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

[Spartygirl]

what are waders and how do they make one sink?

 

[Spartygirl]

"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."

"Her purse was in the boat, according to Jones."

Vanished New Albany woman has Chickasaw ties

Oh dear..this does not sound good at all

 

[Spartygirl]

I don't recall seeing this previously reported. Why would she, or anyone else cut her boots off? Maybe her feet were swollen from frostbite or injury? If it were rigor mortis, why take off the boots from a deceased person?

Yeah..I have no idea why her boots would be CUT off of her.
this just does not look good, I hope LE are considering all factors.

 

[moonriverfarm]

Hinky hinky hinky

 

[LadyL]

we all wear waders here when we put in our dock and take out our dock as water is usually cold at that time.
of course, if we would take it out in warmer weather, we would not need them....LOL but we always hope for an Indian summer for that one last boat ride.

and people fishing right? I've seen them in pictures

 

[LadyL]

oh ok I think I've seen the ones that come up over like overalls

 

[swedeheart]

Dateline FB post:

Dateline NBC

It’s been 10 days since Mississippi woman Jessica Stacks was last seen getting out of a boat on the Tallahatchie River. She still hasn’t been found and her family is worried.
Do you have information on Jessica’s whereabouts?
https://www.nbcnews.com/.../mother-fears-worst-search...

 

[lonetraveler]

"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."

"Her purse was in the boat, according to Jones."

Vanished New Albany woman has Chickasaw ties

This is what I've been waiting to see on MSM so it could be discussed. Her boots found along with her gloves and coat. Purse and car keys left in the boat. OK. JMO, but I bet someone with larger feet than hers would have to cut them in order to put them on their own feet in order to leave footprints.
I'm very interested in the man who had her phone. Did he actually see her or did the BF hand her phone to him? So many questions.

 

[adot0902]

Not sure if you had time to look or not, but I found some hunting license info online.
Looks like most hunting time ends in December except for gun hunting WITH DOGS--ends Jan 20th and Archery/Primitive Weapon ENDS JAN 31st.
So unless they had archery with them OR had gun WITH dogs with them, they would be hunting illegally.
Unless I am reading this wrong, and that is possible because MS is divided into zones but I tried to match up counties with proper zones and time frames for hunting season.
Mississippi Hunting Seasons 2020-2021 - Outdoor Lawyer
Mississippi deer hunting: feeding, CWD zones changed. Limits altered (clarionledger.com)

Unless and I may have missed it they were hunting wild hogs which is for the most part legal to do in any way shape or form (at night, on a boat, with an AK-47 out of a helicopter) as long as you have a valid hunting license.

 

[Warwick7]

This is what I've been waiting to see on MSM so it could be discussed. Her boots found along with her gloves and coat. Purse and car keys left in the boat. OK. JMO, but I bet someone with larger feet than hers would have to cut them in order to put them on their own feet in order to leave footprints.
I'm very interested in the man who had her phone. Did he actually see her or did the BF hand her phone to him? So many questions.

OMWord!! I never thought of that!!!

 

[Spartygirl]

oh ok I think I've seen the ones that come up over like overalls

Yes, we have the overall ones also.

 

[Spartygirl]

This is what I've been waiting to see on MSM so it could be discussed. Her boots found along with her gloves and coat. Purse and car keys left in the boat. OK. JMO, but I bet someone with larger feet than hers would have to cut them in order to put them on their own feet in order to leave footprints.
I'm very interested in the man who had her phone. Did he actually see her or did the BF hand her phone to him? So many questions.

BBM- that is the million dollar question, IMO at least for me.
If the man did not even see her, well, that's a whole other scenario/case
If he did see her, I still don't understand why the BF or Jessica wouldn't just put the man's phone number in their phone to call him when done... why leave hers when there is no need to ??
I am just sitting on my hands waiting for news from LE about this man and exactly how the phone transaction happened and if he even saw Jessica.

 

[LietKynes]

@LietKynes

Thanks.
I didn't see this case until I read about it on Dateline.
Sad and I agree some key details seem to be missing.
Poor lady !
What happened ?
I'd say where is she-- but it seems IMO that if she was stranded between the river and a cut in the bank (dragline ditch) that she wouldn't have gone far.
So they think her boots were cut off her ?
This is sounding more like a homicide case and not just a missing person's case.

A very interesting comment from an M.J. at the Dateline FB page.
MOO

 

[Rush4087]

I'm beginning to wonder if she was ever in the boat.

