Missing Wix Girls /// Part 2 /// 916 | Forensic Files

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enough of the business. >> All right, everybody, gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk
some true crime. When and where we left off from episode one was the largest, the biggest pivotal
moment in our timeline, and that is Thursday, March 25th, 2004. This is when Jennifer, age 22, and her
little daughter, age two, Adriana Wix, vanished. After that date, we have no sight, no sound of either.
So March 26th and 27th, 2004, are going to be filled with alarm, conflicting stories,
and a missing person's report. On March 26th, 2004, Jennifer's mother, Kathy, became alarmed when she couldn't reach
her daughter, Jennifer. Now, as we had said before, Jennifer might not have spoken to her mother daily, but Jennifer
rarely went a full day without speaking to someone in the family. And remember, she had
promised to call her mother on this day. Now, as Kathy searched for a way to reach Jennifer,
the family learned some information that immediately felt very wrong. Joey told Jennifer's sister, Heather, that he and
Jennifer had broken up, and that he had dropped Jennifer and Adriana off at a gas station. But Joey gave a different
explanation to Jennifer's cousin, Jeremy. Remember, Jeremy is Joey's good friend, the one that introduced
Jennifer to Joey. Right. >> So Joey tells Jennifer's cousin, Jeremy, his friend, saying that Jennifer had
gone to a friend's house, naming a friend identified as Helga. So I want to I want to go into this a little bit more
here. We're going to We'll circle back to the gas station story in just a bit. But for this story
of him telling Jeremy that Jennifer had gone to a friend's house, the way that this comes about is
that night, on the 26th, they are Jeremy and his significant other, along with another couple, they are at Joey's
property for a bonfire that night. This was prearranged. It was They were plans that
they had made earlier in the week. And it was supposed to be a couple's thing. So there should be three couples there.
However, missing from that equation is Jennifer. So when the other couples inquired as to, well, you know, where's
Jennifer? Thought we were all hanging out. He says, "Oh, she's at a friend's house."
And he references this friend named Helga. Does he say that they broke up? That part is missing from the story.
That's interesting. I I don't know if that was part of the equation or part of the story, but it
it's not as far of as what I have been able to find. Now, that doesn't gel well with him telling
Jennifer's sister, Heather, that they had broken up. So Yeah. On March 27th, Kathy calls Helga. This is somebody that
the family knew, knew well. Helga says she hadn't heard from Jennifer, and actually
being told that she [snorts] was at Helga's, this made Helga think something must be very wrong here. And
Kathy agrees, she thinks something's very wrong. She already thought something was very wrong the prior day.
Now, this Helga story gets to her, she reaches out to Helga, there's no Jennifer. So Kathy filed a missing
person's report for Jennifer and Adriana on March 27th, 2004. They filed this report with the Robertson County
Sheriff's Department. To which the Robertson County Sheriff's Department then issued a bolo, a be on the lookout
for mother and daughter. That same night, a deputy from the Sheriff's Department
went to the Benton home to perform a welfare check. Joey, as the report goes, is the only one that
is home at the time of this welfare check. Or at least, he answers the door, and the deputy does not believe anybody
else to be in the home. Joey tells the deputy, "Look, I understand that you're here for
a welfare check. However, she's not here. Jennifer's not here. Adriana's not here. I haven't seen them." And he tells
the officer, "If you want to come inside, you're going to need to come back with a warrant if you want to search
this property." Back to the gas station story here, captain. Joey's Joey Benton's accounts
of what happened involved a gas station, a white car, and then Jennifer returning. Okay, so the way that this
goes down, Joey provided law enforcement with a nice little narrative here. He claimed that he and Jennifer argued.
They broke up, and Jennifer asked for a ride to a grocery store in Cross Plains so that she could use the phone. Joey
said that he drove Jennifer and Adriana to the grocery store, and then drove the
two of them to an Exxon gas station near exit 112. This is off of Interstate 65,
and he said that this would have been around 9:30 p.m. on March 25th, 2004, the night the day in question. He claims
that he parked his vehicle in a church lot, which is across the street from the gas station.
