MS MS - Jessica Stacks, 28, missing from boat on Tallahatchie River, 1 Jan 2021

[MimosaMornings]

I’m thinking they were more like muck boots versus ones that had shoelaces.

 

[Quill]

I’m thinking they were more like muck boots versus ones that had shoelaces.

Same. Literally every Mississippi girl, young and old, has a pair of cute colored or patterned rubber boots. Think Hunter boots.

 

[Songbird1973]

I feel like emailing Hank at the Chickasaw Journal and asking the source of the report that the boots "had been cut off her". How does he know that? If I read that phrase literally, it means that the boots were cut while she was wearing them for the purpose of removing them. How can that be known? Was there blood, skin or clothing embedded in the cut of the boot? Or did they just look cut up after slipping on sharp rocks and debris? Was this fact reported elsewhere? Like I said, I'd email the reporter Hank, but I'm just not the nosey type.....

From the article:

Carla Jones, who is Stacks’ first cousin, briefly outlined the life that brought Stacks to this point......
..... Her boots were later found; they had been cut off her. Her coat and gloves were found near her boots. She didn’t have her cell phone with her at the time she left the boat; it was later located and turned in, Jones said.


It sounds like the reporter is quoting Carla Jones.

 

[Spider92]

From the article:

Carla Jones, who is Stacks’ first cousin, briefly outlined the life that brought Stacks to this point......
..... Her boots were later found; they had been cut off her. Her coat and gloves were found near her boots. She didn’t have her cell phone with her at the time she left the boat; it was later located and turned in, Jones said.


It sounds like the reporter is quoting Carla Jones.

Thanks - I somehow missed that.

 

[MimosaMornings]

From the article:

Carla Jones, who is Stacks’ first cousin, briefly outlined the life that brought Stacks to this point......
..... Her boots were later found; they had been cut off her. Her coat and gloves were found near her boots. She didn’t have her cell phone with her at the time she left the boat; it was later located and turned in, Jones said.


It sounds like the reporter is quoting Carla Jones.

Located and turned in? By the person that had it?

 

[Xxxx83]

In Texas with the wild hog population tearing up property - usually traps/pens are set up. You don’t sit in someone’s field or back acre shooting at them. Or waste the meat. JMO

The meat of the older wild pigs is gamey and tough. I know plenty of people, including myself, that will hunt pigs(usually at night.) Most of the "meat is trash" unless it's from a young pig. Trapping is more effective, but not nearly as fun as picking them off at night. I would think shooting them from a john boat would be a blast, but not on the morning of New Years day after partying the night before. No way.

 

[Spartygirl]

Most would have that phone in something waterproof and probably in gear or pockets, not a purse. That is just me basing it on people I know and their habits.

When I used to go hunting with hubby, I carried my phone, ringer off, and the truck key in coat pocket
Purse was left at home.
Drivers license in glove box locked in truck.

we live on a lake and are out on the boat all the time or out on a river tubing somewhere.
I have never taken a purse with me and the only key with me is the boat key.
Phone is in waterproof pouch.
Nothing else goes with me except a cooler

 

[MimosaMornings]

When was the last time that Jessica’s family had actually seen her?

 

[Quill]

When I used to go hunting with hubby, I carried my phone, ringer off, and the truck key in coat pocket
Purse was left at home.
Drivers license in glove box locked in truck.

we live on a lake and are out on the boat all the time or out on a river tubing somewhere.
I have never taken a purse with me and the only key with me is the boat key.
Phone is in waterproof pouch.
Nothing else goes with me except a cooler

Thanks for this. I have grown up around this. I don't hunt but I know many women who do. Your way is the same as theirs, pretty much. I think it says a lot about this story that has been told.

 

[katydid23]

Sure. Because a woman leaving a boat, to wade through cold water and walk through thick bushes in complete darkness, is such a believable story. Like, totally.

Sigh.

And why would he keep going, if she was jumping out of the boat, alone after dark? Where was he going to go? He was going to 'hunt' wild pigs by himself in a leaky boat? Hadn't they already been out in that old boat all day already?

His story makes no sense. He doesn't call anyone to pick her up?

