GUILTY IL - Jacob Wheeler, 22, & Jessica Evans, 17, White County, 25 Aug 2012 - #1

[GateKeeper]

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/w...cle_e0f22410-f326-11e1-99e1-0019bb2963f4.html

“He (Wheeler) is on The Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies Data System and is a person of interest in the murder of Miss Evans,” Maier said. “He could be considered armed and dangerous, but at this point we are speculating. There is the possibility he may be a victim also with his disappearance.”

"They" sound as confused as we do.

 

[88keys]

Hmmm...wondering now if I have the right link.

I did a search for White County Illinois on the site you listed. This came up.

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?tab=reports&ctid=687&rpt=1

The locations listed on that chart are White County Illinois locations. I've got the scanner feed going now- I'll see if I can figure out if it's the right one or not. Great find!

 

[88keys]

Not much happening on that scanner feed. Which makes me think it is the right one.

There is an archive of that feed for the past month or so. I'm trying to access it now.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

To clear up your confusion I'll give you a little summary of Carmi, Crossville, and "Centerville.". I am from Carmi. Carmi has about 4500 people. Crossville has less than 1000. Centerville Road leads from Carmi out into the country, and has roads that go off more in the country towards Crossville, but Centerville Road itself does not go towards Crossville. Centerville is a town known only by people from Carmi and close by. I dont even think its on the maps. Anyway, the road they were on was in the bottoms (way out in the country with mostly fields and thick trees.) I am a friend of Jacob's and I can also clear up a few other things. Jacob worked at Browns Feed Store, and he was not on drugs. He was a nice guy that I can't see doing something like this. Where they were camping was out in the middle of nowhere in the country. Jessi posted on Facebook at 11:50 that she caught her first fish and she was supposed to be home for work at 5am Monday morning. She worked at Dairy Queen in Carmi. Oh and another thing, Jacob left right after we graduated high school and went to the Army. He was recruited in high school. He wrestled and ran cross country. It would be hard for me to believe that he did it, but once I found out the gun was missing, it's hard to say that it wasn't him.

thanks, Baseball... And :welcome:

Insider information is so important to WS! :seeya:

 

[rachaellouise]

Unfortunately appearances can be deceiving.

 

[baseball40]

There's a police scanner iPhone app called 5-0 radio that pick up Carmi's Sherrie scanner as well as our state police headquarters located in Carmi. Get that go to browse Illinois White and then the 2 are listed there. Very boring to listen to though. Not a lot of Stuff happens in Carmi.

Another rumor and I repeat RUMOR, a neighboring house by where all this happened was supposedly robbed some time during the weekend. This is just talk in the town. And it is a RUMOR. Just covering myself there. I never hear any documentation of this but it was a well known Carmi family.

 

[88keys]

Baseball,

Do you know anything about the site where they were camping? Was it an actual campground where people camped regularly, or was it just someone's private property? The way it was described, I thought they were just camping in a friend's field or something. Did other people actually camp there?

 

[baseball40]

It's definitely not a camping site like Burrell's Woods is. It is kind of like going hunting... It's just out in the middle of nowhere. I sure others have camped there but I'd say it's just once in a great while. And the roads out there are rarely traveled. Mostly by either people that live closely or kids who are riding around in the country. Definitely not a campgrounds though

 

[Chris_Texas]

I think if someone else did this they would have found him dead or injured by now with the FLIR, ground search and the river search. What killer would go to great lengths to hide and dispose of his body and just throw her in the back of a truck or shoot her and leave her there? More than likely as much as we dont want it to end that way Jacob Wheeler is hiding out and on the run.

FLIR would not help finding the body. They would have to do it the traditional way. And as we have seen so many times, it is not unusual for search teams to miss bodies, and particularly common in rough terrain. Which I have never understood, but there it is.

 

[watcher9]

Wouldn't dogs help in this rough terrain?

 

[Chris_Texas]

More Random Thoughts:

If Jacob is on the run it is important to remember that he is not Rambo. The military offers no special training that would assist him for life as a caveman. They are too busy training for life as a soldier. Surival in the woods is just that, survive and get out. The reason is simple: if you don't get out you die. Usually quickly.

I find it interesting that the police have not reported whether or not he seems to have taken his camping gear with him when he fled, or if not what that camping gear was.

They have not reported whether or not the victim was clothed, and if not where her clothes were located, or if extra clothing was discovered.

They have not actually described the truck crime scene at all.

They have not reported where the evidence indicates Jessica was shot (camp site, truck bed, truck cab, next to the truck, etc).

We do not yet know whether or not Jacob's military separation was under honorable conditions. However, so far it seems no one who knows him, including the wife who is divorcing him, has anything particularly bad to say about him. He does not seem to use drugs, his ex doesn't say he was violent, and his hobbies did not seem to include dissecting the neighbor's pets or dead prostitutes.

