while I do so we will be going over official police reports, statements, published news articles and family comments on public forums.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey Benton, full name William Joseph Benton tells authorities that after a phone call was made to him at his work site, he headed straight home.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_04]: What is unknown to us is who was on that call.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_04]: What is known is that phone records show that the call came from inside the Benton home,

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_04]: the same home where Jennifer and Adriana Wicks were living with Joey and his parents, Joe and Cindy Benton.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_04]: According to the story, Joey Benton has been telling for years.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_04]: On March 25th, 2004 he arrives home to find that Jennifer and Adriana have locked themselves in their bedroom.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_04]: We do not have any more information about that and we do not know the truth behind this claim either,

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_04]: but we do have to ask if this was true, what would the motivation be to lock her and her baby girl inside a room in a home she was living besides fear?

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And if this is not true, what would be the purpose of this statement made by Joey?

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Now I have reached out to Joey multiple times via cell phone asking him to speak to us for our podcast.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_04]: We tried to make it very clear that we wanted to tell all sides who wanted to be heard, but I never received a response.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_04]: I also informed him that a lot was being said about him, but not from him and he was welcome to approve questions asked ahead of time

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_04]: and also to record our interviews for himself.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_04]: But crickets.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Instead of confirming the picnic, Joey says instead the three of them went for a drive.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_04]: He then says that while they drive around talking, they get into a heated argument and decide to break up.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey says Jennifer told him to drive her to the food value, a local grocery store in the heart of Cross Plains, Tennessee, just a few minutes drive from their home.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I want you to pay special attention to the following details because, well, you can see for yourself.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_04]: According to an official police report followed by responding officer Mike Campbell on March 27, 2004, which is two full days after anyone had seen or heard last from Jennifer or Adriana, quote,

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Deputy Campbell spoke with William and he stated that he had not seen Jennifer since Thursday when she left with a friend.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_04]: When Deputy Campbell asked who the friend was, William stated he didn't know.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_04]: William then stated that he was mistaken and took Jennifer and the two year old baby girl to Exxon and dropped them off around 9 30 Thursday night and quote.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_04]: I just wanted to let that marinate a little bit.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, let's continue with the report quote Deputy Campbell asked William a few more questions concerning the whereabouts of Jennifer and her daughter and before leaving Deputy Campbell asked William again when was the last time he saw Jennifer and quote.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Now before we dive into William Joseph Benton or Joey's response, if you're keeping track.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_04]: One, Joey says Jennifer left with a friend to Joey says he last saw Jennifer when he dropped the girls off at the Exxon gas station and now we have three.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_04]: From the police report quote Williams response was Jennifer left his house in a white four door Mustang and then stated no it was a white four door Camaro and quote.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_04]: The last time he saw Jennifer was when she drove away in a white four door Mustang or white four door Camaro.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_04]: So which was it?

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_04]: When was the last time Joey saw her car enthusiasts will know immediately.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_04]: What is suspicious about this statement and it's because you guys if you're not a car enthusiast there's no such thing as a four door Mustang and there is also no such thing as a four door Camaro.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Two days later on March 29 2004 officer Mike Campbell and another shares deputy follow up with more interviews with Jennifer's family.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_04]: They speak with Jennifer's aunt Lisa Robertson.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Now according to one of the deputy's reports quote when Miss Robertson spoke to Joey Benton on the phone after the disappearance of Jennifer Wicks.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey Benton told her that a white four door vehicle picked her up at the Exxon station on Highway 25.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Miss Robertson clearly remembers that Joey described occupants of the vehicle as a white male was ready complexion and a white female and Joey Benton's later testimony to investigators.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_04]: He explained he never saw the occupants of the vehicle end quote.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_04]: So we do have a few things to dissect Joey told Deputy Campbell.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Initially he could not recall which Exxon gas station he dropped Jennifer and Adriana off at well guess what in a town's population of fewer than 1400 people at the time there are records of only one Exxon gas station in cross plains Tennessee at the time and it's the same one.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_04]: And Lisa was referring to that Joey told her by interstate 65 entrance and exit exit 112 to get to Nashville Joey would have to drive past this gas station to get to Kentucky where he was doing construction work that week.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_04]: He'd have to drive past this Exxon to get to work.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Then when Aunt Lisa finally gets in touch with him he recalls which gas station it was here's the kicker Lisa talked to Joey before Robertson County Sheriff's Office did.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_04]: If what Aunt Lisa reports to Robertson County Sheriff in his report is true this would mean that between the time Joey tells Lisa that Jennifer and Adriana were dropped off at the Exxon by the interstate and then 24 hours or so later.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey's questioned by police and he forgets which Exxon it was.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Could he have truly forgotten over the course of 24 hours or so that he dropped his fiance and her baby off at at night.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_04]: His choices and Exxon gas stations in cross plains were between the one at the I 65 interstate off exit 112 or.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Nothing that was the only Exxon in cross plains at that time.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_04]: So let's break this down.

