#jessica heeringa

[missingthelostandtcc-blog]

Jessica Heeringa 

Jessica Heeringa was working alone at a gas station in Norton Shores, Michigan on April 26, 2013, when she disappeared. A witness told police he saw the 25-year-old mother being forced into a silver Chrysler minivan. Investigators found Jessica's cell phone, keys and purse inside the store. In September 2016, officials charged Jeffrey Willis, 46, with abduction and murder in relation to Jessica’s case; police told Dateline his trial date is expected to be set for Spring of 2018. He has pleaded not guilty. Willis still faces charges for the April 2016 abduction of a teenager who ended up escaping. Upon escaping, that victim led police to a van where, according to court testimony, investigators found bondage items and lists of women’s name and addresses. 

According to NBC affiliate WOOD-TV, investigators said they also found a file labeled “VICS” (short for victims) that contained a folder labeled with Rebekah Bletsch’s initials and a code for the date of her death. In November 2017, Willis was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and felony firearm in connection to Rebekah’s 2014 shooting death. Police told WOOD-TV there was also a file bearing Jessica’s initials on Willis’s computer. On November 27, 2017 Willis’s cousin Kevin Bluhm pleaded no contest to being an accessory after the fact in Jessica’s murder. Bluhm has been jailed since September 2016 on the charge. Jessica’s body has not been found. Police told Dateline they continue to do searches but have no leads as to her location. 

If you have any information regarding Jessica’s case, please call the Norton Shores Police Department at (231) 733-2691 or the Silent Observer at (231) 722-7463. 

[fletchermarple]

On April 26, 2013, Jessica Heeringa (25, first picture) was working a late shift in a gas station in North Shores, Michigan. Her last known transaction in the cash register was at 10:51 pm. Then, when a customer showed up at 11:07 pm, Jessica had vanished. Behind she left her purse, coat, keys and car. Police found drops of blood later matched to Jessica outside the station and accesory parts to a gun nearby. No money was taken from the register and Jessica’s wallet had over $400 in it, so robbery was clearly not a motive here.

A witness reported seeing a heavy built man flirting with Jessica shortly before she went missing. He was driving a silver minivan. Another witness recalled seeing the man with the minivan at the station around 11 pm, acting suspiciously. But for a long time, these clues didn’t lead anywhere.

Then, on April 2016, police found their suspect in a man called Jeffrey Thomas Willis. He had tried to kidnap a 16 year old girl by locking her in his van, but she managed to escape and alerted authorities. When investigating him, detectives realized Willis had been quite busy. They found evidence linking him to the murder of Rebekah Sue Bletsch (36, second picture), a jogger who had been found shot to death on June 29, 2014. In his van they also found syringes, one with a sedative and bondage tools. In his computer he had disturbing pornography, including videos of necrophilia and child porn. He had a folder named “Vics” (for victims, presumably), in which he had pictures of women, including Rebekah and Jessica. He’s also been investigated for the 1996 unsolved murder of Angela Thornburg (15), who after been missing for a month was found half dressed and dead in the woods in Fruitport Township. 

Willis’ van and physical features matched the person the witnesses had seen at the gas station when Jessica went missing, and his credit card records showed he’d been at the place at least 15 times in the time leading to the abduction. Also, on the day of her disappearance, Willis hadn’t shown up for work. Then came the statement of his cousin, Kevin Bluhm, who said Willis had contacted him the day after Jessica’s disappearance and that he had seen her naked, beaten body before helping him bury it. He later said he’d made it all up and was charged with lying to the police and being an accesory to the kidnapping and murder of Jessica.

Jessica’s body has not been found and although Willis was charged with her abduction and murder in September 2016, it’s still uncertain when a trial will start. He first has to face the court in June 2017 for the murder of Rebekah.

[offender42085]

Post 0185

Jeffrey Willis, Michigan inmate 436898, born 1970, incarceration intake at age 48, sentenced to life.

Spent 5 years in jail between arrest and sentencing.  

Murdered 2 women.

Jeffrey Willis has been sentenced to life in prison for abducting and killing convenience store clerk Jessica Heeringa in 2013.

In a 13-minute statement, Willis addressed the court: he maintained his innocence and made claims that police botched the investigation and manipulated the evidence against him.  He maintained that he was trying to help the teen MJN in April 2016, when he was arrested after trying to abduct her.