Actually, this is one of those very frustrating cases where the police have revealed next to no information at all. Nor do we yet have any of the normal websleuthing info trickling in. Since we have a local that knew him when he was younger, I suppose we can assume he has lived most of his life in that area. I guess that's a start.

 

[Chris_Texas]

Wouldn't dogs help in this rough terrain?

You would think so, right?

However, with all respect to the wonderful people who train and use these dogs, in all the cases I have followed here I cannot recall even one in which the dogs managed to accomplish anything useful at all. I am sure this is just coincidence of course.

 

[Chris_Texas]

Baseball,

Indelicate question, sorry, but from your impression only how would you describe Jacob's family's financial situation? Meaning, bluntly, were they doing okay or were they barely making it?

You mention that you knew Jacob well when you were both younger but drifted apart in high school and after (which is pretty normal). None the less, you knew who he was and who he hung out with. It seems, in most schools, kids tend to break down into groups. When I was a kid we had Jocks, Popular Kids, Nerds, Stoners, and so on. My daughter's generation added Goths and Juggalos and what not.

You might not have hung out, but you perhaps noted which group Jacob hung out with -- assuming your school was anything like this at all of course.

Did you know Jessica? Obviously she would have been younger than you, but perhaps you are familiar with her. Any idea where and how Jacob met her?

Don't answer if you don't want. I am not trying to put you on the spot!

 

[TobyWong*]

I have'nt heard anything on White County scanner. Not a peep. Has anyone eles?

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Not necessarily... Maybe the guy was a different race as someone suggested? Idk but look at this:

http://www.disclosurenewsonline.com/2012/08/30/wheeler-still-could-b-a-victim-new-info-more-coming/

Snipped:
The one rumor that was floating around Tuesday night that HAS been confirmed is the one originating from the Burrell’s Woods (CORRECTED) area: that a local man, Jimmy Howell, had a young man come to his door at about 3 a.m. Sunday morning, having blood on him and wanting to use his phone. Maier said his staff did indeed check that one, and Howell did indeed have someone come to his place under that exact circumstance, but when checked, it was determined that this WASN’T Jacob Wheeler who had blood on him and wanted to use Howell’s phone. We don’t know who it was. But it wasn’t Jake.

Per this article...

Wouldn't ballistics testing at least rule out Wheeler's family gun??

Of course without the exact weapon, results would be inconclusive...

But tests would indicate if the gun used on Jessica was the same type of gun.

and yes, I realize that even if it is the same gun...

there may be no proof yet if it was Jake or someone else who did the shooting.

Just some thoughts...

 

[Dushi]

A day behind, trying to catch up

So many great posts, can't thank them all so i will just say thank you

Gawd, this is so strange

Still on the fence but beginning to lean ...

They, LE, would know if the missing gun and the murder weapon were the same kind
Where is jake

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Omgosh when Holly posted that earlier I timed out twice bc I kept looking up info on it. I think it would be a great family vacay! Seriously!

Me too!

I have to put it on my list of Na'l Parks for DH and I to visit!:woohoo:

 

[cluciano63]

I am getting the feeling that LE does believe the gun that killed Jessica is probably the one missing from his home, only because they are still calling him a POI and to me, adding that he could be a victim as kind of an afterthought.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

My random thoughts....

Respectfully, I think the Meth angle is a bit of a stretch. It seems like I see this proposed in virtually every case I have followed, and inevitably it's something far simpler. And in this case I think it's even more unlikely.

Most Meth these days, from my understanding, is someone cooking it up for themselves and perhaps their friends. It's not a great money drug because any addict can make it themselves if they want to. Further, it seems extremely far fetched that these two kids "stumbled" into a major meth operation in that location, but the hundreds of police did not. And it's not like it was a drug exchange in the middle of nowhere, the drug lords would have simply driven a hudred yards further and done their thing. Assuming, of course, that they didn't just exchange their drugs in the McDonalds parking lot.

As far as the gun. The guy was in Iraq. While there he probably learned two very important survival lessons. First, the most dangerous animal on earth walks on two legs. Second, bad things happen fast and it's better to be armed than not. He probably felt very uncomfortable unarmed.

I can think of a lot of scenarios that explain the limited information we have. Some starring this guy as the killer, but most do not.

If I were to hazard a GUESS, I think they did stumble into something, and that something was a killer. I suspect he killed them both, drove the truck off the road, then put the guy's body into his own vehicle before driving off with the body. Alternatively, Jacob's body is right there and the searchers have missed it.

Oh no.....

If there is a killer...

maybe the killer preferred males? IYKWIM? :what:

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

But she was not sexually assaulted? That seems unusual to me, if this was a stranger, or random.

Unless it was a kidnapper who preferred males?

Just a thought...