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey tells the responding officer first that Jennifer left his house with a friend.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_04]: He couldn't name the friend and then quickly changes his story.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_04]: He now recalls that he dropped the girls off at an Exxon gas station but he cannot recall which one.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_04]: This is a small town where every establishment is known and frequented and there was just one Exxon anything is possible when we don't have facts absolutely of course.

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_04]: But wait here's one more story from Joey that is inconsistent with the others.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Here's a fourth one if you're keeping track according to the same March 29 police report deputy Campbell reports quote.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_04]: According to Jeffrey Grayson, Joey Benton had originally told him that he drove Jennifer Wicks to Jerry and Helga Jackson's home in or around the Dixon Road area.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_04]: The Jacksons have since explained that they had not seen Jennifer Wicks since November of 2003 for four different stories you guys about Jennifer's movements on March 25 2004 and all four originating from Joey himself.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Notice that Jeffrey who was Joey's best friend at the time and Jennifer Wicks as first cousin never even mentions an Exxon gas station story.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_04]: The location is completely new to him.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_04]: In a 2005 newspaper article published at the one year mark of the girls' disappearance by Robertson County Times titled mother daughter still missing one year later.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Reporter Cindy Kelly writes quote Benton 24 told authorities that he last saw Wicks when he dropped her and her daughter off at an Exxon station around 9 30 that night.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_04]: He said they left with someone in a white car and quote my question is this why not include every person.

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_04]: In the article, everything Joey told authorities.

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_04]: The narrative that Jennifer and Adriana Wicks were last seen at an Exxon gas station on March 25 2004 when Joey dropped the girls off at 9 30 p.m. has now become the story.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Without the reports and the evidence of the evolving statements the public will absolutely believe and lean into the legend narrative that Joey was pushing.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Don't think I'll leave you hanging with this.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_04]: I'll be addressing this in chapter three.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_04]: But first, I have to pause and be 100% transparent with you.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_04]: If I am asking you to stay with me throughout this first season and to trust me, I need to tell you a few things.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Number one, as I am writing this podcast, I am actively learning new information all the time.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_04]: In number two, I refuse to hurt this case.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_04]: So everything I share here is what I've discovered researched investigated read been told or have seen myself.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I will never share any exclusive leads just to rank in the charts.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_04]: This is built foremost on trust between me as a producer and the victims, the families.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_04]: I will absolutely screw up along the way.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_04]: I am learning on the job, but anything I share with you has been vetted based on this one goal.

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Will this help bring the girls home?

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Please keep that in mind while I share information, alibi theories, etc., which may recently be debunked but are not yet eligible to be shared with the public.

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_04]: What I won't do is lie to you.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Do I know more than I am sharing?

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Yep. Am I trying to be respectful of the family as to not cross boundaries and ruin our relationship?

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes. This is their life, their real trauma, their real grief.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Behind the scenes, this case is changing every single day and I'm on the scene.

