Found Deceased Jenny Hall, 23, described as a keen long distance runner, vehicle located on the B2678 between Eggleston & Stanhope, County Durham, Feb 18 2025.

[InVinoVeritas]

There is a "Tow law Noticeboard" on FB and only one mention of Jenny's disappearance, days ago!

 

[bringmeacupoft]

I’d be interested to know if she specifically told people she was going for a run, or that was an assumption made on where her car was found? They seem certain she’s in that area, so my gut does say that’s what she told people, but would be interesting to know if this was the case. I think the niggle that makes me believe it was an assumption is that they didn’t report her missing until 9pm, which feels late for returning home running in an area like that & the weather at the time, and that her car was found as opposed to that’s where she said she would park.

In this thread there have been I think justified questions 1) her attire for running - was this normal for Jenny to run in? 2) the time of the run, again was this a normal time to go running for Jenny?

 

[Firstsnow4]

That those items have revealed nothing, suggests they may not have been switched on during the crucial time. Why leave them behind if you're going running? Most people routinely carry mobile devices with them when they're out in the wilds. A fully charged mobile is the first on my list for a long walk. Unless there are mental health issues we're not being made aware of, this doesn't look like a lost runner to me but something more sinister and unrelated to the search area. By which I mean, if you disposed of a body in that area, you wouldn't leave a car as a massive attention-drawing flag.

The only problem with this scenario is that she supposedly left her house at 3pm and the dashcam footage that showed her car in that position was taken an hour later (according to this source Mystery disappearance of Jenny Hall as search enters day four ) which doesn't give much time for something bad to happen and for her car to be planted there. Unless timings are wrong. JMO.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

For fear of being stereotypical "they're tough up north" and I imagine, if JH is a farmer's daughter, born and bred in these moors, she wouldn't necessarily have any fear of the landscape or potential darkness.

 

[Sarahlou]

I’d be interested to know if she specifically told people she was going for a run, or that was an assumption made on where her car was found? They seem certain she’s in that area, so my gut does say that’s what she told people, but would be interesting to know if this was the case. I think the niggle that makes me believe it was an assumption is that they didn’t report her missing until 9pm, which feels late for returning home running in an area like that & the weather at the time, and that her car was found as opposed to that’s where she said she would park.

In this thread there have been I think justified questions 1) her attire for running - was this normal for Jenny to run in? 2) the time of the run, again was this a normal time to go running for Jenny?

I'm sure I read that her family weren't aware she was going for a run that day. I can't find it now though.
They are searching areas where she is known to have run before.

The fact that she left her phone and other devices behind makes me think this is self harm.

 

[starlightstarbright]

I’ve plotted where I think she parked on my OS map app (hopefully this is permissible). It’s the blue smudge.

If she was running, she could have simply bog hopped up over that moorland bit to the forest. Or she could have gone down the road as a warm up (I’ve often done this running, parking so my real run doesn’t start for 1/2-1 mile beyond where my car is parked).

I live and hike (don’t run anymore!) in a similar high moorland and for lots of people, it wouldn’t be unusual just to cut straight across the moor if you know it well. There are often tracks even where maps don’t say there are tracks. So I don’t think the terrain is necessarily an obstacle here if she is familiar with it, like you would be if this is where you always go.

But because the moor (until you get to the forest) is so open and very monochrome at this time of year, I’d think she’d be very easy to spot from the air if she was on the moor. Obviously this would not be the case in Hammersley Forest.

If her goal was self harm, it would not be easy to find something to harm yourself with on the moor (unless she brought a weapon from home), but obviously would be much easier in the forest. Such an awkward place to park though if your end goal was to self harm in a wooded area. JMO

 

[wtiger]

I’ve plotted where I think she parked on my OS map app (hopefully this is permissible). It’s the blue smudge.

If she was running, she could have simply bog hopped up over that moorland bit to the forest. Or she could have gone down the road as a warm up (I’ve often done this running, parking so my real run doesn’t start for 1/2-1 mile beyond where my car is parked).

