Body Cams (Bonus) | 12.09.22

Hey listeners, Jessica here. Be sure to check out new episodes of Undetermined every Tuesday for free wherever you get your podcasts. For early and ad free listening, check out Tenderfoot plus on Apple Podcasts. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed and participating in the show, and do not represent those

Okay, So this is Jessica in Todd Jean bodycam footage from August fifteenth, twenty nineteen. This will be the lead officer in the wellness.

Check three six one seven. Sorry I came out the back. Oh did you live here? Yeah? Six year? We're told is your one ill here? Sorry? Someone sick here? No, nobody's sick here, sick. He don't buy you.

No, no, no, he's.

We got a call though. Yeah, I know. It's one of my wife's friends.

And let me let me just say hi.

So he's not walking at you guys.

You guys have okay, look, sure you call no, no, because she's what missy.

No, I mean not buddy, it's a college of.

Was really excited? Sure your wife? Yeah, because she's.

Her car cars here while it's here longing.

Like twelve thirty twelve fifteen thirty.

I fell asleep, So I don't really yes, sir, And I mean I know sr B.

That's why I didn't call you, guys.

I call I called jpso think you she might have a tech traffic attachment. I call it OPP seven, the same thing I called East Jefferson.

She's depressed, bipolar, but she's on meds and stuff and.

It's okay, so so far.

The cop that's talking to him has no information about what this one, this check is even about. Now we know for a fact that the call was made from Maria, right, and Maria reported what they had talked about before the things were going back. There was a plan she was going to meet her this day.

She couldn't get a hold of her. She was worried about her.

And that I think her husband might have done something to her. That was the information given for the welfare check. Now they're sending an officer out with none of that information.

He first he look for an elderly person living alone, and then it's someone sick here, like.

Right, I mean, so we're getting off of the wrong foot because armed with the information that really was given during the report to cause the wellness check, you already know this call is elevated, right, Like this could be a big deal.

Because he's giving the information new to this officer that seems to have no idea why he's there.

Yes, and you can tell like probably the officer's not paying attention to things he should be because he's still trying to catch up on why he's even there, Like so far, the officer has way too many distractions going on for right now.

Absolutely deal with this dog.

He has to deal with catching up to the story because no one at dispatch gave him the full information that came in on the initial call to cause us wellness check. There's just a lot of problems to get started.

So yeah, she said she left before like this is the length of time.

Never, never, And that's what's got to be concerned. And you know, I called who called you?

Guys?

I called a friend of hers who overreacts to everything, and I told her, Okay.

Yeah, I mean well, because first you said you're freaking out, then you're saying you're concerned, and then you say her friend must have called you. She overacts to everything. Well, which is it?

Right?

Did she ever react? Are you concerned?

Yeah?

Because if you're freaking out, as you said, and that's a quote, why is it overreacting for her to freak out?

Right?

But I mean since twelve thirty day she just apparently warned it off and we're just now getting the call.

I mean, well, know what happened was said, I woke up about oh, I came home from school. I woke up around okay, piece was made, A piece was okay, and she's gone right. And the course here, the keys are here versus here, you know, and she doesn't go wandering off.

She's not from here.

She's lived here seven years, six six years.

So you know, I was kind of giving it in, you know, another hour or two before I called you guys, because.

If she warned her back, I mean, she's never done that before. No, no, no.

No, okay, Now I'm bothered. Ask him a question. Stop and let it breathe let them, let them finish their thought so you can get the full information in the full story. And he's not doing that here, and it's driving me crazy.

And what information he is getting, he's not using to his advantage because he thought he was coming there first for an elderly man that lives by himself that's having some issue. And then oh no, wait minute, it was someone was ill. Maybe that was the same man. But now he discovers through this man that he counters that lives there, that his wife has been missing since four

The officer isn't you've done well in his test?

Sure?

And are do you normally go to the residents armed with more information than this?

Oh?

Yeah, yeah, usually you're given I mean, this is a problem with the communication from the dispatch obviously, which now they receive it a lot of times over their terminal and their car the computer and it just pops up with whatever the dispatcher types in. So either the dispatcher typed in there was another wellness check somewhere else and got the too confused and typed in the wrong information, or he didn't pay any attention to what was typed in there. I mean one of the two. He has

He didn't.

And when the best friend called in, she said she was supposed to pick her up today because they were having domestic issues and she was scared, and now she can't get a hold of her, and she's afraid her husband has done something to her that changes everything, and he's not doing it.