"Due to a lack of funding, a careless disregard for truth, the desire to reach a rash and attentive conclusion to an unproven crime, or just plain falsifying evidence, not only has this promise [of justice] been murdered, but also left to rot at the feet of lady justice," said Willis reading his statement.

Willis is still awaiting trial on that abduction, but the Muskegon County Prosecutor says he has to speak with people, including victims, about whether to continue to pursue or drop these pending charges.

After his arrest in 2016, investigators tied a gun found in Willis' van to the bullets used to kill Rebekah Bletsch while she was jogging in June 2014.  They also found other evidence that tied Willis to Heeringa's disappearance in April 2013.

The DA addressed the court and says he is very proud of the police work done in Muskegon County, thanked the Bletsch family for their help and support, then said he expects to sleep better knowing that Jeffrey Willis is behind bars for life.

"[Willis] just doesn’t see his culpability in all of this apparently," said the DA after sentencing.

"[Willis] would have continued to haunt and stalk women who were isolated or in isolated areas, and his killing would have continued; I have no doubt in my mind of that. The fact that this man will never see the light of day again, I’m pretty happy with that."

Despite Willis calling his trial rigged, his defense attorney, the Muskegon County Chief Public Defender told local media this trial was "remarkably fair."

"This was the man who was vilified from the very press conference before he even went to the preliminary examination," said the lawyer.

"So under those circumstances and given the complications, the County of Muskegon put on a terrific defense for this man. And we’re very proud of the effort we made for him."

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before finding Willis guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the April 2013 kidnapping and death of Heeringa, a clerk at the former Exxon Mobil gas station in Norton Shores.  Her body has not been found.

2f

[aparanormalchicks]

EP 144 - WHAT THEY TOOK

Donna tells us about Pennhurst State School and Hospital (or Pennhurst Asylum.) The terrible things that happened there and who's haunting the buildings there today.

Then Kerri's story is about Jessica Heeringa, who went missing from her job at a gas station in Michigan in 2013. But where is Jessica and who's to blame for her disappearance?

If you have any local true crime, local urban legend/lore, ghost stories.. we want them all!! We want to hear from YOU.  Especially if you have any funny Ambien stories!

Email us at aparanormalchicks@gmail.com 

Join The Creepinati @ www.patreon.com/theAPCpodcast 

Please rate and review us on Apple Podcast and Stitcher!  Thanks so much.

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A Paranormal Chicks is produced with assistance from Aurality. Contact will@auralitysounds.com and quote APC.

A Paranormal Chicks Podcast Episode

[inmycity]

MURDERED: Jessica Heeringa

Jessica Heeringa was a young mom in her mid-20’s who was trying to provide for her family. She was smart, loving, a hard worker… and then, in 2013, she vanished from her job at a local gas station.   For current Fan Club membership options and policies, please visit https://crimejunkieapp.com/library/.  Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list…

[catsandtruecrime]

Why True Crime?

“Isn’t that kind of…dark?”

“Doesn’t that make you nervous?”

“I could never be interested in that, I’d have too much anxiety!”

To address these concerns…yes it is, yes it does, and I already do. Anytime I tell someone I’m interested in true crime, these are the responses I tend to get; and that’s also a lie. I’m not interested. I’m OBSESSED. Maybe this obsession began with too many episodes of CSI as a child, or maybe it was seeing cases like those of Caylee Anthony, Laci Peterson, and Natalee Holloway play out in real time during my most formative years.

Whatever the reason, I’ve been obsessed with learning as much as I can about true crime. When I was younger, my (somewhat concerning) interest in serial killers, combined with my love for the show, Criminal Minds, had me wanting to be an FBI profiler for a loooooooong time. I was ready to major in criminology and be the next Emily Prentiss or JJ Jareau as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, my activity induced asthma and ability (or lack thereof) to perform any sort of activity requiring physical endurance had other plans. When I couldn’t get PE out of my high school course schedule fast enough, it dawned on me that maybe I wouldn’t be the best FBI agent.

After reconsidering this career path and deciding maybe it wasn’t the one for me, I was forced to mentally move my “True Crime Obsession” file to the “Casual Hobbies” filing cabinet in my brain. Once there, it joined the likes of “Art,” “Social Justice,” and “Dolphin Training” where it remains to this day.

