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The 25-year-old mystery of a young woman
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who walked out of her mom's house with
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her two young children, never to be seen
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again. But after decades of silence, the
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family got their first real tip to what
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happened to the trio all those years
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ago. This is the story of Jennifer
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Lancaster and her daughters Sydney and
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Monnique Smith.
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It's around noon on May 13th, 2000 when
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Vicky Lancaster starts thinking that
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something might be wrong. Her
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20-year-old daughter, Jennifer and her
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two little girls, Sydney and Mo'Nique,
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didn't come home last night. Jennifer's
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a single mom. The three of them live
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with Vicki, and Jennifer relies on her
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mom for help, especially at night,
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because Sydney is only 14 months old,
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and Mo'Nique is a newborn. Like,
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Jennifer gave birth to her just five
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weeks ago. In those 5 weeks, she has
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never gone MIA. So, like I said, by
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noon, she knows something is up. So, she
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has Jennifer's younger sister, Jessica,
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call the father of her girls. He and
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Jennifer are no longer together, but
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they all live in Topeka, Kansas. And
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while he's not super involved in their
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lives, Jennifer's family thinks that I
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mean, it's worth giving him a call
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anyway, right? But Mon'nique and
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Sydney's dad says that he hasn't seen or
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heard from Jennifer. Doesn't know where
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she is, doesn't know where the girls
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are, and the family does believe him.
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Vicki told our reporter at this point,
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she starts thinking back to her last
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interaction with Jennifer the night
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before. And she remembers that she had
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one of the girls quilts in a bag when
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they walked out of the door at 8:00 p.m.
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Like, they'd all just gotten back home
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from dinner with Vickiy's parents, and
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Jennifer was headed out again. Vicki
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even asked her what she was doing with
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the quilt. And Jennifer told her that
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she needed to take it to the cleaners,
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which was odd because they had a washer
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and dryer in the house, but at the time
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she didn't really question it. She's
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only questioning it now.
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So Vicki tries calling Jennifer's cell
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phone, but she doesn't answer. And as
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she's looking around for any clue as to
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where she might be, Vicki actually finds
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Jennifer's phone in the house. So she
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left it either accidentally or on
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purpose. But while the phone is there,
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she starts noticing a lot of other
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things that belong to Jennifer and the
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girls are not. The family had recently
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moved into that house, so a lot of the
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stuff that they had was still in boxes.
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So Vicki hadn't really noticed before.
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It's one of those things you have to
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kind of like get into the details of,
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but she didn't see her moving like boxes
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in and out of the house, like just this
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quilt.
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No, no, no. Like if this stuff got moved
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out, it would have had to have happened
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earlier. She doesn't know when and she
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doesn't know what it means, but it
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probably scares her a little to realize
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this. So, she calls the Topeka Police
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Department at around 6:00 p.m. to report
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Jennifer missing. And the police
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obviously have questions, right? Like,
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they want to know what is missing? What
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is going on with her? What could have
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led to this disappearance? Vicki says
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Jennifer and her children and their
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belongings are all missing, like just
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like she'd found. But she tells police
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that she doesn't feel like Jennifer
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would just run off with the girls. Like
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the girls were so little and Jennifer
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had never been able to handle them on
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her own. I mean Vicki and Jessica were
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always helping her out with them, which
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makes sense to me. Like two kids under
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two at 20, like are you kidding me? I
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couldn't handle a newborn by myself at
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33. So it does seem off that one day she
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would suddenly just run off alone with
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the girls. Now Vicki says Jennifer is a
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bit rebellious and she has been mixed up
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with the wrong crowd for a while now.
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But she's not involved in drugs or
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anything like that, at least as far as
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they know. Only they do know that she
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does drink a lot sometimes. And the
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police basically tell her that while it
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looks more like she left on her own
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accord than not, they will still take a
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missing person's report for her and her
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daughters. But it's really here that
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Vicki and Jessica realize that for
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police, like taking the report and
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actually like doing the things they need
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to do to find her are very different
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things, right?
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So Vicki and Jessica start a search for
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Jennifer themselves. They get flyers
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printed with a picture of Jennifer and
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the girls. They start posting them all
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over. They even get people to help post
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them at truck stops across the US. I
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mean, it's 2000. There is no Facebook. I
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don't even think I had a MySpace then.
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Like this is just the two of them trying
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their hardest to get the word out,
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hoping that someone, anyone, anywhere,
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will come forward with a tip or a
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sighting. And in all this time too,
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Jessica had started calling other
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friends. She and Jennifer are pretty
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close in age, so they know a lot of the
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same people, and for much of their
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lives, they did everything together, but
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everyone she is calling hasn't heard a
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thing. Now, it's important to note that
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Jessica says she and Jennifer were super
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close most of their lives, like I said.
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But Jennifer at times struggled with her
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mental health and she would distance
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herself. Vicki tried for years to
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convince Jennifer to get help, but she
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was never receptive to it. And her
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mental health declined even more when
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she got pregnant with Sydney. And then
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by the time she had Mo'Nique, again, 5
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weeks before this, she was really
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struggling. So after Mo'Nique was born,
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Jessica said that Jennifer wasn't even
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showing interest in the girls,
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which sounds a lot like postpartum
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depression,
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right? I mean, the family doesn't know
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that for sure,
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but the fact that she was struggling
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like this and now that all three of them
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are missing, it makes Vicki feel certain
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that something terrible is happening.
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She just has this dread sitting with
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her. Yeah. But one thing that doesn't
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really add up to me within the thinking
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that maybe she did something to herself
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and the girls is taking their stuff.
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Like to me that says that you're going
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to live somewhere else like where you're
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going to need your things.
