MS MS - Jessica Stacks, 28, missing from boat on Tallahatchie River, 1 Jan 2021

New Posts

Hi all.
I am new to WS but figuring it out. Pls be patient with me.
I am working on getting Jessica’s mother and family on WS. Goal is to hopefully go Live with Tricia since this case needs so much more publicity! Maybe some eyes out there for an upcoming search! If anyone has any expertise they can offer to help the family, please let us know.
 
Spider92 said:
Please see below
Verification Process for Professional or Insider Posters
Click to expand...

Cookie1313 said:
Hi all.
I am new to WS but figuring it out. Pls be patient with me.
I am working on getting Jessica’s mother and family on WS. Goal is to hopefully go Live with Tricia since this case needs so much more publicity! Maybe some eyes out there for an upcoming search! If anyone has any expertise they can offer to help the family, please let us know.
Click to expand...

The Verified Insider process is a great way to start.
 
Eight years of Dateline's Missing in America: 169 still missing

jessica_stacks_cropped.png


Jessica Stacks, 28, and her boyfriend were on a boat on January 1, 2021, somewhere along the Tallahatchie River in Union County, Mississippi, when she disappeared. Her boyfriend, Jerry Wayne Baggett, told law enforcement officials that he and Jessica had launched the boat into the river near the County Road 46 bridge in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day. They were on the water for a couple of hours when Jessica reportedly got out of the boat and made her way toward the north river bank in the direction of State Highway 30. Her purse and car keys were left behind, and her cell phone was later turned in by an individual who stated that he had it because Jessica and Baggett had planned to call him on it to be picked up at the end of their boating trip that day. Jessica was reported missing by her boyfriend at 10:15 p.m. that evening. Due to flooding, drones with thermal imaging cameras searched the river bottom between the Tallahatchie and Highway 30. A Mississippi Highway Patrol helicopter searched the river and river bottom downstream from County Road 46. When the flood waters receded, divers searched the river but found nothing. On January 2, investigators found a single green rubber boot with the top cut off. Baggett had told authorities previously that Jessica had cut the top off of her boot because it was rubbing on her leg. A coat believed to be Jessica’s was also found near the boot. Authorities have spent hours talking to Jessica’s boyfriend, but it has not led them to her. Sheriff Jimmy Edwards with the Union County Sheriff’s Office maintains that they “do not have any evidence that points to foul play at this time.” Jessica’s case is considered an “active” one, but he says no new evidence has developed. He added that they are following every lead and encourage anyone with information to call the sheriff’s office. Jessica is described as being 5’4” tall, weighs 110-125 lbs, with blonde hair and green eyes. She has multiple tattoos, including a puzzle piece with the names Cobie and Brayden. Anyone with information on Jessica’s whereabouts is asked to call the Union County Sheriff’s Office at 662-534-1943.
 
I only live a few hours south, and I had not heard of Jessica's case until stumbling upon it here on WS! I follow the news and social media, so it's sad that maybe there was only hyper-local coverage. After reading the entire thread, I'm not sure what I think happened. But I hope that all the focus on the river bottom in the early days didn't result in lost/degraded evidence elsewhere...
 
ms_writer said:
I only live a few hours south, and I had not heard of Jessica's case until stumbling upon it here on WS! I follow the news and social media, so it's sad that maybe there was only hyper-local coverage. After reading the entire thread, I'm not sure what I think happened. But I hope that all the focus on the river bottom in the early days didn't result in lost/degraded evidence elsewhere...
Click to expand...

I'm like you, I think I have only seen one local news report on this and I am in a news market that typically covers the entire state. I think if not for WS, then I wouldn't have seen it either. I don't understand why this is flying under the radar!
 
I can't believe it's going on a year since Jessica disappeared and there has been no updates, no pleas of help from bf, etc. My heart breaks for her family, especially three kids missing their Mom pretty badly right now.

Question to those of you who are familiar with this area and river...if she did fall in the river and drown, or placed in the water, would her body have likely been found by now? It sounds like the depth and conditions can vary drastically depending on the rainfall.

In the beginning though I was dubious about the circumstances I assumed still probably not foul play. I can see the scenario we have been given playing out if the couple got into an argument. She is upset, and wants to get out. He continues on and doesn't report her missing until hours later because he is POd and didn't think she was "missing", only assumes she is also PO and he can't reach her because she doesn't have her phone. He gets home, apparently he showers, she's still not home (did they live together?), then decides he better call LE to go out to look for her.

But, I don't believe that. Even if they argued wouldn't he at least make sure she got to the riverbank and off the river safely? Apparently someone got off the river since they found the spot where her boots and jacket were left, and someone had cut on a tree. If that someone were only her, and she's alive at the time, then I don't see her getting back into the river at any point for any reason (unless to get back in the boat) so she couldn't have accidentally drowned. So that means she would have had to have walked out of there and to ??? in her stocking feet and no jacket. From photos it doesn't seem so heavily wooded around the river and river bottom that if she'd had an accident or succumbed to the elements her body would have been found by now.