While art, social justice, and all things animals are also obsessions of mine, my thirst for true crime is one that can never be fully quenched. There are new crimes happening every day, and while crimes continue to occur, I’ll keep wanting to know everything there is to know about as many of them as possible.

I read once that true crime fanatics tend to be women, to an overwhelming extent. It was explained that the reason for this is that women are also overwhelmingly the victims in “true crime” incidents. As a result, true crime fanatics find a sort of comfort in learning about crimes committed against other women.

As counterintuitive as that sounds, stay with me here. Without even realizing it, we tend to start victim blaming to make ourselves feel better, and it actually makes us feel safer.

“This is sad, but I would never pull over for someone I don’t know!”

“I can’t believe she actually met up with that guy she found on some dating site! I know better than that!”

“Who would go hiking alone in the woods?! Not me!”

“Wow her friends are awful, mine would never leave me alone like that!”

We eventually convince ourselves that “I’m safe because I know not to do XYZ that led to this woman being attacked and murdered.” The more we know about how crimes occur, the better we’re able to avoid being the next victim.

Of course this isn’t a conscious thing and I don’t even remember where I read that now, but it’s an interesting theory nonetheless. For me, I definitely think this is part of it whether I want to admit it or not. If I’m obsessed with learning about these crimes, I’ll know all of the things not to do and voila…I’m not going to be the next one dead in a ditch or tossed in a river somewhere.

Clearly this isn’t rational or true at all, but when you spend your entire life being taught to watch your drink at the bar, never leave your friend alone, hold your keys between your fingers just in case you need to stab someone, never walk alone in secluded areas, keep your pepper spray accessible at all times, never walk alone in the dark, always be aware of your surroundings, and maybe just…never walk alone ever…you spend your young adult years anticipating being kidnapped at any moment. Sometimes you just need an excuse to not be terrified for a second.

Whether this is beneficial in the long run is debatable to say the least. When you spend your days listening to true crime podcasts and watching true crime documentaries, the smallest noise in the other room becomes the Zodiac killer (because he’s still out there, you know! That wouldn’t match his MO you say? That’s what he would want you to think…) or the latest guy that you weren’t completely nice to, coming to seek revenge.

Aside from creating the illusion that I’m teaching myself what not to do, I also feel that in learning about true crime, we’re giving victims their voices back. It gets complicated when it comes to serial killers, because it’s easier to remember one guy’s name than the names of his 10+ victims, but in many cases the story being told is truly about the victim. Take true crime podcasts, for example. The ones I listen to anyway. Episode titles are overwhelmingly names of victims such as Jessica Heeringa (Crime Junkie, February 24, 2020), Amy Allwine (Casefile, Case 86, June 9, 2018). These podcasts are my preference, because they tend to focus on the victims rather than the killers.

By putting our attention on the victims and remembering them and their stories, the killer doesn’t win. We remember their names, rather than the name of the person who wanted to end their story.  It almost feels like poetic justice in a way, to continue telling their stories and allowing them to live on through the retelling.

As much as I want to focus on the victims, it can be hard to do that when it comes to serial killers. Aside from it being easier to remember one name than many, someone who killed multiple people is more intriguing than a person who only killed one, as horrible as that is to say. In cases with one victim, a motive is generally easier to pin down, no matter how much sense it makes to us. A scorned lover, a jealous spouse, or a fit of rage is easy to imagine; none of these motives are new to us and have been reasons behind countless murders throughout history.  

In serial killer cases, though, a motive is often much more difficult, if not impossible to determine. What makes someone so depraved that they feel compelled to murder countless women? What “breaks” in a man’s brain that makes him kidnap teenage boys, torture them, and cannibalize their corpses? It’s nothing any of us can imagine in our wildest nightmares, but it’s real and it happens, and we want to know WHY.

I think this desire to know WHY serial killers do what they do comes back to our desire to avoid encountering something so heinous again in the future. For decades, researchers have studied serial killers and their brains in an effort to help crack the code and figure out what building blocks make a serial killer; what happens to these people that makes them do the things they do?