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Same. Like I again I don't know what it
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mean like there are contradictory things
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here but all in all people are just
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worried and when weeks go by and they
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don't hear anything they don't know what
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to think. So one day like 2 weeks out
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Jessica decides to head out with a
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friend to just drive around Top Pika
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looking for any sign of Jennifer.
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I mean I mean this is literally a long
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shot like needle in a haststack kind of
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thing but like what are you gonna do at
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this point? But they actually do find
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something on this drive, and it's
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something big. As they're driving by
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this apartment complex about 10 minutes
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from home, they spot Jennifer's car.
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[Music]
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Jennifer's Jeep Cherokee is sitting in
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the parking lot of this complex. Jessica
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walks up to it to look inside, and it's
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empty. Now, Jennifer's car is typically
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pretty messy. Like, Jessica told us it
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usually looks like a trash can. Her
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words, not mine. Okay, as someone with a
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trash can car, we do not take offense,
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right? But the weird part is here. So,
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again, like she's got kids, whatever.
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Normally, it's a hot mess, but when she
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looks inside, it's clean. And not just
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like tidy, it looks like it's been
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cleaned out. I mean, even the girl's car
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seats aren't there, and that stands out
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to her as super odd.
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Yeah. Does this apartment complex mean
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anything to them? Like, did she know
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somebody who lived there?
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Not that Jessica knows of, or they
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probably would have checked it earlier,
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right? But she does plan on finding out
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for sure because she goes around the
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complex asking people if they have seen
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anyone resembling Jennifer or Sydney or
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Mo'Nique, but no one has.
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Which none of like none of this is
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making sense. Like we said, why take
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your stuff unless you're planning to
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start over or go somewhere, but you
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can't go somewhere without your vehicle,
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right? And like you're clearly still
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going somewhere, right? Or you wouldn't
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need the car seats,
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right? Unless you had another car.
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Who's though? Because Jennifer didn't
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have a second car. I mean, she didn't
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have money for a second car.
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Hers was in fine working condition, so
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there's no reason to like go buy a
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different car.
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And whoever left this car there took the
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keys with them clearly because none were
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left behind. So,
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I don't know. At at this moment, they're
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thinking maybe someone picked her and
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the girls up, they left together, and
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Jennifer just left her car there maybe
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temporarily. like maybe she planned to
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return, that's why she took the keys,
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but there's really no way of knowing. At
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this point, Jessica knows she needs to
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call police. Like maybe they'll know
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what to do. So, they show up, they check
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the car out,
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but that's like the extent of their
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investigation. They don't process the
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car. They don't collect any fingerprints
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on the car, nothing. I mean, it's kind
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of hard to stick with a theory that she
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like left on her own free will when her
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car is left behind and totally cleaned
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out. Yet, they seem to like we foyed the
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records for the police investigation so
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we could get details about how they were
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thinking about this, what happened, but
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that request was denied and police
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wouldn't speak to us either because they
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said this is still an open case. So, we
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only have Vicki and Jessica's like
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version of things like like their
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account of how they were treated by
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police or what they think police did or
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didn't do. Police wouldn't speak to us
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either because they said this is still
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an open case. So, we really only know
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what Vicki and Jessica discovered on
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their own search for Jennifer and the
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kids. So, because the police aren't
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taking the car now, the family has this
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to deal with. And because there are no
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car keys, Vicki has to go to the
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dealership. She has to get a new key
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made to move the car. and she takes it
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back to Jennifer's grandfather's place
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where they just kind of leave it because
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I mean they don't know what to do with
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it and police are just like here you
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take it. So I mean best they do is they
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just like hold on to it hoping that
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Jennifer is going to come back and need
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that car one day. Now at this point
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Vicki decides that the best thing she
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can do to figure out Jennifer's
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movements or what's going on is to get
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Jennifer's phone bill because Jennifer
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is still on her plan. But what she sees
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is a little scary because she finds out
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that there have been no calls outside of
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calls to her and Jennifer's grandfather
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that had been made from her phone in the
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entire week leading up to her
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disappearance. So, this isn't really
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helpful. And whether or not it was
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intentional, TBD, we know the phone
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clearly wasn't used after she goes
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missing, right? Because the phone was
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still in the house.
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Yeah. But if she did mean to go off-rid,
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she could have gotten like a burner or a
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prepaid phone to use. like not only like
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when she left but even to plan her
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leaving.
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Totally. And I mean it's 2000. Cell
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phones aren't glued to everyone's hand
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like they are today. Like forgetting it
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also seems totally possible. But I mean
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you're right like it would have been
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easy to go buy a prepaid cell phone
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still even in 2000. And it's maybe even
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what is most probable because at this
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point even Vicki starts thinking that
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okay maybe Jennifer was planning on
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leaving, right? We're not seeing any
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sign of her communicating with someone
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else. Like she's leaving with the quill.
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Some of her stuff is missing that she
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had to have siphoned out of the house at
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some point. Like maybe she really did
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just decide to go. And the longer
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Jennifer has been missing, the more time
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she's had to just go over and over and
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over in her head like what has happened
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before she left the house that night.
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And though at the time she told police
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that Jennifer wasn't really acting
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differently, like she's realizing now
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that she kind of was acting a bit odd in
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the week leading up to her
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disappearance. She told us that that
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whole week, Jennifer brought the girls
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to have breakfast with Vicki at the
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hospital that Vicki worked at,
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which was out of the ordinary for sure,
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but at the time Vicki was just grateful
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for that time with them, right? Like she
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said
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in that those breakfast, whatever,
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Jennifer was acting like like fine, but
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it was almost like she didn't want those
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meetups to end. And now looking back,
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she's like that's super strange. like
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was this I don't know if she was
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thinking was this some kind of goodbye
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or or whatever but she starts thinking
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about what else was going on that week
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what was different and that was the week
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that Jennifer had gone back to work as a
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dancer at a popular gentleman's club in
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Topeka called Baby Dolls
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and who was watching the girls
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Jessica did that week
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okay
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now pre-baby premonique she worked the
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night shift at baby dolls but coming
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back she was on days so her mom's
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thinking okay maybe something happened
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there. And so she turns to Baby Dolls,
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which reportedly was known to be a
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little bit shady. Our reporting team
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actually got in touch with Jennifer's
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manager from Baby Dolls back in 2000.