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_04]: The cameras have been rolling, the microphones have been on and I've been saving it all for the day that we can expose everything.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_04]: So with that being said, back to Joey's story.

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_04]: I do not believe it.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_04]: I do not believe Joey ever went to food value.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_04]: I do not believe a phone call was ever made.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_04]: I do not believe he ever dropped the girls off at the Exxon gas station.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_04]: But it's not enough to insert my opinion and truthfully I expect to catch some heat from doing so.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Throughout this process, I've had to step back and play devil's advocate.

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_04]: I've had to ask myself if I am looking at this information objectively.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_04]: I've had numerous late night calls to Jennifer's sister Casey where I do ask her the tough questions and push back on what they have always thought was the truth in this case.

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_04]: I did not come to this conclusion lightly or quickly but if you were to ask me with my hand on the Bible if I believe anything Joey says happened on March 25th, 2004, once he returned home from work, I would tell the world that no.

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_04]: None of Joey's versions of events have ever been proven and I don't believe they ever can.

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Now back to the police reports.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Deputy Campbell continues with his police work and dutifully retraces Joey's steps according to his final statement to police that he dropped Jennifer off at the local food value where she got out of his car and made a phone call inside.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Then she returned and told him to drive her to the Exxon gas station where he then says the girls got out of the car and Joey drove across the street and sat in the church parking lot for 10 minutes until that white car arrived to get the girls.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_04]: So according to the police report by Deputy Campbell, Deputy Campbell went to talk to the cashier at food value who was working within the time frame.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey says he brought Jennifer by to make a call so that would be March 25th, 2004 between 8 and 9pm quote the cashier stated that she did not see Jennifer or the child anytime that night.

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_04]: She also stated that the store locks its doors at nine o'clock every night.

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_04]: The cashier then stated that when she left for the night, she walked to her car and remembered some coke she had forgotten in the store.

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_04]: She then returned to the doors of the store to retrieve her coax.

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_04]: During the walk to the car, then to the store back to her car, she doesn't recall anyone else being in the parking lot end quote.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Casey and I drove to the former food value in its place sits now what is a Piggly Wiggly.

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_04]: The remnants of a payphone still stand erect at the edge of the parking lot next to the Piggly Wiggly marquee proudly displaying the meat specials of the week.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_04]: And then we drove to the Exxon and we drove past the Benton home.

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_04]: We wanted to see how long it would take us to drive through this town to all of these establishments that Joey said were involved with his alibi. Take a listen.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, so now we are parked in front of the Benton family home on Owens Chapel Road.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Where Jennifer and Adriana were living with Joey and his parents and he and Benton and I've got Casey with me and we're ready to rock and roll.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_03]: So we're going to test out some timing today.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_04]: We wanted to see in person the route that Joey said he took.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_04]: So I think we're going to test out the route he said he took from his house to the gas station.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.

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[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_04]: 615 real estate advisors are committed to bringing people in our community home every single day.

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_04]: This includes Jennifer and Adriana Wicks.

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[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Andy B's boutique will donate profits from each Wicks shirt back to the Wicks family to fight for justice.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_04]: That website is ShopAndyBees.com.

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[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_05]: What do you want to do first?

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_05]: We might have to make this drive twice which is kind of annoying but there's two routes he could have taken into town.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_03]: This is all we got to do. It's not annoying, we'll do it five times.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_05]: First thing we need to do is come out of there.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Did you start it?

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_05]: No. Come out of their driveway and then we're going to turn left on Roy Cole and starting it now.

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_05]: There's the church.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Owen's Chaplain United Methodist Church.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_05]: Okay, so this route is going to take us into cross planes but Jennifer's last phone call was to my aunt and that is now confirmed with law enforcement after our meeting.

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_05]: I was always kind of like did it? Did it not? They've only ever confirmed the call with her dad but she made her last phone call to my aunt and I don't know exactly what time it was.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_05]: My aunt said it was around one but anyways this route that we're taking is going to go past my aunt's house.