 

[Spider92]

Have there been any comments from her boating partner? Pleas for help from him or interviews with him? He's entitled to his privacy but I'm surprised we have not heard from him.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Unless and I may have missed it they were hunting wild hogs which is for the most part legal to do in any way shape or form (at night, on a boat, with an AK-47 out of a helicopter) as long as you have a valid hunting license.

I thought they were deer hunting?

 

[ElementalLaura]

Bringing this up from early in the thread. The hunting deer and hogs info is from Sheriff Jimmy Edward’s (BBM below in the quote).

Rereading this, I’m struck by the distancing language used by both the sheriff and the reporter. The boating companion is not being cooperative or can’t be for some reason (did he pass out in the boat?). Also: Who described Jessica and the boating companion as being in a relationship?

I hope Jessica is found soon. My thoughts are with her, her loved ones and for all who are working so hard to find her.

More information here Missing woman update: Search with thermal imaging drones continues

Sheriff Jimmy Edwards said the couple, described as being in a relationship, had gotten into a small boat without a motor, putting it into the Tallahatchie River at the bridge on County Road 46 south of Enterprise about daylight Friday morning.

Edwards said the two were apparently hunting. “You know, sometimes when the river is high people will get in boats and float down the river to catch deer or hogs and shoot them,” he said. “That’s what they were doing.”

Apparently, at one point about a mile or mile and a half past West Union, Stacks got out of the boat, saying she intended to walk out of the river bottom, according to what the sheriff was told.

“Baggett continued down the river at least a couple of miles before getting out on the opposite side of the river,” Edwards said. “He ended up calling his son and they said for him to stay where he was and they would come get him,” he said. “They told him to holler and yell and they would find him.”

When they found Baggett, it became apparent that Stacks was missing.

Although Stacks owned a cell phone, she did not have it with her. The sheriff said the plan had been to leave her phone with the person who helped them put the boat in. They took Baggett’s phone with them, in order to call her phone when they decided to get out of the river. That person would then come and get them.

“Yesterday, the water was out and it appears when she got out she was surrounded by water and maybe didn’t realize that was going to be the case,” the sheriff said. “Maybe she couldn’t cross, it was too deep. There is a very deep dragline ditch between there and road, and if it were filled with water you wouldn’t know how deep it was until you stepped in it.”

Stacks had a coat, which searchers found apparently discarded, but probably was not dressed warmly enough for the weather the past two nights.

The sheriff said they did find evidence of where she had been, items and footprints. However the water had made tracking impossible and was washing away prints as well.

Members of the Union County Sheriff’s Department, Union County Search and Rescue and Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks searched an area of several miles through late Friday night and all day Saturday, on foot, by boat and ATV.

“We tried to get a helicopter with special equipment, but they told us the ceiling was too low and a helicopter could not fly,” the sheriff said. “We think the weather will be better tomorrow and will try to get one again.”

A daylight search was scheduled for 8 a.m. Sunday with game and fish personnel, deputies and members of the county volunteer fire departments.

The operation is still described as a search and rescue effort.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, her mother and grandmother,” the sheriff said. “We are doing everything we can to find her.”

 

[swedeheart]

Search continues for missing New Albany woman last seen Jan. 1

So far, no signs of foul play.

Not too much new info, but this:

"Sheriff Edwards says another challenge is dealing with the barrage of hearsay and accusations on social media that threaten to delay and hinder the investigation.

“We are spending hours going and talking to people, finding out, ‘what I said, I heard so and so say that’ and then they heard so and so say that, it just snowballs and gets bigger and more added to it and they say, ‘no I didn’t say that’ takes hours to chase all that down,” Edwards said."

 

[Snoop Sister]

Sounds like a homicide to me. I am really unnerved by the fact that her boots were cut off. Also, she leaves her purse and car keys on the boat? The BF tells a too fantastic story IMO.

 

[Acorunadepor]

Search continues for missing New Albany woman last seen Jan. 1

So far, no signs of foul play.

Not too much new info, but this:

"Sheriff Edwards says another challenge is dealing with the barrage of hearsay and accusations on social media that threaten to delay and hinder the investigation.

“We are spending hours going and talking to people, finding out, ‘what I said, I heard so and so say that’ and then they heard so and so say that, it just snowballs and gets bigger and more added to it and they say, ‘no I didn’t say that’ takes hours to chase all that down,” Edwards said."

I understand the Sheriff but hearsay and accusations also happened before social media. Those things always delayed investigations. I would say gossip was even stronger before social media, because people kept repeating stories over and over. On social media stories (theories) get replaced very quick. Almost instantly.