The final reason for my obsession with true crime is the hardest to explain, and it’s just a pure morbid curiosity. There’s no better way to explain this one; it’s just interesting to me to hear about real life monsters and the normal people who are victims of their depravity. It’s like watching a horror movie, except it’s even scarier because it’s real.

All in all, true crime has always been a big part of my life; my morbid curiosity started at a (probably concerningly) young age and has evolved as I’ve grown and learned more and more about true stories of crimes against other people. Whether it’s to make myself feel better, to remember the victims, or to try and crack the code, fulfilling my desire to be an FBI profiler on my own time, I don’t see my obsession ending anytime soon.

Amongst more lighthearted topics, I plan to discuss some of the cases that haunt me the most, cases I’d somehow never heard about until recently, and things that I’ve learned throughout my research and deep dives into the world of true crime. Buckle up, and stay tuned.

[kansascitywatch]

Man found guilty of kidnapping young mom from her job, killing her in ‘torture sanctuary’

25-year-old Jessica Heeringa, a mother of a 3-year-old son, disappeared in 2013 while working late at a gas station.

from Top Stories http://www.kmbc.com/article/man-found-guilty-of-kidnapping-young-mom-from-her-job-killing-her-in-torture-sanctuary/20741061

from Kansas City Watch https://kansascitywatch.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/man-found-guilty-of-kidnapping-young-mom-from-her-job-killing-her-in-torture-sanctuary/

[kansascityhappenings]

Convicted murderer blows kiss at victim’s family during sentencing

MUSKEGON, Mich. — A Michigan man convicted of murder blew a kiss as he left the courtroom on Monday, the victim’s family told WXMI.

Jeffrey Willis was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2014 murder of Rebekah Bletsch, a mother who had been jogging near her home after work when she was fatally shot.

Willis requested not to be present during his sentencing, avoiding statements from the victim’s family who called him a coward as he left the courtroom.

Bletsch’s mother Debra Reamer told the court, “This coward should have been here to listen to us. We deserve our right to tell him exactly how we feel.”

“I think that was very cowardly to walk out like that, and then to turn around to my family and blow a kiss?” said Jessica Josephson, Bletsch’s younger sister, after the sentencing. “I think that’s his kiss of death. He’s going to get what he deserves in prison.”

Left standing before rows of family and community members, Josephson, Reamer and Bletsch’s sister Nicole Winberg addressed the court, also reading a letter from several of Bletsch’s friends.

“Becky was everything a big sister should be,” Josephson told the court. “I will never forget the time I was with my sister and I asked her, ‘Becky are you pregnant?’ She said ‘no.’ I told her I had a dream she was pregnant, a few days later Becky showed up at my door and said, ‘your dream came true.’ From that moment on that child became her world.”

Winberg called on Willis, who is also facing charges in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, to confess in that case. Heeringa’s body has not been found.

“I ask that he find it in himself to give the Heeringa family their daughter back,” said Winberg. “They deserve a body to lay to rest. He claims that he’s not a monster, but his actions speak louder than words.”

Willis was arrested in the spring of 2016 after an abduction attempt in Muskegon County. Evidence was found in his home and his vehicle to tie him to the Bletsch murder, including the Walther P22 gun in his van that matched ballistics in Bletsch’s murder.

“[Willis] really is evil,” said Nick Winberg, Bletsch’s father with tears in his eyes. “We have to move forward. The bible says to keep conquering evil with good, and my family will. We are going to move forward and live good lives.”

Willis faces another trial in March for the murder of Jessica Heeringa.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports http://fox4kc.com/2017/12/19/convicted-murderer-blows-kiss-at-victims-family-during-sentencing/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2017/12/19/convicted-murderer-blows-kiss-at-victims-family-during-sentencing/

[celeboftea]

New Post has been published on Getmybuzzup - http://getmybuzzup.com/new-kidnapping-murder-charges-in-jessica-heeringa-case-pt-2-crime-watch-daily-with-chris-hansen/ - New Kidnapping, Murder charges in Jessica Heeringa Case (Pt 2) - Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen - http://getmybuzzup.com/?p=726600 - Please Share

[getmybuzzup]

New Post Getmybuzzup - New Kidnapping, Murder charges in Jessica Heeringa Case (Pt 2) - Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen - http://getmybuzzup.com/?p=726600 - Please Share

[sdickers]

Mystery behind missing woman ends in murder charge

Mystery behind missing woman ends in murder charge

Mystery behind missing woman ends in murder charge — Read on www.google.com/amp/s/amp.freep.com/amp/90754150

[investmart007]

MUSKEGON, Mich | Michigan man sentenced in gas station clerk's slaying

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/0JaAMh

MUSKEGON, Mich | Michigan man sentenced in gas station clerk's slaying

MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) — A 48-year-old man already serving life in prison for killing a jogger has been sentenced to another mandatory life term for the kidnapping and slaying of a 25-year-old western Michigan gas station clerk.