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_05]: Her house is just right here around the corner.

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_05]: How do you want to go by her house?

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_05]: Well, my aunt, whenever Jennifer talked to her, my aunt said that she told her I would leave you a key.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_05]: It'll be in the grill if things get bad and you need to come here.

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_05]: And I feel like there's probably more in that conversation if I could talk to my aunt which she's not talking to me right now.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know if she's talking to me either.

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_03]: She was going to.

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_05]: But I feel like she potentially said some things and maybe she said I'm leaving.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_05]: Like if he doesn't move out of that house with me then I'm leaving.

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_04]: What did Jennifer say that made Lisa say I got the key for you?

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_05]: I always assumed it was just because of the fighting the night before and her telling her about that.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm just keep going to you.

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_05]: It'll run into a stop sign.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_05]: It's 25.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_05]: So if my aunt was like I'll leave you a key out here if things get bad.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_05]: This would be the first place.

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_05]: It's right around the corner.

[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_05]: The quickest place for him to be like, I hate your guts.

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_05]: We're breaking up.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_05]: And Jennifer would be like take me here because it's the closest.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_05]: This is not her house but it's the next mailbox right here with my aunt's house.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_05]: No way.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_05]: So do you see how fucking close that is?

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_05]: And if my aunt's like I'll leave you a key, here it is.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_05]: That takes a little bit of time to get to the end of the day, but it's still a little bit of time.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_04]: And my aunt is like I don't even care about this.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_04]: But I think I'll leave you with a key for me right now.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_04]: So I'm going to leave you with your key for the next few minutes,

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_04]: but I'm going to be loving it.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_04]: So I'm going to leave you with your key for the next few minutes,

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_04]: but I'm not going to be loving it.

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_04]: is my commute to work every day. No, are we going to food value? Oh, okay. So then you have to pass

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_03]: their house, but you can also drive through here to get to his house on Woodrow.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_05]: I mean, you can. The main roads are going to be that one Roy Cole or down Cross Plains Road. If

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_05]: you're trying to get to where he said he took him, not to Lisa's house, but to where he said

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_03]: he took them, that was worth the route. Even if you took that way though, the back way,

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_03]: or through that road, it's still dumps here right at Lisa's house. So you would turn left and go 50

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_05]: feet and they stopped at the food value and then they went to the gas station. So now we're on our

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_04]: way to food value. Where she allegedly made a phone call. Allegedly, yeah. I don't think

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_04]: speed limits have really changed. No, I don't think so. In the last 20 years, if anything,

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_04]: we would be going a little bit, it would take a little bit longer to get somewhere because of

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_05]: the more traffic. Okay. So we're passing the city hall on Cross Plains and I used to live

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_05]: right here on the right with this little yellow door. This was my old house.

[00:21:35] [SPEAKER_05]: Whenever Jennifer means there were little, yeah, the yellow door right there.

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_05]: Yellow. It's red. Is it red? Oh, I bet it's not sunglasses. But I don't know why it would

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_05]: make it yellow. There's some empathels. They live in now. And then this town is so freaking small that

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_05]: this is it, like where this is town. We're coming up on the blinking red light. We're about to be out

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_05]: of town right here in the middle of Cross Plains. There's the old bank. There's the old

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_04]: end, one of the original establishments here in the- That's on the courthouse wall. This was

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_05]: a general store. They used to have hitching posts, curse yield pharmacy. So this gas station right here

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_05]: on the corner, Terry's Market, there's a lot of gossip. Keep going straight. Okay. There's a lot

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_05]: of gossip that keeps or that goes on there from leads that I've gotten people always over here.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_05]: This dollar general is where my mom met Jennifer and Joey that Tuesday. This is the food value

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_05]: right here. The current Figgly Wiggly. Yes, was a food value. My boyfriend's family owned this store

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_05]: when the girls disappeared. And so we knew the people in it. We knew everything. 10 minutes.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_03]: That's in. Wow. That's insane. Yeah, that's crazy because I never knew that box was a former

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_04]: pay phone. But according to Joey and his statement to the police, he dropped

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Jennifer here. Jennifer went in and made a phone call. Did she bring Adriana with her?