He wants to keep an eye on Jennifer. And he says while he's parked over there, he
watched Jennifer and Adriana get into a white four-door early 1990s mid-size car
as he described it, though he did not see the driver. Over time, my friend, accounts of Joey's car description
became and should be and should remain a focal point, okay? Because Joey initially
described this to be a {quote} white four-door Mustang or a {quote} white four-door Camry. The problem with that
statement, Captain, is those cars don't exist. 2004, they don't exist. There's not a four-door Mustang.
There's not a four-door Camry. Right. Jennifer's family says this is nonsensical. This cannot be. The
family also stated that an original police report containing that early description of the white vehicle,
they say it was later amended and that a conflict arose over what Joey actually said or did not say, all right? What did
he say in that report? What did he not say because they say that it he said it was a white
four-door Mustang doesn't exist. White four-door Camry doesn't exist. And that that was later changed in the police
report. And the family says, "We can prove that he originally made those statements because we have retained the
original version of that report stating those statements to the sheriff's department." The way that this goes
down, as I understand it, is that after Joey gave his initial statement to the sheriff's department, that his
father or somebody in Joey's family went to the sheriff's department in protest to get the statement changed. As I
understand it, the statement was then changed, the official record, as it were, was changed.
And I do believe there were some kind of repercussions for whoever amended that statement within the
sheriff's department. Had some kind of punishment, I guess, or consequence. That's bizarre. The bizarre-ness
continues. It continues. Continuation of bizarre-ness. Yeah. To be continued with bizarre-ness.
>> that a lot. I question if it's a word. It's a garage word, if you will. Joey claims that on March 26th, so this would
be the following day, 2004, so the day after the gas station story, Yeah. that Jennifer returned to his house, the
Benton house. He says she was alone. She was driving that same white vehicle. He said that
she came there with the purpose of retrieving her income tax refund money, which
that does make some sense, okay? There there is some sense to this statement because what we do know took place is
she did get a tax refund that year. And that's about the time of year when you you get your tax return money.
She didn't >> any resources. She doesn't have resources. She doesn't have a bank
account. And so when the check came in, the check was given to Joey's parents so
one of them could cash it or put it in their bank account. He says she returned to the house to
retrieve the tax refund money. Joey claims his parents weren't home, so she would have to come back at another
time to to gather the money, but she did, according to Joey, collect some of Adriana's
and her personal things while she was there, saying that she took Adriana's diaper bag and other items and then
left, saying she would return later at a later time or date for the money. Jennifer's family
saying, "Look, okay, whatever, good story, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us because later they're
going to find other items that Jennifer would have had to have left behind. And they say that these items
would have been essential for Jennifer to take with her. These are not items that she would have abandoned and
just left at Joey's property. And these items include we we we don't have a full
inventory here, but Jennifer's glasses, which she she didn't need all the time, but needed a decent amount of the time.
It's a valuable item to somebody. A safety item here, too, Captain. Adriana's car seat. There there was a
time in my life where I was terrified to be without a car seat. The problem with
all these stories is leading up to all this, we have a a child with an infection. So we have no record
of her getting treatment for that infection. >> That's correct. I I don't know if
treatment was was required. We do know that she did see and receive medical attention,
right? She was a a diagnosis, had the advice of the persons in the ER, as well as her regular physician. So I don't
know if it was required, but she did see and receive medical attention as far as
that is concerned. But that's that's an interesting thing here, too, because often times if you're prescribed
medicine, I would think in that case maybe that's some kind of topical or something that
you might need. I don't I don't know. Uh but you often times you can't pick that
up right away. It's got to be called in. But yeah, you're exactly right. But the
list, while we don't have the inventory, there's a kind of general statement of well, she left a lot of her belongings
behind. And what her family is saying is a lot of that included what they deemed
to be daily necessities, be it either for Jennifer or Adriana or both. Her family also emphasized the emotional
reality of taking a 2-year-old and going away with somebody, leaving on her own, or what
have you. They're saying that Adriana had a lot of comfort items. You know, even
us as adults, we have comfort items, but especially a 2-year-old is going to have
comfort items. And the one of the things they specifically reference here is an Elmo toy
that the little girl was known to be obsessed with. This wasn't one person in the family saying this. This was a lot
of people in the family saying this. And they all found it very difficult to believe that Jennifer would leave
without these things, but especially without the Elmo toy that the kid carried around 24/7.
