I'm uncertain if Jessica was taken by someone who targeted her in particular or if she was taken by a random perp (meaning he'd been scoping out possibilities). Police seem to believe she is familiar with the person to some extent. They haven't explained why they believe that. If she's friendly, wouldn't she be friendly to a stranger too?
It's difficult to understand why she'd retreat to the back of the gas station when everything was left out the way it was found. Even if she knew the person, the front door was unlocked and the station was still open. It doesn't make sense she'd leave the front desk/counter with the cash drawer open and her purse, with a large sum of money in it, on the counter even for a minute or two.
Why would her purse be out anyway if she wasn't closing until 11:30? Wouldn't you leave your purse tucked away somewhere under the desk? For a full half an hour she planned on leaving her purse on the counter where peeps come into pay? That's why I had/have a problem with the time she was planning to close up shop regardless of what store hours are posted.
Why would you be cleaning a machine with your purse left out on the counter? Makes no sense.
Why would you grab your jacket and keep it on the counter for another half an hour? Makes no sense.
It takes 30 seconds to grab those two items as you're leaving - literally on your way out the door.
Because, how could she predict how many customers would show up between 11-11:30? One, three, five or seven? How would she know?
Would she remove her purse from the counter every time one of them entered the store? Makes no sense.
Cash drawer open and purse, with over four hundred dollars in it, on the counter. Jacket ready to go. Not closing for another half an hour. Something is wrong with this picture. If there was a chair behind the counter and her purse was there with the jacket thrown over it or something - that scenario I can accept. But, purse out, cash drawer open in plain sight, why?
Did she try to barter? As in take the money but leave me here? LE reports no evidence of a struggle inside. The way Jessica is described, she would have made noise or knocked something over if an abduction began inside.
Why would she leave all the cash unattended for any reason in the first place? Makes no sense.
Did someone stage that scene after someone else took her? In order to make it look like an attempted robbery? Still, doesn't make any sense because why not take the money (at least from her purse)? Did someone want the money left behind for the bf/little boy? Still, why is the cash drawer open?
Put yourself in her shoes. Okay, almost time to leave (still half an hour). Time to clean up, count cash - not at the same time though, right? I mean, you're not cleaning a machine while the cash drawer is open with your purse on the counter because someone else may still come in, right?
Would she retreat out back to help someone and leave those things out in the open for any reason? How hard is it to shut the cash drawer and tuck your purse under the counter at the very least if you're leaving the store - even for just a minute?
Let's pretend, you thought you were scoring some pot and planned to throw it into your own car and go back inside the gas station within a minute. Would you leave the cash out like that? No.
Why in the heck would she agree to step outside, in the back of the store no less, for any reason? If for drugs, why not wait until she was off work? Plus wouldn't she have grabbed her money from her purse? Did she have more money to begin with than what was found left behind in her purse? Had she already grabbed fifty or one hundred dollars from her purse which is why it was on the counter? Now this would be easy to track if she cashed a larger check earlier in the day. LE would question where the other money went since J was at work the rest of the day. If she purchased anything, it would be in her car with a receipt.
Is it possible to be that lackadaisical? Obviously, if you go out the back, someone can come in the front. No one, who is already a mother, would be that irresponsible, would they? Is there any indication that J and bf used drugs? Don't get upset because this is a possibility. A person can use drugs and still love their son. Someone can have an addiction and still be a good person until it takes them all the way down. I'm asking hard questions, not making accusations. Lots of young people use drugs and get mixed up with drugs - it's just a fact.
An inside job? With an accomplice? Hey, watch the counter while I go help so and so. Still, that trusting? Why?