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_04]: And was she sitting in a car seat? That will come into play. I hugely come into play if she

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_03]: was in a car seat or not because of what Officer Campbell will tell us. I need to know about

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_03]: this car seat. I feel like there's so much more to that. Like that will be the big smoking gun,

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I think. Especially since they only had one car seat. And what car was he driving? Who came home

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_03]: to give him the car because he didn't have a car when he went to work. That's why he got on a ride,

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_05]: right? Yeah. So someone would again remember it's like according to him like eight o'clock at

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_05]: yeah, I think it was nine. Which way do you want to go? Left. Wait, let me start my call.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Because I also read that the girl working left, she forgot something in there and she went back

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_04]: in and she's still didn't see anyone in the parking lot. Yeah. It's too bad they can't get

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_04]: the records from the pay phone. That would be an easy fix or the Piggly Wiggly records

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_03]: at the time. That would have been an easy fix. I'm sure they have all that way to

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_03]: know. If they don't, that's embarrassing. Well, it's likely not gonna lie. I'll show

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_05]: about 20 minutes south of Kentucky. The old drive is 15 minutes. So this gas station was here.

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_05]: This isn't it though. It was here during the time. Now if police work would have been done

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_05]: correctly, they would have had cameras we could have pulled. Here's the church he supposedly

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_05]: parked in the parking. This one and here's where the gas station. That's what I thought. Okay, so

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_05]: you can turn left right there and then we can kind of park right there. Yeah, sweet

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_05]: eight to get out and fill. Okay. So that was a 15 minute drive. So this then we went from

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_03]: the true value which is now the Piggly Wiggly and Cross Plains and we drove

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_04]: just a few minutes down to this gas station. But we had to drive past your family home

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_04]: to drop her off at this gas station for her to get a ride where? Because her aunt's house,

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_05]: her mom's house, they were right down the road. She just talked to her aunt that day,

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_05]: talked to my mom the night before, made plans with my aunt if something went awry and

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_04]: they needed to come there. But she still had a room at your aunt's house. It was still there.

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_04]: And your house, she had a key. She didn't even need to call your aunt to get a hold of her

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_04]: to go over there. She just had to get the key out of the grill. Okay. At Sopa's are who would she

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_04]: to entertain the idea that she did call someone? Who would she have called? No one.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, there's no one. Did they look into the Helga story?

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_03]: I assume so. Because then they have a white car?

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_03]: They had a white Camaro, a white, yeah, Camaro. Because in the police report,

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_03]: then he changes the story to a white Camaro. Well, I wonder if he said that. He said nothing

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_05]: Camaro and then it changed to just a white four door sedan. Yeah.

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_04]: How long after he says she made that phone call to the car picked her up? How long was that?

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_05]: How much time went by? I mean, he just said I waited about 10 minutes.

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_05]: So to drive from he waited in that parking lot 10 to drive from that true value. That was over

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_04]: here five minutes and then wait for 10 minutes of 15 minutes. That's gotta if it's true that someone

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_04]: local someone had to be local from coming from White House, some right, all cross planes. Yeah,

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_04]: somewhere in Robertson or Sumner. Yeah. Could Jennifer have gotten out of the car and made a phone

[00:27:40] [SPEAKER_04]: call from the parking lot payphone instead of from inside? Perhaps Joey was confused and simply got

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_04]: one tiny detail wrong. What if she did get out of the car but instead of going in,

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_04]: she walks over and puts a few coins in the payphone and makes her call within side of Joey.