Especially you got all this movement going on. Th- This would be something that would calm and soothe the little
girl. You're taking this item. I mean, there's parents out there listening to this right now going, "Yeah.
Yeah, I'm I'm I'm going way out of my way to find that Elmo toy and deliver it to the toddler and keep it with her."
They get it. Another detail heightened the family's suspicion around the the whole timeline
and all the events within the timeline. One one event we didn't get to yet actually took place on March 25th. So
this would be the day in question, right? This This to me, and I hope we have time to circle back to this before
we wrap today because uh this one, my friend, I I put a big big question mark on this this
event here. So on March 25th, 2004, Joey got a ride to work in Franklin, Kentucky from Jennifer's cousin,
Jeffrey. Remember, Jeffrey's his real good friend. This is a matter of fact because Jeffrey
told this to police. Jeffrey told police that Joey, at some point during the work
day, received a call at work and then abruptly said to Jeffrey, who he's relying on transportation
from, he says, {quote} "We have to leave now." End quote. citing a family matter.
And Jeffrey says that they left Franklin they left Franklin, Kentucky shortly after this request, heading home,
heading back to the Benton family property. And within within the family's understanding here, this fell close to
the last confirmed time that anyone had heard from Jennifer Wix. Well, yeah, and
this goes back to my statement is is Joey involved or is his mother involved or is the father involved or
anybody on this compound or is it a combination of people? Exactly. And of course, the search is
going to begin the 26th, carry on through the 27th. The the searches will escalate
on March 29th. This is when searches escalate, but the Benton family cooperation
will seemingly end Oh, surprise, surprise. timeline. Yeah. So law enforcement, they're seeking
answers to the missing individuals. They are seeking these answers. They or at least they sought these answers on the
Benton property. And to which the Benton family initially agrees to allowing them to search. On
March 29th, Robertson County Sheriff's deputies conducted a walk-through of the Benton home looking for signs of a
struggle or evidence of foul play. Over time, multiple searches occurred in parts of the property or on parts of the
property. Authorities reported draining a pond and searching surrounding areas without
finding Jennifer or Adriana. The Benton family was questioned and claimed to know nothing. After four searches, they
stopped cooperating. Okay, so keep in mind though if something bad happened >> to give them a little bit of a pass,
right? Yeah. >> Cuz they were being cooperative, right? So if they're not involved at all, you
could see a situation where you go, "Well, yeah, I understand that we have a [ __ ] ton of land and I understand that
we have a [ __ ] ton of [ __ ] trees here and that you want to go sniffing around
our [ __ ] But you did four searches. Okay. We we are now going to say you want to search more,
you're going to have to force us to let you search our property again." Yeah, and
the other thing we need to point out, too, is Joey did agree to a polygraph examination. Oh, really?
He submitted to a polygraph and he and he passed it. Oh, [ __ ] He passed it now
>> coming. So the thing I wanted to point out before we got to the polygraph portion of this was
yes, they agreed to the search. Yes, they agreed to allow them to walk through the Benton home, the the ranch
home. I think one thing that complicates this searching scenario is that other families live on this very large
property. Right. >> So who owns what, who can give permission for what seems a little
dicey, little shaky to me, but they allowed the walk-through, but keep in mind this walk-through that they're
allowing is taking place March 29th. The day in question, night in question is March 25th. So you got
about three, four days to clean up any messes, hide things if you need to. Not saying that that's what
happened, but my pushback would be that when they first went out to the property, when first called on the 26th
or 27th, they got told no. And yes, they did agree on the 29th, but originally and it sounds like it was only Joey's
call. Maybe he made a bad call and told them no, but or maybe he was just angry,
what have you, but earlier he told them no on the 29th, they're allowed in. And it could be as
simple as Joey thinking, "Look, this isn't my home, it's my parents' home, they're not home, I'm not giving you a
permission unless you speak to my parents." The way that the record is or what has been reported
all these years is that he said, "You got to come back with a search warrant." Now, back to the polygraph here,
Captain. He agreed to the polygraph, he passed it. And that's according to Robertson County
Sheriff's Department. Right. He was asked at a later date, I don't I don't know how much time
transpired between test number one and then the request for a second polygraph examination,
but you read some of these reports and it's kind of short and sweet where it says he declined a second polygraph.