I live and hike (don’t run anymore!) in a similar high moorland and for lots of people, it wouldn’t be unusual just to cut straight across the moor if you know it well. There are often tracks even where maps don’t say there are tracks. So I don’t think the terrain is necessarily an obstacle here if she is familiar with it, like you would be if this is where you always go.

But because the moor (until you get to the forest) is so open and very monochrome at this time of year, I’d think she’d be very easy to spot from the air if she was on the moor. Obviously this would not be the case in Hammersley Forest.

If her goal was self harm, it would not be easy to find something to harm yourself with on the moor (unless she brought a weapon from home), but obviously would be much easier in the forest. Such an awkward place to park though if your end goal was to self harm in a wooded area. JMO

self harm would not often involve a weapon imho

 

[Melt71]

Seems unusual that we haven't heard more from family/friends or a FB page to Find Jenny. One friend has shared a couple of posts [Jane Lys] but other than that, just news articles. We know so very little about her, other than she's a farmer's daughter and runner.
For example, did she work and travel for work, have a partner, etc.etc.

Not necessarily. I have worked with missing persons cases (not in the US) and it's pretty routine that families will be working closely with police to nominate a spokesperson and to work with them on what information is made public. I have noticed that these cases seem to be handled very differently in the US.

 

[Firstsnow4]

I’m still not sure where this ‘gone for a run’ has come from. If you look at the first post by Durham police it states that it is thought she was heading to the Barnard Castle area - link here

https://www.facebook.com/100064727974935/posts/1065903295577260

Nothing in it states she was going for a run. Edited to add - Subsequent articles by the police have mentioned running, I’m wondering if they have assumed that’s what she was doing. There is very little information out there. Her poor family must be going through hell.

 

[wtiger]

i agree - nothing really to suggest that she was going running.

in fact the location of the car probably suggests otherwise, certainly not where most runners would be parking in that area.

the police will know more than they are telling which is why some things seem to make little sense to us.

the fact that they are actively discouraging public searches is very very telling to me

 

[Gubby Allen]

i agree - nothing really to suggest that she was going running.

in fact the location of the car probably suggests otherwise, certainly not where most runners would be parking in that area.

the police will know more than they are telling which is why some things seem to make little sense to us.

the fact that they are actively discouraging public searches is very very telling to me

There is more than enough from everything that is known so far to eliminate running from the factors, had it not been given prominence originally. But they may have just been additional information and suggesting a familiarity with the area. There was comment that she was heading to Barnard Castle rather than running a loop.

 

[Rosegold68]

Maybe the running assumption comes from more detail about her from her family

Was she training for a race? What kind of green jacket may she have been carrying…. A Barbour style I’d very different to a tech running jacket

 

[DaFroome]

Maybe the running assumption comes from more detail about her from her family

Was she training for a race? What kind of green jacket may she have been carrying…. A Barbour style I’d very different to a tech running jacket.

Perhaps the green jacket in the photo release. It’s not a running jacket and, yes, no real confirmation she’d gone running.

 

[TMich6811]

IMO they didn’t know she’d be in that area at all. The chief inspector said in the original report that they were focusing on areas she was known to run. My guess is because the family had no idea where she would be and said well, she likes to run and so they went with it. They announced it to the public and then the person with the dash cam footage came forward.

Major search underway for woman, 23, who went missing while running in Durham

Jenny Hall is a keen long-distance runner, and a search on Friday concentrated on running trails she is known to frequently use

www.independent.co.uk

IMO this wasn’t run related. She left or was told to leave her phone and watch behind. If she was meeting someone they would have seen it on her phone since it seems they have been able to review it. She wouldn’t have deleted all of that.

