AK AK - Jessica Baggen, 17, Sitka, 4 May 1996

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JeannieC said:
I meant if someone wanted to see if there was a suicide following her murder they could contact that organization and they would have that information.

I'm like you, I don't really think that plays into this murder. I could be wrong. Its just imo.
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Oh ok...thanks Jeannie. That makes sense now.
 
What about Jessica's boyfriend Travis Ray. I find it weird that he didn't involve himself in trying to solve the case.

If i was a guy and i was Jessica's boyfriend.. I would get involved in this case and try to find out who did this cold thing to my girlfriend.

Somewhere I read that Travis Ray admitted having sex with Jessica only once, but then it appeared he didn't have. I wonder if that was true or a lie. It looks weird.
 
Vikusha said:
What about Jessica's boyfriend Travis Ray. I find it weird that he didn't involve himself in trying to solve the case.

If i was a guy and i was Jessica's boyfriend.. I would get involved in this case and try to find out who did this cold thing to my girlfriend.

Somewhere I read that Travis Ray admitted having sex with Jessica only once, but then it appeared he didn't have. I wonder if that was true or a lie. It looks weird.
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Was Travis her boyfriend for very long? I'm sure he has been questioned. His parents might have told him to stay away. The boyfriend is always the first LE suspects.

The sex thing is strange..........
 
JeannieC said:
Was Travis her boyfriend for very long? I'm sure he has been questioned. His parents might have told him to stay away. The boyfriend is always the first LE suspects.

The sex thing is strange..........
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It didn't say for how long he has dated her, but he lied that he slept with her once. Somewhere i have read when they were questioning him. Fter that no news about him.
 
I did not see anything on this thread about the boyfriend,does anyone have a link where I can read it and is there a video of the confession of RB?
I hope this case gets solved very soon.my prayers are with the family.
 
That doesn't surprise me. Can you tell me where you got the information that DNA was not done on TR? I'm curious as so much about this case is close lipped.
 
Sorry for the late reply Norest.

Well, I read a page full of Articles on one site about this case. The page was pretty long. And there was no mention of Ray DNA check up..


I think the hair they found could have been Ray's. Since his hair was Blonde, and could have been mistaken as Red.. but who knows..

I do not remeber where I read such a long page.. I mean which of the links.. Looks like i will have to find it.. It could be in this forum.... or i did search..


I wonder if someone mentioned in article seeing Travis Ray leaving after Jessica left.. Hmm..

Am I making up a story? Right now I think i read that Travis Ray left 1 hr after Jessica left the party... I could be mixing up the other crime case with Jessica's case.

And the map I seen if i'm not wrong its about 30-40 minutes walk to the bridge from the party. Depends on how Jessica walked and how much she could see in the dark unless she had a flash light or something.

I need to find article and re-read it again to refresh my memory.

What I wrote above could be wrong.
 
From June 2015:

http://www.anchoragepress.com/cover-news/end-watch

By the end of the day Tuesday, those in the best position to unravel Alaska’s most convoluted cold case mysteries, to hunt down the rapists and murders who’ve beaten, stabbed, shot, strangled, suffocated and otherwise stolen the lives of more than 100 men, women and children in this state will have stepped away from their desks, gathered up their things, turned in their keys and walked out of their offices for the last time. Although the Alaska State Troopers’ Cold Case Unit has helped solve several high-profile cases, due to the state budget shortfall, as of July 1 this specialized unit will no longer exist...

Jessica Baggen’s family has been waiting nearly 20 years. Someone grabbed her off a Sitka bike trail sometime after 1:30 the morning on May 4, 1996, sexually assaulted her, stuffed mud and leaves down her throat until she suffocated and buried her naked body beneath dirt and brush.
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I know nobody has been on this thread in a few years but wanted to see if anyone has any new information on this case?

We moved to Sitka 6 months ago and I noticed a few weeks back flowers and candles on a bridge. Did a little digging and found out they were for Jessica. The park is basically across from my business so I'm just a bit curious about any new information on this case.
 
Reopening this cold thread on this cold case.