One version that's much more interesting, however, is that he agreed to the second polygraph examination, got
as far as being in the building and but before the test could start, his dad, Joe Sr.,
starts acting up and yelling about something, causing a commotion, and then during which Joe Jr. says, "Nope, I'm
out of here, I'm not taking your test." Yeah. Now, while investigators worked, Jennifer's mother, Kathy, did what
families often do when silence stretches too long without answers. She tried to replace that silence with
getting vocal, getting out there. She took time off of work, put up flyers, she was searching for and pushing leads.
The Robertson County Sheriff's Department would very quickly start working with the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to generate national publicity. We do have a little girl
missing here. Tips do come in, but as we know, none none, unfortunately, brought
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the air. Cheers to you, Colonel. Raise them high, my friends. Raise them >> Raise them high in the sky.
Over time, authorities moved on they they started treating the case differently. They moved on from treating
the case as a missing person's case toward investigating a double homicide. Reports cited
investigators acknowledging by the third anniversary of this disappearance that the case was being investigated as a
double homicide with leads pursued across the country. So they said they they were receiving leads
that they pursued that came in from California, Florida, Michigan, and Oklahoma.
Unfortunately, these leads seem to have dried up, didn't go very far, even though it took them very far. In
July of 2011, they're working once again with the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children. This was with the purpose of releasing an aged an age-progressed image showing what
Adriana might look like as a 9-year-old little girl. Again, this produced tips. Again, none produced answers. Yeah, but
a a lot of times with these cases, people want to help. So they might have saw something small and and they don't
know if it it matters to the case, so let's call it in. Or how many times do we get emails after we cover a case
where somebody says, "Hey, I was listening to your podcast and I had a hunch." And again, they're not they're
not stupid or naive, they just want to try to help. And if I could give this information to somebody, maybe it could
move the needle forward. But it's also just difficult when you have missing people and no sign of a
crime or no sign of a homicide, because really you need to investigate all these cases as a
homicide first. But and then it's hard to go back I'm just going to use the Brian Shaffer case as example, cuz you
know, we we've been trying to collect some more evidence behind the scenes on that case, but when
you're talking to these investigators and these detectives, certain steps didn't happen because it was just a
missing person case and he could show up the next day and then no big deal. But now 20 years
later and he's still missing, they wish they could go back and go, "Well, I wish
I would have talked to that person more or I wish I would have followed up on this other lead that I got a little bit
more." But at the time it was just a missing person case. >> In 2013, this case was formally reclassified
as a homicide. So, there was talks of it being looked at that way around the third
anniversary, but it would be 2013 that it was formally reclassified. Robertson County authorities held a
press conference. The sheriff announced that investigators believed Jennifer and
Adriana were dead. He said new information developed in the prior weeks led them to conclude there had been foul
play and that investigators with the cooperation between the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and
the Robertson County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department underscored a key point during the press
conference saying despite years of investigative work and numerous interviews Joey Benton's story of taking
Jennifer and Adriana to the grocery store then the Exxon gas station and then seeing Jennifer return the next day
was never independently corroborated. Sheriff Holtz did not publicly label Joey as a suspect, but he did state that
no one had been eliminated as a suspect including Joey. Yeah, because when somebody's
telling you the story and like you said he passes a test. But if they're calling
him back in, I wonder if it's just like faulty equipment possibly or maybe they just felt like there was some reason
that maybe he passed or maybe they weren't happy with the questions that they gave him so they called in another
expert just to get a second opinion. But he tells you this story about a vehicle or two vehicles that don't
really exist and then I'm sure investigators then go back to the gas station and go, "Hey, did you see a
lady with her kid here? And did you see her get picked up by this person?" And so we have the the gas station story and
then we have the story of her coming back to his property and then I'm sure they talked to the other family members
on the compound and go, "Did you see this vehicle?" And if nobody's coming out and saying that we saw this vehicle
or we saw, you know, a lady with her kid then you go well this story could be complete horse [ __ ]
Joey's grandmother, this is Carol Benton she spoke publicly spoke out publicly as
well at this point. She said the family had cooperated initially and she did express
a lot of sorrow that Jennifer and Adriana were missing but insisted that the the missing two they were not on the
Benton family property and that the Benton family knows nothing. They they have no idea where the two have gone.