I have so many questions! Like, why did bf leave her purse in the boat? To be an AH? I assume when his son picked him up they gathered up everything else from the boat. And, why didn't they have proper oars? A small, flat shovel? Really? Who'd ever go down a river that was that deep on a little boat without oars/paddles? If he thought she had walked to the road to get a ride home then why did he jump right to calling LE instead of calling around to see if anyone had seen her? Presumably someone was caring for her kids while Jessica was on the river. Did he call that person or drive over to check if Jessica was there? imo that's the first place I'd look.

Those are just a few things I don't understand. With her not really being a local to the area perhaps locating her isn't a priority. (I believe she's from NY? Albany? Unless another Albany.) I don't like to generalize but my father's family is from the rural south and "the good old boy" network is still a thing in a lot places. Especially smaller communities where everybody's sister is married to everybody else's brother, and everyone and everyone's parents grew up there.

Sorry for subjecting you to my train of thought, and with my poor English no less. Thanks for bearing with me and please correct me if I have posted any wrong information.

If her mother is reading...you, Jessica's children, and the rest of her loving family are in my thoughts. I pray you find your daughter soon so you may begin healing and be able to live again, and that anyone who may be responsible for Jessica's disappearance is brought to justice.
I understand the pain. My nephew took his own life earlier this year. He was 28, too, at the time. It's very hard. My sister is struggling. All the "firsts without them" are really bad. Christmas seems like it's going to be the worst. But, the kids! We get by and we survive for them. (My nephew has two children.) And we keep their parents' memory alive, and always know what wonderful people they were in life.

*everything is jmoo*
 
Denniece said:
I can't believe it's going on a year since Jessica disappeared and there has been no updates, no pleas of help from bf, etc. My heart breaks for her family, especially three kids missing their Mom pretty badly right now.

Question to those of you who are familiar with this area and river...if she did fall in the river and drown, or placed in the water, would her body have likely been found by now? It sounds like the depth and conditions can vary drastically depending on the rainfall.

In the beginning though I was dubious about the circumstances I assumed still probably not foul play. I can see the scenario we have been given playing out if the couple got into an argument. She is upset, and wants to get out. He continues on and doesn't report her missing until hours later because he is POd and didn't think she was "missing", only assumes she is also PO and he can't reach her because she doesn't have her phone. He gets home, apparently he showers, she's still not home (did they live together?), then decides he better call LE to go out to look for her.

But, I don't believe that. Even if they argued wouldn't he at least make sure she got to the riverbank and off the river safely? Apparently someone got off the river since they found the spot where her boots and jacket were left, and someone had cut on a tree. If that someone were only her, and she's alive at the time, then I don't see her getting back into the river at any point for any reason (unless to get back in the boat) so she couldn't have accidentally drowned. So that means she would have had to have walked out of there and to ??? in her stocking feet and no jacket. From photos it doesn't seem so heavily wooded around the river and river bottom that if she'd had an accident or succumbed to the elements her body would have been found by now.

I have so many questions! Like, why did bf leave her purse in the boat? To be an AH? I assume when his son picked him up they gathered up everything else from the boat. And, why didn't they have proper oars? A small, flat shovel? Really? Who'd ever go down a river that was that deep on a little boat without oars/paddles? If he thought she had walked to the road to get a ride home then why did he jump right to calling LE instead of calling around to see if anyone had seen her? Presumably someone was caring for her kids while Jessica was on the river. Did he call that person or drive over to check if Jessica was there? imo that's the first place I'd look.

Those are just a few things I don't understand. With her not really being a local to the area perhaps locating her isn't a priority. (I believe she's from NY? Albany? Unless another Albany.) I don't like to generalize but my father's family is from the rural south and "the good old boy" network is still a thing in a lot places. Especially smaller communities where everybody's sister is married to everybody else's brother, and everyone and everyone's parents grew up there.

Sorry for subjecting you to my train of thought, and with my poor English no less. Thanks for bearing with me and please correct me if I have posted any wrong information.

If her mother is reading...you, Jessica's children, and the rest of her loving family are in my thoughts. I pray you find your daughter soon so you may begin healing and be able to live again, and that anyone who may be responsible for Jessica's disappearance is brought to justice.
I understand the pain. My nephew took his own life earlier this year. He was 28, too, at the time. It's very hard. My sister is struggling. All the "firsts without them" are really bad. Christmas seems like it's going to be the worst. But, the kids! We get by and we survive for them. (My nephew has two children.) And we keep their parents' memory alive, and always know what wonderful people they were in life.

*everything is jmoo*
Click to expand...

BBM No, she is local. She is from New Albany, Mississippi which is in Union County, where she is missing from.

I don't disagree with you about the good ole boy network, but as a person who was born and raised in MS, left to live in several other regions of the US and am now back here, I know that everywhere has its own similar networking. It just depends on who you are. JMO and for the record, I definitely believe that relationships (and corruption) are playing into why this case has been swept under the rug as it as been. Its a crying shame. JMO, again.