I think about Jessica's murder every now and then and wonder if it has ever been solved. I never met her, but I believe I heard her scream that night. I went to Sheldon Jackson College and was in the dorms in the wing closest to and facing the direction of where her body was found. It wasn't very cold -- my window was open. In fact, I recall that in the few weeks leading up to her murder that the weather was pretty nice. Warm for southeast Alaska. Jessica had walked through campus a few times wearing summer clothes and drawing attention from some of the boys.

The night she died I think I heard a scream at 11:30. I testified in the trial but that was many years ago, it could have been a different time though I was never out or up too late -- I was a bit of a nerd. I was up writing letters to friends when I heard the scream. It sounded to me like someone in the woods had fallen. I chalked it up to college students finding a spot to party. I do not ignore screams any longer.

The man who was tried had been a janitor at the school. I do not think he had been working for the school at the time of the murder, but he might have. I interacted with him a few times and he did not strike me as very intelligent. Once he was smoking in the restroom while scrubbing the urinals. He smelled of smoke often. (Though for the record, I value manual laborers and have always been kind to people in trades or so-called blue collar work.) I recall hearing that he was a heavy drinker. One rumor was that he confessed because his friends would go through the paper after a bender of his and point out the things in the police blotter that he had done.

I think that all of the students that lived at the school in the dorm closest to the murder site were interviewed by the police. As far as I know I am the only one that heard anything. I was the only student that was called as a witness for the trial.
 
This case has been with me for a while. In late September 2006, I was on the Alaska Ferry heading to visit my daughter further north. The ferry made several stops along the way, including Juneau and Sitka. We picked up a fresh passenger in Juneau; a middle-aged man that claimed he lived in Juneau with a wife and young daughter. He went to Sitka for work, although I don't remember what he said he did or where he worked. Being very familiar with Sitka, he offered to take me for a tour of the town. Following the tour, we were to have lunch at a Sushi place he frequented and I would pay in compensation for the tour. As we left the ferry in his truck, he took me past the marina. He interrupted his commentary of the marina to tell me about a girl that had been murdered in Sitka on her birthday and that her killer had never been found. His comments seemed very odd in the moment, but I shook it off and enjoyed the day. Following lunch, he asked if I wanted to see the wildlife sanctuary where they nurtured injured wild animals back to health. Being an animal lover, I jumped at the opportunity and we headed to the Raptor Center. It was an amazing place and I enjoyed the visit, but I began to feel anxious about getting back to the ferry before departure time. He insisted we take a short walk on the nature path and we walked down to the river where he talked about it being full of salmon at certain times of the year. I began to feel a growing anxiety that my host was not going to take me back to the ferry, and that I might be in mortal peril. Finally, he agreed to take me back to the ferry and I barely made it aboard before the ferry's departure. I have wondered, ever since, if I spent the day with a murderer. I know this narrative sounds harmless, but the vibes that were coming off of this person were unnerving and several of the friends that I had made on the ferry were concerned for me. Apparently they felt something was a bit off with this gentleman as well. Several years ago, I contacted the state police about my experience. They wrote back to me indicating that my narrative had been forwarded to the FBI; I have not been contacted by anyone from the FBI, nor have I heard from any law enforcement since.
 
Last edited:
Ryan McFarland said:
Reopening this cold thread on this cold case.

I think about Jessica's murder every now and then and wonder if it has ever been solved. I never met her, but I believe I heard her scream that night. I went to Sheldon Jackson College and was in the dorms in the wing closest to and facing the direction of where her body was found. It wasn't very cold -- my window was open. In fact, I recall that in the few weeks leading up to her murder that the weather was pretty nice. Warm for southeast Alaska. Jessica had walked through campus a few times wearing summer clothes and drawing attention from some of the boys.

The night she died I think I heard a scream at 11:30. I testified in the trial but that was many years ago, it could have been a different time though I was never out or up too late -- I was a bit of a nerd. I was up writing letters to friends when I heard the scream. It sounded to me like someone in the woods had fallen. I chalked it up to college students finding a spot to party. I do not ignore screams any longer.

