Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host Ashley Flowers and I'm Britt and today I want to tell you a story about a woman who could have been any of us

She was a young mom in her mid-20s who was trying to provide for her family while also trying to beat that

Quarter-life crisis and figure out what direction she really wanted to take for her future

She was smart and loving a hard worker and then she just vanished without a trace. This is the story of Jessica Herringa

Jessica Herringa didn't have any time to go out and party on weekends. She has a three-year-old boy and her fiance Dakota recently lost his job

So while Dakota stays at home to watch their son's seven Jessica treats Friday night like she usually does

By going to work the closing shift at an ex-on-gas station on Sternberg Road in her hometown of Norton Shores, Michigan

Now as anyone who's worked any sort of retail or food service job will tell you it's not a job for everyone

But Jessica tries to look on the bright side. She's a smart girl very introspective

I mean she's literally known for journaling every single day and she loves math

She wants so badly to continue her education

But with a young kid at home and bills to pay that's just not an option right now

And life for her in Norton Shores is duller now that Jessica's mom Shelly and one of her sisters Samantha have both moved out of town

So really she gets a lot of her social interactions from the people who frequent the gas station where she works

Like she literally got this whole group of regular customers who will wait for her shift before they actually come in

So on the night of April 26 2013 one of Jessica's regulars this guy named Craig

Swings by the ex-on station to fill up his car now. It's dark outside like 11 p.m. And since Craig doesn't need to buy anything else besides gas

He just goes ahead and pays at the pump now

There's one problem the pump doesn't activate and now this doesn't worry him because he knows Jessica's getting ready to close up for the night

She's probably like taking inventory or something so he goes inside to let her know that he's here like I need the pump back on

But when he walks into the front door of the store

He's a little surprised when he doesn't see Jessica behind the counter so she starts looking around

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