He didn't do that.

This was the perfect time, once you got that information, to regroup a second and see why you're there.

And that's that's my concern.

And you know, we've we've been a little different. She's been Lucy stressed out for a couple of reasons because, like a fifteen year old is inside, and she got overwhelmed right before going to high school for the first time, and.

Well, you you you checked all some good places that you need to check, hospitals in jail. I would never put anything like jail, you know, but at this point I think of the most group were required.

Of course, they told me twenty four hours.

Now, well, I believe the circumstances done in twenty four hours. It's coming to play. She just she disappeared. I mean, right, you could have done this for four dollars ago. I mean it's it's spriscious and un due to her, her her medication and all that other stuff.

I would think she's been she's making.

As alarmed as an officer. Just it's a way that he was about how suspicious.

This is.

The next move right now is okay, let's put the dog up somewhere and let's go inside and talk.

Right now, Let's see what he does, because.

We're gonna, like I said, we come out. We're gonna have a different unit come out a little bit on an out, and let's see if she pops up.

So in this check, all they did was ask why are we here?

Why are we here?

And that was it.

And now they're like, okay, wait a minute, this this is really a missing person's report. We need to send a different unit to come take that report. And now, listen, here's what they have going for them. They had the element of surprise. He didn't know the police were coming to his house until they knocked under the door. And they're there to do a wellness check, which they're not doing.

You do.

Every police officer is an investigator. This is an investigation. Every call for service is an investigation. You show up and investigate. You determine what's going on at that house. Someone called and said, my friend might be hurt.

She's missing.

I'm afraid the husband did something to her. Figure out if that is the case or not. Or if she's okay, that's your job. It's not to say, oh wait a minute, I'm a wellness check officer. I'm not a take a missing person's report officer. So let me wipe my hands clean, get back in my car. You have a new officer in another couple hours, you know.

I don't.

I don't know how this patrol situation is structured. Do they only have wellness check officers and that's their only duty?

They just go around town? Don't?

Yeah, white wellness check?

Could they not have done the missing person's report?

I don't get that at all.

Why did they just send another unit out?

I have no idea.

I don't know if it's because of their assignment whatever, But if so, you can see the damage that stuff causes. This is the most damaging thing that well, I'm gonna say, I'm quite certain this is going to end up being the most damaging thing that.

Occurs in the first twenty four hours of this case.

From your perspective. How important are the first twenty four and forty eight hours in something like care Ama.

I mean, the stats speak for themselves, right, you know this? How many cases do you cover?

Right?

I mean, if you don't solve in the first forty eight your odds of solving that crime diminish greatly. So, yeah, it's this whole thing is a train wreck. What you know is that this was the last place she was seen. So the investigation begins here. They're leaving this scene right now without doing anything, literally anything.

As Todd and I D briefed about the response from the first responding officer, we highlighted the fact that this initial unit didn't seem to have the full picture about the information that was given to the NPD by Maria. While we do not have the audio from that original call, we do have Maria's account to us about what she said on that call, which will be verified by a

Okay, that's gonna be just going Todd. We're watching and critiquing officer like Krisha Gantner's bodycam labeled just after midnight.

I'm gonna give you a twenty one month.

Good.

Okay, she just said she's going to make a phone call in whoever it is, last name one, so we know that is Detective.

One Anthony one.

Earlier tonight, around ten something, a friend from out of town called and said that she hadn't been able to get a hold of her friend since Monday. I think she's not answering her phone and all that. So an officer came out here, I think a leap few officers came out did a wellness check. Well, when they did a wellness check, the husband says, no, I haven't heard from her either. Her phone's here, her purse is here, her meds or here, everything's here, but I haven't heard

So she's already coming in with the knowledge of what the first officers responding to the wellness check should have had in their pocket.

Yes, she's taken the time to review the call card and get the incoming information. The information the dispatcher took over the phone.

And she's already preparing a detective that she is there, and this is what's going on before she even approaches justin.

Yes, I mean that's that's exactly what you should do.

The husband's like, yeah, everything's here, she left everything here. I know we have contact contacting her. No, we have none where she is because I guess she left everything like phone, keys, that, sir.

Is her car here? Yeah?

Her car is here too, her purse, her wallet. When is the last time you saw.

Her, sir?

Twelve thirty?

I'm sorry, like like noon, correct, around thirty.