The man who was tried had been a janitor at the school. I do not think he had been working for the school at the time of the murder, but he might have. I interacted with him a few times and he did not strike me as very intelligent. Once he was smoking in the restroom while scrubbing the urinals. He smelled of smoke often. (Though for the record, I value manual laborers and have always been kind to people in trades or so-called blue collar work.) I recall hearing that he was a heavy drinker. One rumor was that he confessed because his friends would go through the paper after a bender of his and point out the things in the police blotter that he had done.

I think that all of the students that lived at the school in the dorm closest to the murder site were interviewed by the police. As far as I know I am the only one that heard anything. I was the only student that was called as a witness for the trial.
Click to expand...

I have to ask if the janitor was ever questioned by LE? Did he have a prior criminal record you might be aware of? I would love to see her case solved. She deserves justice.
 
krb59 said:
This case has been with me for a while. In late September 2006, I was on the Alaska Ferry heading to visit my daughter further north. The ferry made several stops along the way, including Juneau and Sitka. We picked up a fresh passenger in Juneau; a middle-aged man that claimed he lived in Juneau with a wife and young daughter. He went to Sitka for work, although I don't remember what he said he did or where he worked. Being very familiar with Sitka, he offered to take me for a tour of the town. Following the tour, we were to have lunch at a Sushi place he frequented and I would pay in compensation for the tour. As we left the ferry in his truck, he took me past the marina. He interrupted his commentary of the marina to tell me about a girl that had been murdered in Sitka on her birthday and that her killer had never been found. His comments seemed very odd in the moment, but I shook it off and enjoyed the day. Following lunch, he asked if I wanted to see the wildlife sanctuary where they nurtured injured wild animals back to health. Being an animal lover, I jumped at the opportunity and we headed to the Raptor Center. It was an amazing place and I enjoyed the visit, but I began to feel anxious about getting back to the ferry before departure time. He insisted we take a short walk on the nature path and we walked down to the river where he talked about it being full of salmon at certain times of the year. I began to feel a growing anxiety that my host was not going to take me back to the ferry, and that I might be in mortal peril. Finally, he agreed to take me back to the ferry and I barely made it aboard before the ferry's departure. I have wondered, ever since, if I spent the day with a murderer. I know this narrative sounds harmless, but the vibes that were coming off of this person were unnerving and several of the friends that I had made on the ferry were concerned for me. Apparently they felt something was a bit off with this gentleman as well. Several years ago, I contacted the state police about my experience. They wrote back to me indicating that my narrative had been forwarded to the FBI; I have not been contacted by anyone from the FBI, nor have I heard from any law enforcement since.
Click to expand...

Wow now that is quite an adventure you had. Do you remember his name? Have you tried to contact him on social media at all? If I were you I would contact the FBI directly and tell them your story. Also I'm guessing you felt safe enough to go on this tour with a stranger? I'm not trying to be rude I'm just wondering what made you feel safe to leave with him? May I ask you what this mans race was?
 
It's been several years since I was here to report on this case. I have gone on to another case and written a book about it. I am back now because Jessica will absolutely have a chapter in it. I became frustrated trying to get information about Jessica back then. I contacted the family and they attacked me for wanting to find the killer. They told me to back off. So, out of respect for them, I did.

This case has never left me as Jessica went to school with my daughters. The Baggens had five daughters, and so did I. The girls all knew each other. But, I did back off, as they were quite rude and just didn't want any spotlight (which I guess I understand).

A couple of years ago, I found one of the investigators that was brought in by Sitka PD. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with him about the case. Although he could not give me any specifics, he did say that there were some problems within the PD at this time. He also said that he knew the family quite well and talked to them often. He said that they are very suspect of literally anyone, so this is probably why they did not want to talk to me.

The last question I had for him was - "Do you or does the family think that they know who killed Jessica?" He replied in the affirmative. I do not know what this means exactly as to whether it was someone at the party or possibly the original suspect.

I just wanted to update everyone here on where I was with this. My newest book will be about lesser known crimes that seem to have been lost in the cracks.
 
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