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_04]: The best way would be to pull the phone records of the Piggly Wiggly and the payphone.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_04]: The family can't confirm if this was done and to their knowledge, there was no security footage

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_04]: from that evening or even a camera at all at the time. All we have are statements from the

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_04]: workers at food value who cannot confirm seeing anybody at that time. The bagger was contacted

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_04]: and he also did not recall seeing anyone come into the store during that timeframe with

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Jennifer's description. And we know that Joey had a cell phone and that Jennifer would use

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_04]: it and he would get upset over her using his minutes. So why wasn't Jennifer able to just use

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_04]: his cell phone? So Deputy Campbell moves on to the Exxon gas station, but the clerk who was on

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_04]: shift at the time isn't there. However, the family does talk to the clerk later on. The

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_04]: clerk was a school friend of Jennifer's and she will go on to relay to the family that

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_04]: if Jennifer and Adriana had arrived at the gas station, she would have known and remembered.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Recall it's the end of March and it's Tennessee, which means the temperatures drop quite drastically

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_04]: into the night. If Jennifer and Adriana got out of Joey's car as he says they did and he drove

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_04]: across the street for 10 minutes to wait for them to get picked up, Jennifer would not likely

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_04]: wait in a freezing parking lot with a toddler, especially when she was friends with the Exxon

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_04]: clerk working that shift that night. Also should be noted Adriana had one jacket,

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_04]: a purple jacket, which was later returned to Kathy from the Benton family in a trash bag.

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Did Adriana not even have a jacket on according to Joey's story if she waited outside?

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_04]: She would be waiting outside in the end of March at night in freezing cold temperatures

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_04]: with a toddler who did not have a jacket on. Could it be possible if during those 10 minutes

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey says that they were at the gas station around 9.20 to 9.30 p.m. that that cashier was

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_04]: otherwise occupied? Surely she could see anyone standing in the gas station parking lot for any

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_04]: duration of time from most vantage points from the interior of the station and even if she had

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_04]: gone in the back, it wouldn't be for a full 10 minutes as she was the only employee there.

[00:30:13] [SPEAKER_04]: And now we hit a second blow. Any video footage recorded from that evening was not available.

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Why? There were cameras at that Exxon gas station in 2004 and guess what? Law enforcement did ask

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_04]: for it. How tight was that window to get the footage to corroborate Joey's story?

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, we can confirm it was sooner than one day. The tapes were recorded on each morning.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_04]: 20 years of questions could have been handled within the first 24 hours of this case

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_04]: had it been taken seriously and acted upon with urgency per the family's desperate pleas to

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_04]: law enforcement. Joey's statements quickly shift from being unclear of details to having very

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_04]: specific recollections of that evening. It appears that once his final statement is made,

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_04]: he sticks with that story and stands by it for the next 20 years. That is until recently.

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_04]: If you recall, Joey was asked by deputy Campbell when the last time he saw Jennifer was and

[00:31:17] [SPEAKER_04]: he says when she came by his house in a white four-door Camaro or Mustang car,

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_04]: this is following what he had said earlier in the same interview that he last saw her

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_04]: when he dropped her off at the Exxon gas station. So which was it? When was the last time he actually

[00:31:34] [SPEAKER_04]: saw Jennifer? Well, according to Joey's statement over the years, which she has appeared to stand by

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_04]: until recently Thursday, he drops Jennifer and Adriana Wicks off at the Exxon off exit 112

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_04]: and cross planes Tennessee. Watches as she gets in a white four-door car. He then says he

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_04]: goes to work Friday, the 26th. The job is finished early. So he's back home late morning, early

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_04]: afternoon. According to Joey, Jennifer stops by his house. She is driving that white four-door car

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_04]: which came to pick her up the previous night. But nobody else is in the car. No Adriana,

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_04]: no mystery people who came to pick her up. According to Joey, this would be two times

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_04]: within the last 12 hours that Joey has seen this white car. Yet he still cannot accurately describe

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_04]: the make and model. He says Jennifer came by asking for the $500 tax return that Joe Benton

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_04]: was going to write her a check for since it was auto deposited into his account. Joey tells her

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER_04]: his father is in home and he says that Jennifer tells him she'll return Saturday

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_04]: morning to collect it. Then he says she gets a few of her things from him and leaves.