So, so deeply sorry about your nephew. I have a daughter the same age. I cannot imagine the heartache. Hugs to you and yours.
 
Quill said:
BBM No, she is local. She is from New Albany, Mississippi which is in Union County, where she is missing from.

I don't disagree with you about the good ole boy network, but as a person who was born and raised in MS, left to live in several other regions of the US and am now back here, I know that everywhere has its own similar networking. It just depends on who you are. JMO and for the record, I definitely believe that relationships (and corruption) are playing into why this case has been swept under the rug as it as been. Its a crying shame. JMO, again.

So, so deeply sorry about your nephew. I have a daughter the same age. I cannot imagine the heartache. Hugs to you and yours.
Click to expand...

Thank you. You're very thoughtful. I appreciate that. And thank you for clearing up for me where Jessica is from!
 
I think of Jessica often. It’s one of the more baffling cases to me. The only way any of it makes sense is if she was never on the boat to begin with or something happened on the boat long before she supposedly got out, waded to shore, left her boots stuck in the mud, and took off her coat. Why would it be hard to find her if that is indeed what happened?
 
Denniece said:
I can't believe it's going on a year since Jessica disappeared and there has been no updates, no pleas of help from bf, etc. My heart breaks for her family, especially three kids missing their Mom pretty badly right now.

Question to those of you who are familiar with this area and river...if she did fall in the river and drown, or placed in the water, would her body have likely been found by now? It sounds like the depth and conditions can vary drastically depending on the rainfall.

In the beginning though I was dubious about the circumstances I assumed still probably not foul play. I can see the scenario we have been given playing out if the couple got into an argument. She is upset, and wants to get out. He continues on and doesn't report her missing until hours later because he is POd and didn't think she was "missing", only assumes she is also PO and he can't reach her because she doesn't have her phone. He gets home, apparently he showers, she's still not home (did they live together?), then decides he better call LE to go out to look for her.

But, I don't believe that. Even if they argued wouldn't he at least make sure she got to the riverbank and off the river safely? Apparently someone got off the river since they found the spot where her boots and jacket were left, and someone had cut on a tree. If that someone were only her, and she's alive at the time, then I don't see her getting back into the river at any point for any reason (unless to get back in the boat) so she couldn't have accidentally drowned. So that means she would have had to have walked out of there and to ??? in her stocking feet and no jacket. From photos it doesn't seem so heavily wooded around the river and river bottom that if she'd had an accident or succumbed to the elements her body would have been found by now.

I have so many questions! Like, why did bf leave her purse in the boat? To be an AH? I assume when his son picked him up they gathered up everything else from the boat. And, why didn't they have proper oars? A small, flat shovel? Really? Who'd ever go down a river that was that deep on a little boat without oars/paddles? If he thought she had walked to the road to get a ride home then why did he jump right to calling LE instead of calling around to see if anyone had seen her? Presumably someone was caring for her kids while Jessica was on the river. Did he call that person or drive over to check if Jessica was there? imo that's the first place I'd look.

Those are just a few things I don't understand. With her not really being a local to the area perhaps locating her isn't a priority. (I believe she's from NY? Albany? Unless another Albany.) I don't like to generalize but my father's family is from the rural south and "the good old boy" network is still a thing in a lot places. Especially smaller communities where everybody's sister is married to everybody else's brother, and everyone and everyone's parents grew up there.

Sorry for subjecting you to my train of thought, and with my poor English no less. Thanks for bearing with me and please correct me if I have posted any wrong information.

If her mother is reading...you, Jessica's children, and the rest of her loving family are in my thoughts. I pray you find your daughter soon so you may begin healing and be able to live again, and that anyone who may be responsible for Jessica's disappearance is brought to justice.
I understand the pain. My nephew took his own life earlier this year. He was 28, too, at the time. It's very hard. My sister is struggling. All the "firsts without them" are really bad. Christmas seems like it's going to be the worst. But, the kids! We get by and we survive for them. (My nephew has two children.) And we keep their parents' memory alive, and always know what wonderful people they were in life.

*everything is jmoo*
Click to expand...
 
I have literally just joined WS as I stumbled upon this case on YouTube. I live in Northern Ireland so won't be of much help tip wise but this story has stirred me so much that I immediately set up an account on here. There are so,so many things left unanswered in this case so far and you have covered them all brilliantly,I thank you for that and I hope as I get used to the workings of WS I will be able to help with theories etc as eloquently put together as you have here but I think that may take a while,perhaps this case wasn't the one to introduce myself to WS but like I say there are so many questions and theories swirling around in my head I felt I had to do something!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Staff online

Members online

... and 196 more.
Total: 4,617 (members: 197, guests: 4,420)

Online statistics

Members online
197
Guests online
4,420
Total visitors
4,617
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,464
Messages
17,969,302
Members
228,774
Latest member
truecrime-hazeleyes
Back
Top