How Did This Mom & Her Babies Vanish in Topeka? | Forensic Files

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

Today, we dive into the haunting disappearance of Jennifer Lancaster and her daughters, Sidney Smith and Monique Smith, who vanished from Topeka, Kansas, on May 12, 2000, leaving behind a trail of puzzling clues—a quilt-filled trash bag, an abandoned vehicle, and a mysterious Steak and Shake mailing from St. Louis. Through extensive research and our own investigative reporting, we uncover details about Jennifer’s life, her work at the gentleman's club Baby Doll’s, and the unanswered questions surrounding the case, including the elusive “Rich Christie.” Join us as we explore this unsolved mystery, featuring insights from family accounts and recent tips in hopes of uncovering new truths about their fate.

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About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

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Check out these other great crime channels: @rottenmangopod Diddy's Team: Jane Threw 1st Punch When She KNEW He Was Violent - Judge Calls Out Victim Blaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ztExT7C6c @KendallRae Abducted On Her Morning Run By Pure Evil: The Murder of Eliza Fletcher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KDDcC1n74I @LawAndCrime P. Diddy Speaks Up in Court as Defense Shocks Case With No Witnesses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlAlOfwgqaA @annieelise WARNING!: Tormented, Locked Up, & Murdered | The Tragic Death of Malinda Hoagland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlwyma31d-A

Brief Summary

Jennifer Lancaster and her daughters vanished in 2000, sparking a mystery involving potential foul play and recent developments suggesting one daughter may still be alive.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance. Jennifer Lancaster and her daughters vanish without a trace, leaving family in turmoil.
The Search Begins. Vicki Lancaster reports her daughter missing, sparking a desperate search.
A Disturbing Discovery. Jessica finds Jennifer's car, but it's been cleaned out and abandoned.
A Mysterious Caller. A man claims to have seen Jennifer at a club, but leads go cold.
A Strange Thank You Card. Vicki receives a thank you card from a Steak and Shake in St. Louis, raising questions.
The Mysterious Comment Card. A comment card raises questions about Jennifer's disappearance and possible foul play.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is like a needle in a haystack kind of thing.

6:06WatchJun 26, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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