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_04]: The beloved Elmo doll, the one Adriana couldn't sleep without. It was later returned in a black

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_04]: trash bag of items to Kathy Nail, Jennifer's mother. Take a listen. The baby's sleep partner,

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_02]: her little Elmo, her stuffed Elmo, her Melmo, she called him. It was there. That was alarming

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_02]: to me because being a mama, I know you don't go anywhere for one night without your child's toy

[00:33:20] [SPEAKER_02]: that they are going to cry and beg for when they go to bed. And that's exactly what she would do.

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_02]: And she was at my house, she had a crib in my bedroom. And if her Elmo was in the other room,

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_02]: she wouldn't lay down without it. She would just, I want my Melmo. And you'd have to go and find

[00:33:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Elmo and bring him in there. So when that little dirty drug around everywhere, Elmo was returned,

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_04]: that was alarming to me. We cannot confirm who took Joey to or from work either day,

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_04]: the 25th or the 26th. But we do have confirmation that a former friend and co-worker, Nolan Rye,

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_04]: took Joey home from work on either of those days, March 25th or March 26th.

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_04]: It's been 20 years and obviously we're battling against fading memories. But it is documented

[00:34:19] [SPEAKER_04]: in Nolan's statement that Nolan was getting picked up early by his girlfriend. Joey hears this

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_04]: and asks him for a ride too. Since he received a call to hurry home, he must leave the site early.

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's Nolan Rye. We were working in Franklin, Kentucky around the time that Jennifer went missing.

[00:34:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Me and an ex-girlfriend, our girlfriend at the time had carried Joey home

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER_01]: some time around the time that Jennifer and Adriana went missing.

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm assuming the week of because it was only a few days later that we hear that she was missing.

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_01]: She was coming to get me from work early that day. I left around lunch and Joey had found out

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that I was leaving early and came and asked if we could carry him home that day. And I told

[00:35:16] [SPEAKER_01]: him yeah that was fine and acted very strange that day. It's always kind of weird, a little

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_01]: bit weirder that day. To the point my girlfriend at the time was kind of freaked out by him. I didn't

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_01]: know his father. He coached me at ball one year for about half the season until they kicked him

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_01]: made him not be the coach anymore. Never met Joey's mama, never met Jennifer to be honest with you.

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_01]: When Joey and Jennifer started dating Joey he kind of just he didn't hang out with anybody that I

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_01]: know maybe John or maybe Jeffrey I don't know other than at work. I mean I do feel like Joey

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_01]: loved her at the time you know. The time that the detective from Robertson County come that he had

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_01]: another guy with him I'm assuming it might have been a TBI guy I'm not sure off the hand I can't

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_01]: remember. I did go I went down there voluntarily and talked to him up to Sheriff's Office and

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_01]: you know they asked a few questions and I told them I said I told him I didn't know anything

[00:36:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and I didn't want to know anything and they asked me well why don't you want to know anything. I said

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_01]: well if he did kill her and I knew something I feel like that would be a target on my back you know

[00:36:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and he would likely kill me but if he was going to come to try to kill me

[00:36:57] [SPEAKER_01]: one of the two of us would end up dead and I'm hoping it wasn't me you know because I was

[00:37:02] [SPEAKER_01]: the cops were like well that makes sense you know I'm like look I wish I knew something

[00:37:07] [SPEAKER_01]: to tell y'all to help y'all do I think they did it. Hell yes I think they did it but

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know anything I mean hell Joey and them was growing weed and their little building out

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_01]: there they didn't even tell me about it I was hanging out with them some you know so why would

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_01]: they tell me something to that extent you know. He had a temper yeah I probably saw it at the