She also acknowledged that the openly that the family later refused additional searches when those searches were
requested. In February of 2014, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam announced a $15,000 reward for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible in this case. Jennifer's family added an
additional $10,000 bringing the total to 25 K. The family later emphasized regardless of bureaucracy or the age of
the pledges that came to get to that $25,000 that they would do what they had to do to ensure that someone who came
forward to help would be paid in some form or fashion possibly the full amount. We've had, you know, many years
have gone by since those that reward money was presented so I I don't know the state of it. In 2021
Jennifer's family arranged for a private search using cadaver dogs on parts of the Benton property where permission was
obtained. The way that this works is the grandfather Joey's grandfather was getting up there
in age. The case was still in the media. The story was still in the media and I don't know if it was under pressure or
if, you know, just hey, let's let's let them search one last time and and kind of be done with this. Uh so, the
grandfather agreed to allow them to bring cadaver dogs. This was a private search though. This wasn't police
conducting it. It wasn't the Sheriff's Department conducting it. I am a little disappointed in the way this was
reported that the family Jennifer's family reached out to the Sheriff's Department said, "Hey, we're we're doing
the search using cadaver dogs. We have permission from the Benton family. Uh can you be out here during this time?"
And from from the way that it's been reported and from my review, the Sheriff's Department was kind of like,
"Well, if you find anything, let us know." I don't want to beat up on anybody too badly here, but chain of
custody is extremely important when we're talking about evidence. I don't know why you wouldn't at least send one
one car out there, one badge and one car out there to just sit sip water and and observe. Anyway. Yeah,
pick up on >> But nobody's paying me to run a run a county, but so what do I know? The dogs
reportedly here Captain alerted >> alerted on a at a spot at a location in the woods.
>> Yeah. The family dug but found nothing. They did report this to law enforcement
and as far as as far as the public record goes or as far as I know, law enforcement had
no follow-up to to finding this. Now, the dogs, you've heard me say it. If you listen to this isn't your first time
listening to the show, I look, I love these dogs. Years ago, we True Crime Garage, we
provided a county with a with a police dog. They're very expensive. We provided a county in Florida with a police dog.
So, I'm very proud that we were able to do that. These dogs are incredibly valuable to police. They're to police
work. We're still paying on the dog. The one part of this though that is always kind of a hiccup is the dogs can't talk.
Even if no matter how smart they are, no matter how well trained they are, no matter how well trained the handler is,
the dogs can't talk. They were hitting on that location for a reason. What that reason is is left to our interpretation.
Now >> Yeah, but they find nothing. >> Well, just to be clear dogs can't talk, but you have to be extremely high
and they really just they talk a lot of gibberish. >> Well, the thing I wanted to point out
here though Captain is that our date in question when our our individuals that we're looking for go
missing is 2004. This private search is conducted in 2021. A lot of stuff can happen in that time
period and >> Absolutely. >> what I'm getting at in a very roundabout way and it's not out of the realm of possibility
that someone or something could have been buried there or concealed at that spot in haste and then at a later date
and time removed. Yeah, and just to play devil's advocate when you have a [ __ ] ton of property then and now I'm
going by the the real estate >> and under on the S word for these episodes is at 30. [laughter]
It's uh my new favorite word this week. But when you have a lot of property there there's a very good possibility
that you have an animal that dies and then there's decomposition and I know that the decomposition is
different for animal than for a human, but if you have a lot of property, I'm sure there's plenty of
animals that have passed away on your land and you didn't even know know about it.
>> A question for you my friend, does a body in this particular case, in your opinion, does it lead to
an arrest here Captain? >> Does a body? I think you need a body in order to try to get a conviction. Yes.
>> Right. I agree on that, but what what I'm getting what I'm saying is I guess my question was flawed. I apologize.