 

[Quill]

And why would he keep going, if she was jumping out of the boat, alone after dark? Where was he going to go? He was going to 'hunt' wild pigs by himself in a leaky boat? Hadn't they already been out in that old boat all day already?

His story makes no sense. He doesn't call anyone to pick her up?

Can you link where you read that the boat was old and leaky? I must have missed that.

 

[lonetraveler]

"Jessica Nicole Stacks and her boyfriend, Jerry Wayne Baggett, launched a boat into the Tallahatchie River on New Year’s Day near a bridge on County Road 46. About two miles downstream, Baggett says Stacks got out of the boat, walking along the riverbank toward Highway 30."

The boyfriend saw her walking along the the riverbank toward highway 30???

I wonder if her jacket and boots were found further downstream from where he said that she got out of the boat. Like maybe closer to where he got out of the boat and abandoned it.

 

[Songbird1973]

Yeah, I had mentioned that earlier but I think that mainly applies to game birds. Now, depending on how bad the hog population is I don't know how often enforcement might "turn a blind eye" to shooting hogs from a boat, but I know they are very strict when it comes to deer.

Well, I guess we shall have to cheerfully disagree with each other, because to me when the exact wording of the law I quoted says "any animal", I would feel pigs are included. To remove the double negatives in that law, and still say the same thing, it would read: It is legal to hunt any animal, including squirrels and beavers, from a boat without a motor.

 

[Gibbo214]

Well, I guess we shall have to cheerfully disagree with each other, because to me when the exact wording of the law I quoted says "any animal", I would feel pigs are included. To remove the double negatives in that law, and still say the same thing, it would read: It is legal to hunt any animal, including squirrels and beavers, from a boat without a motor.

Gawd! Squirrels and beavers? You eat them?

 

[Songbird1973]

I know plenty of people, including myself, that will hunt pigs.... Trapping is more effective, but not nearly as fun as picking them them off at night. I would think shooting them from a john boat would be a blast...

...snipped by me.... Thanks. I agree that people who hunt hogs vs trapping them are more in it for the "blast" than to control the animals or eat them. So.. not saying that's what JB was actually doing, but clearly it's not unheard-of and would not have been such a crazy reason to give for being on the river that day. It's the rest of the circumstances and evidence that are suspect.

 

[Scoutce]

Gawd! Squirrels and beavers? You eat them?

In our area in the Deep South people kill beavers not to eat. They do it because beavers also over populate and because we have so many swampy areas and natural springs, beavers will flood your land very easily. We also have a severe over population of wild hogs that cause tremendous destruction. They are caught in pens as well as shot.
I was thinking about her boots. Last weekend I was trying to get to a horse and I got bogged down deep in the mud - to my knees. My husband helped pull me out. My boots are 1/2 rubber but laced at the top. I can easily see me or him cutting them off if they had kept me in the mud. I did keep my jacket on though it was muddy.

 

[Acorunadepor]

How was the visibility when she left the boat. Could see be spotted from the boat?

I wonder at what point did she went out of sight...

 

[NCHydrangea]

I just saw this and think I’m caught up.

Hunting New Year’s Day: I can see that happening. It’s a “free” day off to hang around until it’s time to eat your collards and black eyed peas. Hard to believe she’d carry a purse with her hunting on a boat, especially a Jon Boat. Those boats are easy to flip and toss you out and she would probably know that. Personally, I always carry my license, boat registration, debit card, keys, in plastic bags, in a water proof zip bag, with a floating key fob attached. I’m a bit more “seasoned” than JS, and was probably reckless when I was in my 20s too.

I can imagine that she would have a knife on her person. It could have been a pocket knife or a folding knife with a belt clip. I actually have one of the cute pink camo folding knives that I keep in my backpack or purse.

Why would she get out of the boat?
We seem to be getting a few different timelines. A couple of hours after they put in and 8:00 pm.
Argument? If she got out of the boat because of an argument, I would think she would have taken her purse. Ya know, the whole “I don’t need you, I can get myself back home...” (maybe I’m just projecting ). She clumsily splashes out of the boat and he keeps going downstream. But why did he abandon the boat?