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His name's Rich Christy, and he gave us
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more insight into like the vibe of the
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place. He called Baby Dolls a reputable
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establishment with a lot of high-end
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clientele. According to Rich, by the end
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of a good day shift, Jennifer could walk
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away with between like $250 to $300,
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which today has the buying power of
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about twice that much. So, like not a
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small amount of money,
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but also not enough to start a whole new
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life with.
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Very true. But in talking to Rich, he
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wasn't giving any goods. Just like, you
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know, yeah, weird. She went missing.
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Work was work. But then our reporter
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like really was like drilling in and
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asked the exact right questions or
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question. Was there anyone at the club
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that week that Jennifer returned to work
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that stood out? And he says, "You know
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what? Come to think of it, yes." There
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was this one man that he remembers. Rich
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said that the guy he was thinking of was
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maybe an attorney, maybe a doctor. Like
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he couldn't quite remember. He just
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knows that this guy was or at least
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seemed really successful, pretty
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wealthy. What he knew for sure was that
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this guy was from Florida and he was
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there getting treatment at a place
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called Meningers, which is this renowned
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mental health facility that used to be
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located in Topeka. Rich didn't remember
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the specifics of what the treatment was
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all these years later.
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How does that even come up in
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conversation at a gentleman's club? And
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like bigger question, why is this man
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who's there for what I assume is like
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inpatient treatment even at a
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gentleman's club?
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I don't know. I how it came up. It seems
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like maybe he was spending a lot of time
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there. Again, I don't I don't know. And
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that's what I was going to say. Like I
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don't know if he even would have told
00:13:53
them exactly what the treatment was or
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whatever, but I know it was like an
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outpatient situation where he was free
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to kind of come and go during the
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treatment. But Rich said like dude was
00:14:02
there a lot even during the day shift
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when Jennifer was performing that week
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and he would drop hundreds of dollars on
00:14:08
the dancers. He made it apparent that he
00:14:10
had a lot to offer. Rich says that after
00:14:12
Jennifer disappeared, he came back to
00:14:14
the club. this guy a few more times, but
00:14:17
far less frequently. And about a month
00:14:20
or so after Jennifer had vanished, he
00:14:22
also stopped dropping by the club
00:14:24
altogether.
00:14:25
And how long had he been going there
00:14:27
before she went missing?
00:14:28
He had been coming there for about like
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5 or 6 months, according to Rich. Now,
00:14:33
obviously, nothing ties Jennifer
00:14:35
directly to this van. I mean, Rich
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doesn't remember him like singling
00:14:40
Jennifer out or anything. He doesn't
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even remember him this guy like being
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creepy or off. just not part of like the
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usual crowd that you got. You know what
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I mean?
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So, what this guy represents to
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Jennifer's family is the sort of people
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that she might be coming into contact
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with and that could have led to her
00:14:58
disappearance because her family thinks
00:15:00
that maybe Jennifer met someone in the
00:15:02
club that promised her and her daughters
00:15:04
a better life. Like the more time that
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goes by, the version that they hope
00:15:08
played out was that Jennifer got her
00:15:11
happily ever after, that she just wanted
00:15:13
to stay off the grid ever since and the
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end. But why wouldn't she have just told
00:15:19
them that? I don't know. Like I maybe it
00:15:21
goes back to the way or her headsp space
00:15:24
was in that time, like her being
00:15:25
distant. Also, even though Rich told us
00:15:28
that Jennifer was a dancer, her mom said
00:15:30
that she always thought that Jennifer
00:15:32
was a waitress and that if she was a
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dancer, she could see that being
00:15:35
something that Jennifer wouldn't have
00:15:37
told her.
00:15:38
So maybe Jennifer, if this is what
00:15:40
happened, felt like her family wouldn't
00:15:41
understand. Or if she wanted to get them
00:15:43
to understand her leaving, she would
00:15:44
have to tell them all this other stuff
00:15:45
that she had never talked about before.
00:15:47
Maybe she wasn't ready to open up that
00:15:49
can of worms. But honestly now, like
00:15:51
that is best case scenario to her mom
00:15:53
that she started a new life. She's just
00:15:55
out there with her girls, happy. Worst
00:15:59
case scenario is that she was promised
00:16:02
something great, but was met with foul
00:16:04
play instead. So, you can imagine how
00:16:08
excited Jennifer's family is when a
00:16:10
month or so after she and the girls
00:16:12
vanish, this man calls Vickiy's home in
00:16:16
the middle of the night and says that
00:16:18
Jennifer was in Lawrence, Kansas, like
00:16:21
25 miles east of Topeka. This sighting
00:16:24
of Jennifer was at a different
00:16:25
gentleman's club, though it's unclear
00:16:27
who actually saw Jennifer there, and
00:16:30
Vicki didn't know the man that was
00:16:32
calling or how he even got her number to
00:16:35
tell her about the sighting, which is a
00:16:36
little odd to me. And ultimately, it
00:16:38
doesn't end up leading anywhere because
00:16:41
when whoever like looks at this club,
00:16:43
there's no sign of Jennifer there, at
00:16:45
least when they go to look, if it was
00:16:47
her at all. Right. Like, so either she
00:16:49
left or it never was. I don't know. and
00:16:52
we don't know who this guy was or how he
00:16:54
got her number.