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER_01]: we got into it one day me and Joey got into it and we got up in each other's face and had some words

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and my temper went off I mean I did that day I kicked it a gallon yellow bucket of yellow paint

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_01]: up against the wall when I walked out that day and paint went all over the wall and

[00:38:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember Joey's dad saying call the law on him call the law on him and Joey's like it's just

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_01]: no one let him go you know he'll calm down in a minute and you know it was nothing was never

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_01]: said of it you know but that was the last day I worked for his dad

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_01]: but I mean that's probably one of the last times I ever talked to Joey really to be honest with

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't recall going and hanging out with Joey after Jennifer and then went missing

[00:38:46] [SPEAKER_01]: which the year so however long they dated I really didn't hang out with Joey then other than

[00:38:51] [SPEAKER_01]: seeing him at work you know if we were working on the road you know would obviously be at the

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_01]: same hotel and but that was about it I know the cops asked me that day when I went down

[00:39:05] [SPEAKER_01]: there if I thought he did it I said yes I did and they asked me if anybody else would have known if

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_01]: they did it who would know and I said his daddy wouldn't know but as far as friends I don't know

[00:39:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Jeffrey or John would know more than me you know I hope they get justice I really do

[00:39:31] [SPEAKER_01]: it's a bad deal I'd hate to know one of the females in my family went missing

[00:39:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd probably done hunted him down he probably wouldn't be found today

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I really wish they would get some closure or some justice something

[00:39:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Jennifer's aunt Lisa provides a written statement to law enforcement that Joey's father Joe

[00:40:01] [SPEAKER_04]: left a message on their answering machine stating that he was looking for Jennifer to give her

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_04]: the $500 tax return check if we go off the Benton statements Jennifer came by that Friday morning

[00:40:15] [SPEAKER_04]: on the 26th to get her check tells Joey she'll return the next morning on Saturday the 27th

[00:40:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Joe senior calls Jennifer's aunt's house to find Jennifer now this is the home where

[00:40:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Joey's best friend Jeffrey who is also Jennifer's first cousin lives so by the time March 27th

[00:40:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Saturday comes around Jennifer never shows up at the Benton home for her check but deputy Campbell

[00:40:43] [SPEAKER_04]: does and you're going to want to hear what he has to say deputy Campbell saw something that

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_04]: day in the Benton home something that may make you question all of the Benton statements

[00:40:54] [SPEAKER_04]: and we're going to hear it directly from deputy Campbell himself next time on missing in hush town

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_04]: deputy my camp missing in hush town was executive produced and written by me your host Jules with

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_04]: anley audio house LLC Casey Robinson was co-producer special thanks to john thork patrick

[00:41:44] [SPEAKER_04]: Robinson my parents and Jen Rivera and to our children to follow our continued efforts on

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_04]: justice for Jennifer and Adriana wicks you can find us on facebook at justice for Jennifer and Adriana

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_04]: wicks this page is personally managed by Casey herself and you can find me Jules hi on instagram

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER_04]: at your host Jules notes and updates can be found on our website www.missinginhushtown.com

[00:42:08] [SPEAKER_04]: please help us continue to grow by considering leaving a five star review and rating wherever

[00:42:13] [SPEAKER_04]: you're listening if you have a tip for this case please please call 1 800 tbi find or dial the

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_04]: anonymous tip line at 615-562-0819 help us bring the wicks girls home to donate to this family's

[00:42:30] [SPEAKER_04]: continued fight for justice please visit gofundme.com slash Jennifer and Adriana wicks

[00:42:37] [SPEAKER_04]: and to support the podcast and to help us continue this production you may click support

[00:42:42] [SPEAKER_04]: the show in the show notes and donate a wicks kiss 10% of all profits from season one of missing

[00:42:48] [SPEAKER_04]: in hush town will be given to the wicks family indefinitely as always you're wanted you are

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_04]: loved and you deserve to be found don't you forget it i'll see you next time bye