Park Predators

The Ravine

31 min
Dec 23, 20255 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

This episode of Park Predators examines the unsolved 1990 murder of Jennifer Bailey, a 21-year-old jogger found dead in Pine Mountain State Resort Park in Kentucky, and explores connections to another unsolved murder of her cousin Greta Henson in 1992. Despite early investigative leads including witness accounts of a dark pickup truck and confessions from jail inmates, both cases remain cold after 34+ years.

Insights
  • Early investigative leads from credible sources (jail inmate confessions with crime-specific details) were reportedly not pursued aggressively enough by law enforcement, potentially allowing perpetrators to evade justice
  • Victim profile and lifestyle factors (responsible, punctual, employed, athletic) can help establish foul play vs. voluntary disappearance, but don't necessarily generate investigative momentum without corroborating evidence
  • Physical evidence recovery in challenging terrain (ravines, forests) requires significant resource commitment; initial searches of 1500+ acre parks may miss bodies even with 100+ volunteers and canine units
  • Public appeals for specific stolen items (watches, cassette players, jewelry) decades after crimes can generate leads when perpetrators or recipients may recognize descriptions from their past
  • Jurisdictional and resource constraints in rural law enforcement can create friction between prosecutors and state police regarding investigative prioritization and lead follow-up
Trends
Cold case resolution increasingly relies on public engagement and item-based appeals rather than traditional investigative methodsTension between local prosecutors and state police over resource allocation and investigative thoroughness in rural homicide casesDelayed justice in violent crimes against young women in rural communities, with family members aging without closureImportance of documenting and preserving early investigative leads (audio recordings, witness statements) for future investigatorsTechnology advances (forensic anthropology, dental records matching) enabling victim identification but not perpetrator identification in decomposed remains cases
Topics
Unsolved homicides in state parksRural law enforcement resource constraintsCold case investigation strategiesWitness testimony and composite sketchesVictim identification through forensic anthropologyProsecutorial oversight of state police investigationsPublic appeals for stolen property recoverySerial crime patterns in rural countiesJurisdictional coordination between county and state law enforcementFamily impact of unsolved murdersEvidence preservation in outdoor crime scenesJail informant leads in homicide investigationsMissing persons search operationsCause of death determination in decomposed remainsConfidential tip lines and public engagement
Companies
LNER
Train service provider featured in episode sponsor advertisement promoting journey comfort and reliability.
Walmart
Retail employer where Jennifer Bailey worked; mentioned as context for her character and reliability as employee.
Kentucky State Parks
Operates Pine Mountain State Resort Park where Jennifer Bailey was murdered while jogging in 1990.
People
Jennifer Bailey
21-year-old murder victim found dead in Pine Mountain State Resort Park in August 1990; central subject of episode.
Greta Henson
24-year-old murder victim and Jennifer Bailey's cousin by marriage, killed in her home in January 1992.
Janice Bailey
Jennifer Bailey's mother; provided interviews and statements about her daughter's disappearance and ongoing grief.
Albert Bailey
Jennifer Bailey's father; purchased firearm after daughter's murder and discussed case with press.
William Hayes
Commonwealth's Attorney for Bell County who actively investigated both cases and criticized state police resource all...
Josephine Henson
Greta Henson's mother; attended victim remembrance ceremony and advocated for justice in her daughter's case.
Dylia DeAmbra
Host of Park Predators podcast; narrates and investigates Jennifer Bailey and Greta Henson murder cases.
Eric Gregory
Lexington Herald Leader reporter who covered Jennifer Bailey's disappearance and investigation extensively.
Barry Reeves
Lexington Herald Leader reporter who covered discovery of Jennifer Bailey's body in state park ravine.
Quotes
"she either flew the coop with some guy, or it was just one of those chance things, like some freak driving by"
KSP DetectiveEarly investigation phase, August 1990
"it's caught us all by surprise. She's always in good spirits, never acted depressed or nothing"
Jennifer Bailey's Walmart co-workerPost-disappearance interviews
"it is my firm conviction that both these cases could have been solved within a few months of their occurrence if the state police had been willing to commit the human resources to effectively running the leads down"
William Hayes, Commonwealth's AttorneyDecember 1993, end of tenure
"it's been like a living hell really. It's like you went to bed and had a bad dream, and you think you'll wake up and it'll be over, but then reality comes back and you wake up and it's still there"
Janice Bailey, Jennifer's motherFifth anniversary of Jennifer's murder, ~1995
"whoever killed that little girl is going to be tied to a black truck one way or the other. They either own it or they borrowed it or their father owned it or their cousin"
KSP DetectiveMid-investigation, focus on dark pickup truck witness account
Full Transcript