00:16:56
So, without anything solid for the
00:16:57
family to go off of, again, they're kind
00:16:59
of just left with zero answers, zero
00:17:02
leads, and just hope that Jennifer is
00:17:04
out there somewhere. And then a few
00:17:06
months after that, Vicki gets another
00:17:10
sort of weird I don't even know if tip's
00:17:13
the word, but this thing that sparks
00:17:15
hope in her. But this one is super
00:17:18
weird.
00:17:22
So Vicki is checking her mail one day
00:17:24
and she gets this thank you card and
00:17:27
coupons in the mail from Steak and
00:17:29
Shake.
00:17:29
Midwest Classic.
00:17:31
Absolutely. Listen, no one's complaining
00:17:33
when you get Steak and Shake coupons.
00:17:34
But here's the rub where she's getting
00:17:37
it from this Steak and Shake. She's
00:17:38
never been to this Steak and Shake that
00:17:41
is all the way out in St. Louis,
00:17:43
Missouri. This is like 4 and 1/2 hours
00:17:45
from Topeka to the east. And the letter
00:17:48
was addressed to Jennifer thanking her
00:17:51
for the comment card that she left after
00:17:54
dining there. So, you better believe
00:17:57
Vicki like runs to the phone, calls that
00:18:00
steak and shake asking if they still
00:18:02
have that comment card that Jennifer
00:18:03
allegedly wrote, but they tell her no.
00:18:06
Like, the way their system works is that
00:18:08
once the card information goes into the
00:18:10
database, the card is destroyed. And
00:18:13
this breaks Vickiy's heart because her
00:18:15
one hope was getting her hands on that
00:18:18
card to see the handwriting because she
00:18:20
knows she would have been able to tell
00:18:22
if it was truly Jennifer's or if it was
00:18:24
like someone else and this was some kind
00:18:26
of hoax and they just like addressed it
00:18:28
to Jennifer at Vicky's house. But that
00:18:30
would be such a weird
00:18:32
hoax.
00:18:33
I know. I We've seen a lot. But I don't
00:18:36
understand this one. And more than that,
00:18:37
like if it is a hoax, it would have had
00:18:40
to have been someone that the family
00:18:43
knew. Like how would they have
00:18:45
her address,
00:18:46
her address, like her name? And
00:18:48
I could I could spiral I have spiraled.
00:18:51
So she lived with her mom, right? Like
00:18:53
does someone have her driver's license?
00:18:56
Is it someone that knew her? I mean, I
00:18:58
know back in the day papers would often
00:18:59
print home addresses, but I don't think
00:19:01
the papers were even picking up this
00:19:03
case really.
00:19:04
Well, and like who is in St. Louis
00:19:06
getting a Topeka newspaper.
00:19:08
You know, I I keep coming back to a
00:19:09
couple of scenarios when it comes to
00:19:11
this comment card. So, one, it was the
00:19:13
person who did something to Jennifer and
00:19:16
this was like a sick way to drop a line
00:19:19
that wouldn't be traced back. Is this
00:19:20
the same person that called? I don't
00:19:22
know. I just don't think a stranger gets
00:19:25
anything from a hoax like this. But,
00:19:27
Right. Cuz you can't even like follow it
00:19:28
through. And like strangers who do
00:19:30
hoaxes usually like
00:19:31
want to see something.
00:19:32
Yeah. Like get something out of it. And
00:19:33
they don't get anything out of this one.
00:19:34
That's not to say people aren't sick and
00:19:36
wouldn't, but unlikely to be.
00:19:38
Or two, it was Jennifer filling out the
00:19:42
card.
00:19:43
Now, I wonder if that is maybe the last
00:19:46
permanent address that she had and maybe
00:19:48
the last one that she remembered and so
00:19:50
she just like wrote that down, never
00:19:51
thinking that they would send a thank
00:19:53
you card for a comment card. Like, I
00:19:54
don't know who does that.
00:19:55
I mean, people from the Midwest, but
00:19:57
they don't call it who's your
00:19:58
hospitality for nothing, even though it
00:19:59
is St. Louis, whatever. But like you you
00:20:00
get me. The problem with this scenario
00:20:02
though is she's alive and well. She left
00:20:04
on her own. But what I know is that in
00:20:09
all this time since Jennifer and the
00:20:11
girls, their social security numbers
00:20:13
have never gotten any hit since they
00:20:15
disappeared, which feels like it
00:20:17
wouldn't be the case if they were out
00:20:20
there just like freely living their
00:20:21
lives and just didn't want to be
00:20:24
contacted. And like that's what makes
00:20:25
her family the most nervous. Wait, what
00:20:29
if it's both? But like not in the way
00:20:32
you've laid out. Like what if foul play
00:20:34
is involved so there is someone else but
00:20:36
Jennifer really did write the card and
00:20:39
say she's with someone like a trafficker
00:20:41
or a kidnapper and she can't write like
00:20:44
help me. So she writes this comic card
00:20:46
with her old address to
00:20:48
like signal to her mom that she's still
00:20:50
out there.
00:20:51
So this this is like an option three
00:20:52
that I keep like playing with in my
00:20:54
mind. And actually that option that you
00:20:58
laid out is one that I think Vicki, her
00:21:01
mom, like believes most to be true
00:21:03
because a huge fear for her and and for
00:21:06
her whole family is that Jennifer could
00:21:08
have been trafficked. If that's actually
00:21:10
what happened, there's a huge
00:21:11
possibility that the girls could have
00:21:13
been taken from Jennifer, given new
00:21:15
names, new fake socials, even ended up
00:21:18
somewhere else, not even knowing who
00:21:20
they are. I mean, they were so tiny when
00:21:23
they disappeared. They were like
00:21:23
literally babies. My mind literally goes
00:21:27
to even like a adoption fraud situation.