Uh you know, we've seen cases where all they are is waiting on finding that body
and then then charges will be filed. Right? We've seen those cases. This case to me feels like and I apologize to
Jennifer's family for saying this, but from what I've reviewed, it feels like there's a lot missing. So, to me
where where the body could be helpful to getting to those charges I think what is very key here and it
keeps that's where my mind keeps going back to the idea of maybe something could have been concealed or buried in
haste and then later removed. Right. I think that a very important part here would not just be
the discovery of a body, but where the body or bodies were found. Right? Like I mean, if
they're found on the Benton property, that's a whole bigger can of worms than if Jennifer unfortunately would be found
several counties away. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Yes. All right. So, I've [clears throat]
already opened up the crazy door here. So, I'll just I'll just keep it going. Cuz some other things that I cannot
shake some other suspicions and ideas that I cannot shake. And there's no polite way
to say this, so I'll just say it. I'm sure there's Look, our listeners are fantastic, extremely bright, most of
them smarter than us. But I'm So, I know somebody out there driving their car jogging on the treadmill, lifting
weights, cutting the grass, they're thinking the same thing. Somebody out there is
thinking this crazy garage theory here, Captain. With the child's illness, let's call it an illness, but
we we know the the part of the body, the portions of the body that uh they were examining and what the
medical findings were were were. They said it could be as simple as staying in a diaper too long, but they did say it's
uncommon to professionals as far as everything I've reviewed, at least two professionals said this was uncommon.
Could this be a an indicator of some form of sexual abuse on this child? If it were to be evidence or indicators
of such the persons that would have to be looked at the most in my humble garage opinion
would be Joey or his father, Joe. And that create You want to say that there was
stress, turmoil, conflict within that home prior to going to the ER? Can you imagine if that was the suspicion after
leaving the ER and what that could result in? Well, and that could have also been their motivation for saying,
"Hey, you don't need to take her to the doctor." True. Right. Hide it. Um it's very difficult for us to determine
what was going on inside those four walls. Very suspicious of the diagnosis that takes place and also the timing of
that diagnosis. That happens Look, there was problems before. There was There were severe,
horrible problems before going to the ER. They disappear almost immediately after, right? Within within
days, 48 hours, 72 hours of that that of of the ER visit? Absolutely. Timing timing is everything
in these cases. We say it time and time again, but it's all it can also be revealing. It can also be revealing. And
then then let's go down a a whole different other road here, please. Let's Let's
ignore everything that I just said. We do know that there were heated arguments, violent arguments between
Joey and Jennifer. We have at least one family member We have multiple family members on Jennifer's side reporting
that there were arguments and problems between her and Joey's mom. And we have at least one family member on Jennifer's
side saying that Jennifer at some point expressed that she was scared. She was afraid of Joey's mom. And then you have
that story from Jeffrey saying, "Look, we were at work and all of a sudden we get this he get he gets a call and says,
"We got to leave now. We have to leave now." And says there's like a family issue. But no no better description than
that. We have to leave now. If the path I'm trying to take you all down is this.
Was he able to pass that polygraph examination because he doesn't fully he didn't witness what happened, but he
came home to help clean it up? He He kind of knows, but he doesn't know Right. I was going to That could be a
t-shirt. He kind of knows, but he doesn't know know. Like he doesn't know. But And then like then I have to wonder,
too if this case has not allowed me to sleep very much in the past couple of days.
The other thing I have to wonder about, too, is like let's say that something sporadic took place, something
instantaneous, there's some kind of eruption, some kind of fight that breaks out, parties involved don't know, but
it's Jennifer and somebody and something happens, knee-jerk reaction, smack her over the head with
something or a trigger is pulled or or choking, whatever. There's We've reviewed hundreds of cases. There
are bad people out there. There are people that do things in one moment that they would never do for the rest of
their lives. That could be here, too. But there are there are people out there that in the heat of the moment they
would be they would strike out, lash out, and harm someone, hurt someone, kill an adult would never be able to
harm a little tiny kid. And is Is there a possibility you know, I've heard the family say that
you know, we've kind of lost hope in that regard of them being alive, but is there possibility that something
terrible happened to Jennifer and then this this little girl, only two at the time
she could have been re-homed. She'd be in her 20s now. Yeah. Anything is possible. I mean, all All of
the time in these cases when uh NCMEC when National Center for Missing Exploited Children are involved and they
do these age progressed images and I've been lucky enough to meet uh the the team members there in
one of their in their home office in Virginia that that work on these every day. That's That's
their only job is to work on age progressions uh of these missing little kids. They do a fantastic It's It's really
truly fascinating the way that they do it. You guys should reach out to us. We'll
have you on the podcast. I'd love to I I can't explain it. It's too it it's too involved for me to be able to explain it
in any intelligent manner to our listeners. But in this case, you know, it's always important to have those age
progression images, but in this case, I mean, I see it as it being a a strong possibility here uh in this.
