Police say, on the night of her murder, Jessica arrived home from work around 11:25. She had been staying with a friend at a home in Elkhart County -at 28765 Melody Lane. As she was collecting her groceries from the back seat, she was attacked.
"It appears she was hit with a piece of fire wood -- probably a couple feet long. They struggled and ended at the east end of the trailer in a bushy area," says Detective Captain Jeff Siegel of the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department.
Jessica was hit so hard with that branch, Siegel says, her arm was broken. Then police say, her attacker stabber her and left her to die. While no one saw what happened a boy inside the home could hear it.