00:21:30
Like has anyone looked at what the
00:21:32
motive would be if it were foul play?
00:21:35
Like who is the intended target? We keep
00:21:37
talking about Jennifer cuz she's the one
00:21:38
who had time to have a story around her
00:21:41
life. But maybe it was the kids.
00:21:45
It's totally possible. And like you
00:21:47
said, I mean, the wild part is they're
00:21:49
so young
00:21:50
that they would have absolutely no
00:21:52
memory of where they came from other
00:21:54
than like what they were told by
00:21:56
someone.
00:21:57
Like the problem we have here is I don't
00:22:00
think anyone has enough information to
00:22:01
say what the motive is because
00:22:04
I don't think you can talk motive
00:22:06
without knowing what really happened,
00:22:08
right? But I will say, I mean, there's
00:22:11
been some online chatter. Like, one of
00:22:13
the things I came across that I found
00:22:15
really interesting is this kind of
00:22:18
fringe theory that maybe this serial
00:22:20
killer, guy named John Robinson, could
00:22:22
have something to do with Jennifer's
00:22:24
disappearance. So, according to
00:22:26
something I read on Investigation
00:22:27
Discovery, John was a serial killer that
00:22:29
operated in the Midwest, but
00:22:31
specifically the Kansas and Missouri
00:22:33
areas around the time of Jennifer's
00:22:35
disappearance. And I mean, listen, I
00:22:38
would love to know if John was a patron
00:22:39
of baby dolls, but like everything I
00:22:41
found about him online is that like he
00:22:43
tried to maintain this facade of this
00:22:46
super upstanding citizen. I mean, he was
00:22:48
a Sunday school teacher. Doesn't mean he
00:22:50
didn't, but like doesn't fit the like
00:22:52
persona he was trying to put off.
00:22:55
But he ultimately got arrested on a
00:22:57
sexual battery complaint in June of
00:22:59
2000. This is just a month after
00:23:01
Jennifer and the girls vanished. And
00:23:03
from there, detective discovered human
00:23:05
remains on his property. The thing
00:23:07
that's wild is he was known, forget
00:23:10
this, allegedly promising women a new
00:23:12
life before murdering them. And he
00:23:15
wasn't above selling their children in
00:23:17
the process, which he did in at least
00:23:20
one case that he is tied to, like a
00:23:22
murder conviction. And law enforcement
00:23:24
has said they do think he has more
00:23:26
victims that just haven't been IDed.
00:23:29
Okay. Have they looked into him
00:23:31
specifically for Jennifer's case?
00:23:33
I couldn't tell you because police
00:23:35
stonewalled us. I mean, he's certainly
00:23:37
someone I find very interesting.
00:23:39
Well, yeah. It literally fits like
00:23:41
square into one of the first theories
00:23:42
the family's the family brought up like
00:23:45
offered a new life and takes it.
00:23:48
And like to me, it's like the Kansas and
00:23:50
Missouri connection. But again, I don't
00:23:52
know like when he was like locked up.
00:23:54
Could
00:23:55
is it is the postcard come after he's
00:23:57
already in jail? Like I'm still like
00:23:58
looking into this guy. I don't know. And
00:24:00
listen, those two places are right next
00:24:01
to each other. Like, it's not a one in a
00:24:04
zillion coincidence, but yeah, she goes
00:24:06
missing in Kansas. The comment card
00:24:08
comes from Missouri. I don't know. What
00:24:10
I know is that sadly that comment card
00:24:13
was the last tangible lead the family
00:24:15
had in over a decade. And I don't even
00:24:18
know how seriously police took this or
00:24:20
if they even looked into it at all. I
00:24:22
mean, they definitely didn't collect the
00:24:24
card as evidence or anything because
00:24:25
Vicki still has that card today. Not
00:24:27
that it would be evidence, right? Like I
00:24:29
know she didn't write it, but they
00:24:31
didn't copy it, keep it in the file,
00:24:33
whatever. Now, throughout this time, the
00:24:35
original detective assigned to this
00:24:37
case, Detective Terry Harris, would
00:24:39
check in with Vicki every so often. It'd
00:24:41
be the usual no updates, but she felt
00:24:44
like he was putting in real effort into
00:24:46
looking for her daughter and
00:24:47
grandchildren. So, at some point, it
00:24:49
kind of felt like this turned into an
00:24:51
investigation, right?
00:24:53
Yeah. But did they ever check the car
00:24:54
for evidence then? Like, go back and do
00:24:56
that?
00:24:56
I didn't say a good investigation. No.
00:24:58
So, according to Vicki, the car, you
00:25:01
know, she tried to keep it as long as
00:25:02
she could in case Jennifer came back,
00:25:03
but it got repossessed at some point,
00:25:05
though she can't remember exactly when.
00:25:07
So, whatever happened inside that car,
00:25:10
if anything, whoever was in it or if it
00:25:13
held any clues as to where to look for
00:25:14
Jennifer and the girls, that remains a
00:25:16
mystery. Even in spite of that, Vicki
00:25:19
had at least an ounce of confidence in
00:25:21
Topeka PD until 2011.
00:25:26
That's when she gets a call from a new
00:25:28
investigator in charge of the case
00:25:30
asking her to submit DNA. The
00:25:32
investigator won't give a reason why and
00:25:35
Vicki is living in Houston at the time.