You saw her in You saw her in person, right, yeah, he saw her in person. She was here at the house.

Nothing else.

She no, no, no, that's not what I said.

I said that.

So we got like these dual conversations going on because you can tell he's talking to Officer Griffin outside and she is talking to Detective Lawn and somehow Detective lun Is misconstrued something she said and she's like no, no, no, no, no, that's not what I said, right, And I'm curious at some point would it be her duty or detective ones at a later point in time, or even like you said earlier, a detective one coming out at this point to say, hey, is your daughter or your daughter or

Absolutely, yeah, that needs to be done. That should be done here at some point. Especially armed with the information that the daughter is fifteen years old, she's gonna be able to offer good information if she saw something or even if she didn't, that's important because that can help narrow down time windows.

No, he's really not it, does it Like he's just rolled nonchalant, like, oh, you know, I have the officers come to the polk straight side. My dad and my daughter are sleeping. I don't want to wake them up. But then when we get here, he's like, do you guys need to do this in the car or do you want to come in? You can come look through the house if you want. You know, he's just being

She's probably asleep.

She's using her observations in her common sense and her experience as a police officer to detect that, but then more importantly, to report it, to document it. She's passing it on to the detective, which we didn't see during the wellness check. It was recognized and acknowledged and then quickly dismissed and forgotten about.

And then she went one step further and tried to reach out to Maria.

Correct, she's investigating. She's not a detective at this point. She's a field training officer. She's a patrol officer, and she is conducting an investigation. And that's what we discussed earlier with the other one. Just because you're in uniform doesn't mean you're not an investigator yourself.

Oh, do you have a picture of her, like a current picture?

Okay? Can you get that in your idea please? Mad I have everything? Yeah, that's fine. Else, do you mind if we walk in with you? Okay? I have my Belgians in there, so okay.

So what prompted you to say, okay, I need to report her missing?

Like around eight o'clock it was starting to get dark.

Okay?

What else did you wake up for me? Now?

From here about four o'clock.

She got home at three Okay, so we according to his statement, he went and took a nap sometime around noon, between noon and twelve thirty that afternoon, and he says he wakes up at four. His daughter gets home from school at three.

So there's an hour where potentially Grace and Jessica spent an hour alone together. Correct, Therefore Grace has potentially pertinent information about Jessica or her whereabouts exactly.

So just based on that statement right there, that's what the officers armed with right now.

And you you did talk to your daughter and ask your daughter if she for her or actually seen her.

Or you want me to get her.

I will, No, I don't don't have to.

Wake her up.

It's two ATOD morning.

She has to go to school tomorrow.

Okay, So he just he said, I don't want to wake my daughter up, but I will if you want to speak to her. An Officer Gantner says, now, you don't have to do that. She probably has school tomorrow.

That's I mean.

I love Officer Gantner. I think she's a really good police officer and she's doing so well with this. That's just one thing to point out that I feel as a mistake.

Yeah, because we we established before there is an our window. If he was sleeping until four, Grace gets home at three, then he created an our window of Grace and Jessica alone time that she can account for that he cannot.

Yes, and she's a juvenile. You need the parents' permission to speak to her.

She just gave.

He just gave it.

And now if at some point he goes from a report party to a suspect and lawyers up, he's not going to allow access to the daughter either. So this was your window. Alf sh Gantner said when they were first walking there that she would she wants to walk through the entire house, and I think she should have stuck with that plan and just kind of insisted on it. He would have, he would have allowed her, I'm sure.

The ordinary, right right.

And this is a bit of armchair quarterbacking because she did a great job overall, but it's something she missed that I would have expected her to utilize. Now she doesn't have the benefit of being with another experienced officer to be that second person who would usually come up with that idea, and she's handling everything herself, so she's probably a little more distracted than she would have been

The bathroom, especially since he offered up both of those things.

Right.

I agree, I think that might be the only mistake here, because I believe after this the doors are closed.

Yes, and she you know, overall, I wish Officer Gantner was investigating this case. I wish she was the detective in this case because so far, in this entire thing, she has been the best part of the law enforcement side of this thing, like she really knows.

What she's doing.

We've mentioned this before, but the police bodycam audio raises a serious accusation about previous domestic violence between Justin and Jessica. But it's important to understand that Justin has never been charged with any crimes of domestic violence against Jessica, so we need to maintain an open mind. Investigation like this are complex and they happen in real time, which can