Jeffrey Willis shed tears and told a Muskegon County courtroom Monday that he is innocent and didn’t get a fair trial.

After Willis finished speaking, Prosecutor D.J. Hilson called him “probably one of the most dangerous men” he ever hoped to encounter.

Jessica Heeringa went missing in 2013 from a gas station in Norton Shores, northwest of Grand Rapids. Her body hasn’t been found.

Willis was convicted last year for fatally shooting Rebekah Bletsch in 2014. He is also expected to stand trial in the 2016 attempted kidnapping of a teenager.

By Associated Press

[randomandtedious]

Jessica Chambers was burned alive in Mississippi. Look at Bryan Rudd and Ali Alsanai.

Jessica Chambers was burned alive in Mississippi. Look at Bryan Rudd and Ali Alsanai.

It seems like “missing women” and “gas station” stories almost never end well. Jessica Heeringa is one example; that case is unsolved currently and now, even an act named for what happened around her is on life support. Jennifer Huston was last seen at a gas station; that didn’t end well either, but for other reasons. Now we have one of the worst cases in the last few years — a beautiful high…

[aseaton]

$400 found inside wallet of missing Michigan mom, gas station register left untouched

Authorities investigating the disappearance of a Michigan mother who worked the night shift at a…

View Post

[dreamindemon]

Jessica Heeringa Disappeared From Late Night Shift at Gas Station, Police Asking For Public's Help - http://bit.ly/17t68n3

New Post has been published on http://www.dreamindemon.com/2013/04/29/jessica-heeringa-disappeared-late-night-shift-gas-station-police-publics/

Jessica Heeringa Disappeared From Late Night Shift at Gas Station, Police Asking For Public's Help

NORTON SHORES, MI – Police are asking for the public’s help in finding 25-year-old Jessica Heeringa, an Exxon Mobil gas station attendant believed to have been abducted from her job.

Heeringa made her last sale at 11 p.m. Friday night, but 15 minutes later a concerned customer called police to report there were no employee at the open gas station.

According to Heeringa’s mother, her daughter’s purse and keys were found in the store and their was evidence she had been preparing to close up the store.

“She was going to get out in 15 minutes,” Shelly Heeringa, Jessica’s mother, told ABC News. “In 15 minutes that store would’ve been closed and she would’ve been on her way home.”

Norton Shores Police Chief Daniel Shaw said it does not appear robbery was the motive, as the store’s cash drawer was left untouched.

There are no surveillance cameras at the gas station, which I bet won’t be the case for much longer, so police are asking for the public’s help.

Norton Shores Police Department have received one tip that has investigators searching for a silver minivan, possibly a Chrysler Town & Country, that was last seen in the area prior to Heeringa’s disappearance. The passerby stated they witnessed the minivan parked near the gas station and driving away.

Heeringa’s mother believes someone came to the gas station and lured her daughter to the back of the store and shoved her in the back of the van. “I’m sure she was abducted,” Shelly Heeringa said. “There was no struggle. She was cleaning a machine, she left her car keys, and no money was taken from the gas station.”

“She’s loved by everyone,” her mother added. “She has a 3-year-old boy who is missing his mom and wants her back.”

Jessica Heeringa is described as a white female, 5 feet 1 inch tall, about 110 pounds, with blond, shoulder-length hair and blue eyes. She may be wearing a blue collared shirt with “Sternberg Exxon” on it.

Investigators are asking anyone with information regarding Heeringa’s disappearance, or anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity at the gas station on the night Herringa disappeared, to call Silent Observer at 231-72-CRIME (231-722-7463) or call 911.

I hope she is found safe, but these kind of stories never seem to end well.