00:25:37
So, she's like, "Sure, you know, the
00:25:38
next time I'm passing through Topeka,
00:25:40
I'll give you guys my DNA." But the
00:25:42
detective is like, "No, you need to go
00:25:44
to the nearest police station as soon as
00:25:46
possible and give them your DNA. Like,
00:25:48
please hang up now."
00:25:49
Uh, what do the police know that we
00:25:50
don't know?
00:25:51
Well, what do they know that even Vicki
00:25:52
doesn't know? cuz they won't even tell
00:25:54
her why. So, she goes to the Houston
00:25:57
Police Department to give her DNA and
00:25:59
she asks the detective there like, "Do
00:26:01
you know what's going on?"
00:26:02
Yeah.
00:26:02
And he tells her what police in Kansas
00:26:04
wouldn't. That police found female
00:26:07
remains in Illinois that they think
00:26:10
might be Jennifer.
00:26:14
Immediately, Vicki goes home and Googles
00:26:17
female remains in Illinois. But what she
00:26:20
finds like she's not seeing any
00:26:21
connection to the details like on
00:26:24
Jennifer's case like like she doesn't
00:26:25
see whatever it is police see. But you
00:26:27
know like is there something police know
00:26:28
that we don't know,
00:26:29
right? So she tries going to the police
00:26:31
to see how they're tying them together.
00:26:34
She calls Topeka PD back. Basically
00:26:37
everyone's saying like no one has the
00:26:38
details except for this one new
00:26:40
investigator and she isn't sharing. So
00:26:44
Vicki just gets left in the dark waiting
00:26:47
to see if her DNA is a match to this
00:26:50
dough. When the results finally come
00:26:52
back, it turns out not to be Jennifer.
00:26:55
And Vicki is relieved but also upset by
00:27:00
how detectives handled the whole
00:27:02
situation. Because listen, it doesn't
00:27:04
matter if it's been 25 years or 25 days.
00:27:07
The pain of a missing child never goes
00:27:10
away. So, like a bit more empathy from
00:27:13
police would have gone a long way with
00:27:15
her. And when Vicki shares her anger
00:27:18
with the detective's boss, she believes
00:27:20
that may have been the catalyst for what
00:27:22
happens next, or rather what doesn't
00:27:26
happen. Because after the DNA results
00:27:28
are in, Vicki says she never gets an
00:27:31
update on Jennifer's case ever again. My
00:27:35
hopeful little butt thought the boss was
00:27:37
going to be upset with how the detective
00:27:38
handled it, but no. the blue wall is
00:27:40
firm. Like, stand by your own. This is
00:27:44
like so disheartening. I mean, like the
00:27:46
I've seen this over and over, like the
00:27:48
more cases we've done, the more families
00:27:50
I've worked with, families really have
00:27:52
no rights when it comes to like how
00:27:55
they're treated or what they have access
00:27:57
to information wise.
00:27:59
But listen, if law enforcement is going
00:28:00
to protect their own, we can do the
00:28:02
same, right? And people do show up for
00:28:05
Vicki and really show up for Jennifer.
00:28:08
In 2015, Rich, the club manager, takes
00:28:11
it upon himself to start asking around
00:28:12
to see if anyone knew anything about
00:28:14
Jennifer's disappearance or if they'd
00:28:16
heard any updates. And his interest in
00:28:18
Jennifer's case rubs some people the
00:28:20
wrong way. I mean, police perk up when
00:28:22
they hear that he's asking around
00:28:23
because they immediately call him in and
00:28:25
start questioning him. Like almost like
00:28:28
he has something to do with that. And
00:28:29
he's like, "Listen, I didn't have
00:28:30
anything to do with this. I just feel
00:28:32
like it's wrong there wasn't a bigger
00:28:34
investigation and you guys seem to have
00:28:36
no interest. So, I'm just asking
00:28:37
questions because no one else is. Rich
00:28:39
says that no one at his club was ever
00:28:42
interviewed.
00:28:43
The club, which is like the one place
00:28:45
that could have held so many answers in
00:28:47
this case.
00:28:48
Exactly. I mean, it shows you what he's
00:28:49
talking about. Like the lack of
00:28:50
investigation of of not even like trying
00:28:52
to get to the people who might have
00:28:54
answers. Even after Rich left Baby
00:28:56
Dolls, he could never shake that sad
00:28:58
feeling he'd get for her mom who had to
00:29:01
go all those years with no answers. And
00:29:04
the fact that two little girls just
00:29:05
vanished, too. It just doesn't make
00:29:08
sense to him. But despite even his
00:29:10
asking, him hitting the pavement, nobody
00:29:14
knows anything. Now, in 2021, a cold
00:29:18
case investigator for the Shaunie County
00:29:20
DA's office takes over the case. And a
00:29:22
local reporter, Tim Wrencher, reports
00:29:25
again on Jennifer's disappearance. He
00:29:27
had done some in the past. It's in his
00:29:29
update article that Vicki sees this line
00:29:33
that doesn't make sense to her, right?
00:29:35
Like she's like reading about her own
00:29:36
daughter's case, like
00:29:38
but it says that the family didn't want
00:29:40
to be contacted.
00:29:42
The family Yeah. She's like, "Well, I
00:29:45
know that's not true. Nobody called to
00:29:47
ask me." So, she calls up the
00:29:50
investigator and asks where that
00:29:51
statement came from. And they tell her
00:29:54
that no one has reached out to her for
00:29:56
the past decade because of a note in her
00:29:58
file. I'm sorry, what note?
00:30:01
A note that says the family doesn't want
00:30:04
to be contacted about Jennifer's case.
00:30:06
What? Vicki says that the detective who
00:30:09
kept her in the dark about the Illinois
00:30:11
remains is the one who put that note in
00:30:14
there. and she doesn't know exactly why,
00:30:16
but Vicky thinks the detective may have
00:30:19
done it out of spite after she called
00:30:22
the the detective's boss and complained.