If this happened at night, why would she leave the boat? I could be quite impulsive at her age and I would have probably left the boat, but why did he let her? Why would he keep floating downstream then abandon the boat?

Boat troubles:

If the boat was taking on water, I don’t understand why she would get out to walk a couple of miles while he continued downstream. Why would she get out at that particular location? Common sense would be to get the boat as close as possible to the pick up location, find a place to pull up on the river bank, then both of them walk to a pick up location.
I could see her cutting off her boots, but were the boots the kind that you pull over your shoes? If not, it’s odd that she would strip off her gloves, coat and take off barefooted.

I remember reading that she was not dressed for the weather but there is apparently no description of what she was wearing. Not sure how both of those statements can be true.

Why was it so late when she was reported missing? Did he go looking for her “hitting all the corners” before he called LE? If his story is true, this was not an environment where one would just “wait and see” if she makes it back home, or the pick up location before calling for help.
At best, this paints him out to be quite insensitive and uncaring, and at the worst, something much more sinister.

JMO
MOO

 

[swedeheart]

I just saw this and think I’m caught up.

Hunting New Year’s Day: I can see that happening. It’s a “free” day off to hang around until it’s time to eat your collards and black eyed peas. Hard to believe she’d carry a purse with her hunting on a boat, especially a Jon Boat. Those boats are easy to flip and toss you out and she would probably know that. Personally, I always carry my license, boat registration, debit card, keys, in plastic bags, in a water proof zip bag, with a floating key fob attached. I’m a bit more “seasoned” than JS, and was probably reckless when I was in my 20s too.

I can imagine that she would have a knife on her person. It could have been a pocket knife or a folding knife with a belt clip. I actually have one of the cute pink camo folding knives that I keep in my backpack or purse.

Why would she get out of the boat?
We seem to be getting a few different timelines. A couple of hours after they put in and 8:00 pm.
Argument? If she got out of the boat because of an argument, I would think she would have taken her purse. Ya know, the whole “I don’t need you, I can get myself back home...” (maybe I’m just projecting ). She clumsily splashes out of the boat and he keeps going downstream. But why did he abandon the boat?

If this happened at night, why would she leave the boat? I could be quite impulsive at her age and I would have probably left the boat, but why did he let her? Why would he keep floating downstream then abandon the boat?

Boat troubles:

If the boat was taking on water, I don’t understand why she would get out to walk a couple of miles while he continued downstream. Why would she get out at that particular location? Common sense would be to get the boat as close as possible to the pick up location, find a place to pull up on the river bank, then both of them walk to a pick up location.
I could see her cutting off her boots, but were the boots the kind that you pull over your shoes? If not, it’s odd that she would strip off her gloves, coat and take off barefooted.

I remember reading that she was not dressed for the weather but there is apparently no description of what she was wearing. Not sure how both of those statements can be true.

Why was it so late when she was reported missing? Did he go looking for her “hitting all the corners” before he called LE? If his story is true, this was not an environment where one would just “wait and see” if she makes it back home, or the pick up location before calling for help.
At best, this paints him out to be quite insensitive and uncaring, and at the worst, something much more sinister.

JMO
MOO

Great post @NCHydrangea ! Welcome to the boards. I think us southerners have a bit more of an understanding of how and why she could have been out there on that boat that evening, since, like you said, some of us took part in similar shenanigans when younger. ( I certainly did stuff like this, that I look back on now and think, "wow.") Growing up in the south is a different beast, and I think it's one of those things where "ya just had to be there" to fully grasp it. Lol.

I hope we get some news or a presser in the near future.

 

[Songbird1973]

Gawd! Squirrels and beavers? You eat them?

LOL! Not me, no, I've never had an opportunity to taste beaver or squirrel, but people certainly do still eat them, particularly in the South. But, as someone has already mentioned, beavers are a nuisence animal, gnawing down valuable lumber trees to dam off drainage that is needed to dry fields out. Like the hogs tho, anyone wanting to seriously hunt beavers, whether for pest control, selling the pelt ($10 in MS), or getting a bounty ($5 per tail from MS Wildlife Department) would trap them. Hunting them from a boat would be for sport.