And And speaking of which, in 2022, so very recently, Tennessee officials did release another age progressed photo of
Adriana Wix. And 2023, Captain, they assigned a new detective to the case. The Robertson County
Sheriff's Department has assigned a new detective. The family for all these years, they've continued
pushing the case publicly through vigils, rallies, balloon releases, billboards, podcasts, social media,
keeping Jennifer and Adriana's names in circulation long after most of the public had stopped looking.
And always with these types of cases alongside the official timeline runs the family's private
and sad reality. A grief made sharper by the absence of certainty. Jennifer's sister, Casey
in multiple interviews, described how the family's greatest desire was not even punishment
but to find Jennifer and to find Adriana and to lay them to rest. She acknowledged the haunting thought
that sometimes visits the families of the missing, that maybe someone could still be alive somewhere even though
as said, her family don't truly believe it here. She also described the on these podcasts, the kind of mother
Jennifer was and the kind of child Adriana was. And she said that Adriana was born
when she was born, Jennifer sometimes worked late shifts and family members would help out. Jennifer's sister
recalled being 13, 14 years old at this time and spending nights caring for her niece her for little Adriana,
feeding her, comforting her when she cried, feeling proud to be needed, feeling proud to be an aunt.
She described Adriana as a sweet and bubbly child who didn't get enough time in this world.
This case is a sad one, a frightening one. And upon review of this true crime story, instantly we have to accept a
sobering acknowledgement that this case has never been about a single disappearance.
And now more than 20 years have passed without answers for Jennifer and her little daughter, Adriana. And sadly,
time has a way of burying unresolved stories unless someone keeps digging them up.
Jennifer's sister, Casey, she has done so many interviews, especially podcasts, trying to keep this story visible.
Peace, she says, would come from certainty, bringing them home, giving them dignity, ending the endless
waiting. Casey and the family, they they they also maintain case-focused social media
with Facebook. Justice for Jennifer and Adriana Wix is the Facebook page. Instagram, Jennifer and Adriana Wix.
TikTok. The Facebook page Casey says, is the primary hub. The place that she keeps
most actively updated. >> Well, like you said, this is probably not a simple situation like some other
crimes where you discover a body and there, bam, you have all the answers that you need or all the evidence that
you need to to get charges at least and then you can start building a case. I It'd be interesting to know what
holdback information law enforcement has on this particular case. I want to give
a shoutout to Kathy, Jennifer's mother, and to her sister Casey, and all of the family, of course.
But specifically them for keeping the story alive in the media. Casey has done a lot of podcast interviews, as we said,
about this disappearance. If you would like to listen to one, I recommend our friends Mike Morford and Jess
Bettencourt over at Missing Persons, who long time listeners of this show, our show True Crime Garage, will
remember we have worked with them over the years. Their podcast Missing Persons featured this case October 7th, 2023.
Go hear Casey, Jennifer's sister, Adriana's aunt, keeping the story in people's minds and
on their hearts. Without knowing where Jennifer and Adriana are, there is no end to this story. No final chapter.
No body to mourn, no certainty to hold. It is mourning suspended, as I see it. And
the family is desperately trying to keep Jennifer and Adriana from becoming forgotten.
You know, we said long cases go quiet. We know leads dry up. The world moves on. The family doesn't.
So, they keep pushing because attention is often the only force that keeps a cold case from freezing entirely.
They point out time and time again here, Captain, that Jennifer didn't have much.
She didn't have a car. She didn't have a phone. She didn't have money. But Adriana was cared for.
Saying that Jennifer found ways. We know living with a boyfriend and his family at times, living with her mother
and sisters at others, relying on relatives when she needed to because everything she had went to her daughter.
And they point out that Jennifer wasn't the type of person to even casually disappear.