00:30:24
So, she was like punishing her. Mhm. So,
00:30:26
she has been in the dark, not knowing
00:30:28
anything for years because of this
00:30:30
little note sitting in Jennifer's case
00:30:32
file, which to her is heartbreaking for
00:30:36
me is rage inducing.
00:30:37
Yeah. And I would like to remind
00:30:39
everyone again that we tried to reach
00:30:41
out to police for records and for an
00:30:43
interview and record which by the way it
00:30:46
seems like they gave other journalists
00:30:48
but they would not talk to us. So I
00:30:50
can't tell you why that note was put
00:30:52
there at the detriment of Jennifer of
00:30:55
her girls and of their family. Add to
00:30:58
that heartbreak are the tips that come
00:31:00
in that the family has little way of
00:31:03
verifying but only adds to their terror.
00:31:06
Jessica told us that sometime in 2022, a
00:31:09
friend of a friend told her there was a
00:31:12
man who was known to traffic women out
00:31:14
of baby dolls specifically and he
00:31:18
operated, wait for this, between Topeka
00:31:22
and St. Louis. This man allegedly spent
00:31:25
time in prison for trafficking women and
00:31:27
the tipster who shared this information
00:31:28
with Jessica was so scared that she
00:31:30
wouldn't tell her what the man's name
00:31:32
actually was. So, without more
00:31:35
information to go off of, I can't really
00:31:37
say if this is a theory that could be
00:31:39
checked out, that was checked out, and
00:31:41
we couldn't confirm if Jessica ever
00:31:43
shared this information with police. So,
00:31:46
we don't know if it's something that
00:31:47
they've looked into. And it's not like
00:31:49
they're sharing anything with the family
00:31:50
either. At the end of the day, Vicki and
00:31:52
Jessica just want answers. It has been
00:31:55
25 years and there has been very little,
00:31:59
only a few blips of hope, including one
00:32:03
that came as we were writing this
00:32:05
episode. April 2025,
00:32:09
Jessica reached out to us after we had
00:32:11
interviewed her to tell us that someone
00:32:14
had contacted them. And this woman who
00:32:16
contacted them believes she's Monique,
00:32:19
Jennifer's youngest daughter, who
00:32:21
disappeared when she was just 5 weeks
00:32:23
old. Oh my god. And listen, her story is
00:32:25
harrowing. This woman, who I'm going to
00:32:27
call Nora, is living in Ontario, Canada.
00:32:31
Now, Nora heard some rumors around town
00:32:34
that her parents may not be who she
00:32:36
thinks they are, and that maybe she
00:32:39
should look into it. And after some of
00:32:41
her own research, she somehow came
00:32:43
across this missing person's case from
00:32:44
Kansas. Even after our team talked to
00:32:47
Nora ourselves, it's not super clear how
00:32:50
she specifically came across Jennifer's
00:32:52
case.
00:32:53
But it could all be about timing. You
00:32:55
see, her date of birth is the same as
00:32:58
Mo'Nique. At least what she told April
00:32:59
6th, 2000,
00:33:00
which is bananas.
00:33:01
I know. Especially because Jennifer's
00:33:03
family says that they have never had
00:33:06
anyone reach out claiming to be one of
00:33:07
the girls before in 25 years. So, when
00:33:11
this was going on, I mean, Jessica and
00:33:13
Vicki are feeling all of the emotions.
00:33:15
They are nervous. They are, of course,
00:33:16
hopeful that this could be the thing
00:33:18
they have waited decades for. And Nora's
00:33:20
got her own story to tell. She says that
00:33:23
she had been trafficked by the man she
00:33:26
believed to be her father. And so even
00:33:28
she wants answers. And when Jessica sees
00:33:31
what Norah looks like, she says it looks
00:33:33
a lot like her own daughter. So there
00:33:36
could be something there.
00:33:38
So what now? Like DNA testing? Are you
00:33:40
looking into her parents?
00:33:41
Okay. Well, so yeah, I have more
00:33:43
answers. So Jessica went to the Topeka
00:33:45
PD to try and get Nora set up for a DNA
00:33:47
test. You're never going to believe
00:33:49
this. They weren't super helpful.
00:33:52
her next step was to call the FBI hoping
00:33:55
that they could get something going like
00:33:58
and listen they didn't have anything
00:33:59
more than recommendations to offer like
00:34:01
there's nothing they can do but Jessica
00:34:04
was determined so she suggest that Nora
00:34:06
go ahead submits her DNA to the nearest
00:34:08
police station which we were able to
00:34:10
confirm with Canadian police that they
00:34:13
received her sample and are preparing to
00:34:16
send it to Topeka PD but that's where
00:34:18
their involvement ends and it becomes up
00:34:20
to law enforcement in Kansas to do
00:34:23
something with it. And we have no idea
00:34:25
how long that will take. Topeka PD told
00:34:29
Jessica initially that once the DNA
00:34:30
comes through, it'll likely have to be
00:34:32
sent over to the Kansas Bureau of
00:34:34
Investigation. They'll be charged with
00:34:36
the actual DNA testing. And that could
00:34:38
take weeks, it could take longer.
00:34:42
And you have to imagine trust between
00:34:44
Jennifer's family and Topeka PD is like
00:34:46
virtually non-existent by this point.
00:34:49
like they don't even feel if it gets
00:34:52
tested, they don't even feel confident
00:34:53
that they're going to like get updates
00:34:55
on the results. But then we had an idea.
00:34:57
We know the wheels of justice move slow.
00:35:01
I hate moving slow. I don't know if
00:35:02
you've met me.
00:35:04
understatement.