I have 3 thoughts
1. Self harm
2. She went to do a walk - blow off some steam or something and didn’t want her phone on her (I do this a lot) and then either had an accident (this seems unlikely to me as she probably wouldn’t have gone far) or 3. Was picked up by someone taking advantage of the situation

 

[Normal Norm]

Do we know exactly where Jenny's car was parked? I've been up and down the road several times on Google Earth Street View, but can't place it. I get the impression her car is parked facing northwards. There seem to be other, better, places to park - places where her car will be just that little bit further away from the road.

Do we know where Jenny's phone is? The statement that "digital intelligence officers have conducted extensive enquiries into Jenny’s mobile phone [and] smart watch" doesn't necessarily mean that the police have hold of these devices.

For reasons I can't really explain, I feel that Jenny has ventured to the west of the B6278 rather than to the east, which is where searches have been concentrated. Having said that, I am sure the police have their reasons for searching where they are.

 

[DaFroome]

Do we know exactly where Jenny's car was parked? I've been up and down the road several times on Google Earth Street View, but can't place it. I get the impression her car is parked facing northwards. There seem to be other, better, places to park - places where her car will be just that little bit further away from the road.

Do we know where Jenny's phone is? The statement that "digital intelligence officers have conducted extensive enquiries into Jenny’s mobile phone [and] smart watch" doesn't necessarily mean that the police have hold of these devices.

For reasons I can't really explain, I feel that Jenny has ventured to the west of the B6278 rather than to the east, which is where searches have been concentrated. Having said that, I am sure the police have their reasons for searching where they are.

Yes, the car is in a small dirt lay-by facing north suggesting a driving route south from Tow Law around the forest and then heading back north towards Tow Law.

The lay-by location is odd and unlikely to be used for a running route to the forest on the right, and could equally be just a rendezvous point or for access to the left (west). I notice a small reservoir in that direction but not much else.

 

[Firstsnow4]

IMO they didn’t know she’d be in that area at all. The chief inspector said in the original report that they were focusing on areas she was known to run. My guess is because the family had no idea where she would be and said well, she likes to run and so they went with it. They announced it to the public and then the person with the dash cam footage came forward.

Major search underway for woman, 23, who went missing while running in Durham

Jenny Hall is a keen long-distance runner, and a search on Friday concentrated on running trails she is known to frequently use

www.independent.co.uk

IMO this wasn’t run related. She left or was told to leave her phone and watch behind. If she was meeting someone they would have seen it on her phone since it seems they have been able to review it. She wouldn’t have deleted all of that.

I have 3 thoughts
1. Self harm
2. She went to do a walk - blow off some steam or something and didn’t want her phone on her (I do this a lot) and then either had an accident (this seems unlikely to me as she probably wouldn’t have gone far) or 3. Was picked up by someone taking advantage of the situation

Yes I’m leaning towards 1 or 3. If Jenny uses strava or anything like that they may be able to see if she has parked there before for running. However, if it’s a new location, it could have easily been a meet up gone wrong sadly. JMO.

 

[DaFroome]

Yes I’m leaning towards 1 or 3. If Jenny uses strava or anything like that they may be able to see if she has parked there before for running or anything else. Or if it is a new location. If new, it could have easily been a meet up gone wrong sadly. JMO.

There’s a potential 4th:
car left there by someone else.

 

[Firstsnow4]

There’s a potential 4th:
car left there by someone else.

Yes potentially but there would only be a one hour window between when she left home (3pm) and when the car was spotted there by dashcam footage (4pm) if this article is correct Mystery disappearance of Jenny Hall as search enters day four
That’s not a very big window for things to happen IMO. Unless timings are incorrect.

 

[bringmeacupoft]

Yes potentially but there would only be a one hour window between when she left home (3pm) and when the car was spotted there by dashcam footage (4pm) if this article is correct Mystery disappearance of Jenny Hall as search enters day four
That’s not a very big window for things to happen IMO. Unless timings are incorrect.

To add the dashcam shows other cars passing by, doesn’t look a particularly busy road, but plenty of cars intermittently passing, risk of being seen