The thing The thing that you have If you're not seeing it, do not miss the fact that she depended
on her family. That That makes it even more That makes it like we said in episode one, squash the
idea that she just walked out. The idea that Jennifer left without essentials, without the car seat,
without key belongings. Yeah, my gut feeling is that whole story that Joey told was completely fabricated. He
knows more. I don't I'm left here wondering if he knows everything, but I know that he knows more.
I know that he knows more. Jennifer's normal life ended on March 25th, 2004. After that, everything
became second-hand stories, conflicting explanations, searches that fell incomplete, reports argued over, leads
that collapsed, and a long public waiting for the one thing that could change the shape of the
case, credible information that says where Jennifer and Adriana went and why they never came home. If anyone
has information about the disappearance of Jennifer and Adriana Wix, contact the
Robertson County Sheriff's Department at 615-384-7981 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
at 1-800-TBI-FIND. >> [music] [music] >> I want to thank everybody for joining us
here in the garage each and every week. Thanks for telling your mother. Thanks for telling your brother.
Colonel, do we have any recommended reading for the beautiful listeners? Well, it's a bit self-serving here,
Captain. It's not lost on me, but I'm going to recommend my book, The Delphi Murders: The Quest to Find the Man on
the Bridge. Still available on Amazon. Unfortunately, we don't have any left in stock. And the reason why I'm bringing
that up is we have our great event that I'm so looking forward to April 18th, BrewDog Columbus, which is technically
Canal Winchester. If you If you've been in Ohio, you know what we're talking about. BrewDog is a fantastic place to
go even if the Captain and the Colonel are not there. But guess what? Double down, baby, cuz it's extra exciting.
It's going to be extra fun because we're going to be there. We're going to be having fun, talking and chatting with
you, raising money for a good cause, the Porchlight Project. And it occurred to me
there might be some folks that want to pick up a book and have you or I or both sign them.
You can't pick up a book, so get it on Amazon. Bring it with you to the show. We'll sign it. We'll take a picture.
We'll have fun. And we will have some merch there, but we are out of stock of that book
on our website. So, can't wait to see everybody that can make it Saturday, April 18th. We're going to have a fun
evening, folks. Tickets are available on our website, truecrimegarage.com. On the left of your screen there, you'll
see a tab for live events. So, click on that and get your tickets before they are sold out.
>> Yeah, not many tickets left and we want to see you there. Want to smell your musk, like they say. Until
next week. Be good. [music] Be kind. And don't litter. >> [music] [music] [music]
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Missing Wix Girls /// Part 2 /// 916

Part 2 of 2

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

The love between a mother and daughter should be sacred shelter; an untouchable sanctuary that no evil can penetrate. In March 2004, that safe haven would be forever shattered for Jennifer Wix and her daughter, Adrianna. The two have been missing since March 25, 2004. The mystery of the missing Wix girls not only exemplifies the boundless love shared between of mothers and daughters, but also depicts a family scarred by untold grief and lingering, unanswered questions. The agony of spending the last 21 years without Jennifer and Adrianna has kept the family stuck in the past - unable to move forward, yet determined to keep fighting until the truth is finally brought to light, and returning the girls back home. With the 22nd anniversary of the girls' disappearance fast approaching, perhaps this will finally be the year we can lay the girls to rest among their loved ones. If anyone has information about the disappearance of Jennifer and Adrianna Wix, contact the Robertson County Sheriff’s Department at 615-384-7981, or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

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Brief Summary

Jennifer Wix and her daughter Adriana vanished in 2004; conflicting stories from boyfriend Joey Benton raise suspicions in their disappearance.

Key points

Tremfya Treatment Options. Tremfya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
True Crime Garage Introduction. Join Nick and the captain as they kick off another episode of True Crime Garage.
The Disappearance of Jennifer Wix. March 25, 2004, marks the day Jennifer and her daughter vanished without a trace.
A Shift in Investigation. Authorities transition from a missing persons case to investigating a double homicide.
Press Conference Announcement. In 2013, the case was formally reclassified as a homicide, revealing new information.
Private Search with Cadaver Dogs. Jennifer's family conducts a private search on the Benton property using cadaver dogs.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is when Jennifer, age 22, and her little daughter vanished.

4:36WatchMar 25, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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