00:35:05
We're not looking to test evidence here,
00:35:07
right? Like when I started thinking
00:35:08
about it, I want to know if person A is
00:35:10
related to person B.
00:35:12
That's actually pretty easy.
00:35:13
Mhm. If both people are, you know,
00:35:15
readily willing to give their DNA, you
00:35:17
just got to go to a lab. Private labs do
00:35:19
this all the time. All you need is a
00:35:21
home kit. So, we had kits sent to Canada
00:35:25
and to Kansas. Vicki got the kit, sent
00:35:28
back her sample, and we got confirmation
00:35:31
from Nora that she received her kit. But
00:35:34
then a few days passed, and it was radio
00:35:36
silence.
00:35:38
We tried contacting her multiple times
00:35:41
and she just went dark on us and Jessica
00:35:44
hasn't heard from her since either.
00:35:47
So now Jennifer's family is left with
00:35:50
more questions than answers and
00:35:53
processing that what reignited a bit of
00:35:55
hope in the case is now shattered.
00:35:59
I mean I I'm like floored by this story.
00:36:02
I know.
00:36:02
So was
00:36:04
was all of it any of it real? like the
00:36:07
trafficking her parents.
00:36:09
I don't know, man. Like, like she she
00:36:12
submitted the DNA to to Canadian
00:36:14
authorities, right? It's like it's not
00:36:15
like she backed out then. Like, why now?
00:36:19
It's the timing that I think is so
00:36:22
weird. Like I said, not to get a single
00:36:24
call resembling this in 25 years and
00:36:27
then we show up and all of a sudden
00:36:30
this. I mean, I could get real
00:36:32
conspiratorial, right? like we're asking
00:36:34
around, we're submitting requests, we're
00:36:35
ruffling feathers, but like what if it
00:36:38
was just some cosmic blessing maybe,
00:36:40
right? Like that we're at the right
00:36:42
place at the right time. Not to take
00:36:44
away any pain that this caused,
00:36:46
maybe just help expedite the truth,
00:36:49
weed out any lies. I don't know because
00:36:51
I don't know what is truth and what is
00:36:52
lies still.
00:36:56
Hey guys, I'm jumping in here really
00:36:58
quick because there has been a
00:37:00
development over the weekend from the
00:37:02
time that we released this episode in
00:37:03
our fan club to when you're hearing it.
00:37:05
Why after the fan club episode went out,
00:37:08
Nora did reach back out to us. She said
00:37:11
that she had to leave the place that she
00:37:13
was at before, the one that we sent the
00:37:15
DNA test to, and now she's in a new
00:37:18
place and asked us to send a new test.
00:37:20
This is all developing as we speak. So,
00:37:23
we are currently trying to figure out
00:37:25
what's what. Figure out if that's
00:37:27
possible and what the best next step is.
00:37:30
If there are more developments, we'll
00:37:32
update you. This is like the perfect
00:37:33
thing to make sure you're following us
00:37:34
on social for cuz we'll make sure we get
00:37:36
any updates there and in the fan club.
00:37:39
Okay, back to the original story.
00:37:42
Vicky says that she wishes she would
00:37:45
have shared a little bit less about
00:37:46
Jennifer and her behavior with police
00:37:48
when she first reported her daughter and
00:37:50
granddaughters missing. like maybe they
00:37:53
would have taken it all the more
00:37:54
seriously from the beginning, but
00:37:56
hindsight is 2020 and she still holds
00:37:59
out hope that her granddaughters are out
00:38:01
there somewhere, whether they know who
00:38:03
they are or not. So, she has submitted
00:38:07
her DNA to law enforcement and her
00:38:09
granddaughter, Jessica's child, has
00:38:11
submitted her DNA to ancestry.com.
00:38:14
They're waiting for the day that a match
00:38:16
pops up and leads them to some answers
00:38:19
once and for all. And the family has a
00:38:22
message for Jennifer herself if she's
00:38:24
still out there.
00:38:25
I would just like to say to Jennifer
00:38:27
that, you know, I I hope they are and I
00:38:30
pray that they are safe. I really wish
00:38:34
that someday I would be able to hear
00:38:36
from Jennifer and know that they're
00:38:38
okay.
00:38:40
I'm not upset. I understand that things
00:38:43
happen sometimes and you just have to
00:38:45
get away. I just hope and pray that they
00:38:48
that she and the girls are happy and
00:38:51
healthy and together and they have a
00:38:53
support system together.
00:38:56
Jennifer would be 45 today. She had
00:38:59
blonde hair and blue eyes. She had
00:39:00
multiple piercings on her eyebrow,
00:39:02
tongue, and ears, plus a tattoo of low
00:39:06
rider on her left upper arm in green and
00:39:08
black, and another green and black
00:39:10
tattoo on her lower back. Sydney would
00:39:13
be 26 years old. She had black hair and
00:39:16
brown eyes. Her sister Mo'Nique was only
00:39:19
a month old and she'd be 25 today. She
00:39:22
also had black hair and brown eyes. And
00:39:24
if you're listening to this episode and
00:39:26
you have any information on what
00:39:27
happened to Jennifer or her daughters,
00:39:30
please reach out to Topeka PD at
00:39:32
7853689551.
00:39:36
You can also submit a tip to KBI
00:39:38
directly online or by calling
00:39:40
1800-572-7463.
00:39:44
And if you want to reach out to us, you
00:39:46
can email [email protected].
00:39:48
You can find all the source material for
00:39:50
this episode on our website,
00:39:52
crimejunkpodcast.com.
00:39:53
And you can follow us on Instagram,
00:39:55
crimejunk podcast.
00:39:56
We'll be back next week with a brand new
00:39:58
story.
00:40:02
[Music]