Hiya, I'm Eleanor, just your average walkin' talkin' dancing thingin' puppet. A puppet that loves an LNER train journey, it beats the CERR every time. I'm free to do all the things I love. Get lost in a true crime series, type away like an office ninja, or order yummy food and drinks to my seat, or just have a cheeky power nap. And now, with more services and faster journey times, there's more freedom all the way with LNER. Selected routes only, visit LNER.co.uk slash timetable for details. Some cases fade from headlines. Some never made it there to begin with. I'm Ashley Flowers and on my podcast The Deck, I tell you the stories of cold cases featured on playing cards distributed in prisons, designed to spark new leads and bring long overdue justice. Because these stories deserve to be heard, and the loved ones of these victims still deserve answers. Are you ready to be dealt in? Listen to The Deck Now, wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, Park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Dylia DeAmbra. And the case I'm going to tell you about today takes place in Pine Mountain State Resort Park in Southeastern Kentucky. According to a website for Kentucky State Parks, this recreation space is located near the city of Pineville and overlooks another beautiful public land called the Kentucky Ridge State Forest. Visitors come here for activities including hiking, sightseeing, birdwatching, and swimming. The park is roughly 1500 acres in size or so and is home to a variety of tree species and wildlife. As well as an archaeological site known as the Rock Hotel, which is a big shelter made of sandstone that prehistoric Native American people once lived in. In the summer of 1990, a young woman jogging in this park came face to face with someone determined to shatter the quiet serenity of this landscape with unimaginable violence. The law enforcement investigation that followed was swift, but to this day the identity of the perpetrator or perpetrators and their motive for the crime remains an enigma. Perhaps though with this broadcast that could change, this is Park Predators. Around noon on Thursday, August 16, 1990, a woman named Janice Bailey was at her family's home in Greasy Creek, Kentucky waiting for her 21-year-old daughter, Jennifer Bailey, to return from running errands around town and going for a jog. Janice had last heard from Jennifer around 10.55 AM, and so now that had been a little while without any word from her, Janice was beginning to get concerned. She knew her daughter was very punctual and usually called if she was going to be running late. According to reporting by Eric Gregory for the Lexington Harold Leader and coverage by Medium.com, when the two women last spoke, Jennifer had called from Bell County Middle School, which was where Janice was employed. She let her mom know that she'd picked up a prescription for her at a local pharmacy and was going to bring home some cases of soda from the school after going for a jog in Pine Mountain State Park. She also promised that when she returned home, she'd help clean the house because Janice was still recovering from a recent surgery and had only just gotten home from the hospital. Jennifer lived with her mom and dad, Janice and Albert, full-time, and going to run errands for them or finding time to herself to exercise was nothing new. She was an athletic young woman who jogged in the State Park at least twice a week or worked out at a local YMCA City in the nearby city of Middlesboro. It seems from what I read in the source material that Jennifer and her parents didn't live very far from the State Park. However, what was unusual on that Thursday was the fact that Jennifer did not come home in a timely manner or contact her parents since mid-morning. When she left her family's house, she borrowed her mom's silver 1987 Mercury Cougar. When authorities from Kentucky State Police got involved in the case after Janice reported her daughter missing, officers went to the State Park to try and locate that vehicle. When they arrived at the parking lot for a trailhead at Pine Mountain State Resort Park, they spotted Jennifer's car parked by itself, but Jennifer was nowhere inside. A quick search of the inside of the vehicle revealed that she left it unlocked with her wallet and keys beneath the front seat and some money, a rental video, and medicine for her mom sitting on the passenger seat. Her photo ID was in her wallet, but her credit cards were back at home. From the looks of it, it didn't appear that any kind of struggle had occurred in the vehicle or around the outside of it. Jennifer's mother later told the press, her daughter typically locked the vehicle whenever she went jogging, so the fact that had been left unlocked seemed odd. Authorities quickly organized a ground search for Jennifer, but because the park was so large, they had a lot of area to cover and a lot of potential witnesses to interview. According to the coverage on this case, where Jennifer had gone jogging was a scenic area of the park that attracted a lot of visitors. People regularly traveled two roads that ran alongside the one she'd gone down, and some 75 people per day reportedly exercised on it. So investigators felt confident that someone who'd been using the trail on Thursday morning had to have seen or heard something that might be helpful. Witnesses who were initially interviewed told investigators that they thought they'd seen Jennifer in the parking lot, speaking with a man in a dark pickup truck shortly after 11 a.m. And at that time, she'd been donning a white sleeveless shirt with gray or white shorts that had the word Kentucky written on the sides. A more detailed description that law enforcement put out about the missing 21-year-old was that she had green eyes, weighed about 135 pounds, was five feet four inches tall, and had freckles on her face. She was also said to be sporting a medium tan. Her mother described Jennifer's shoulder length hair as red, but explained in more detail that Jennifer would frequently die at blonde, which gave it a more strawberry blonde look versus all red. Janice also said that Jennifer usually wore two gold chain necklaces, one of which was heavier than the other. The lighter one bore the inscription, best friend. Cruz scoured the woods of the state park on Thursday night, Friday and Saturday, but reportedly didn't find any clues. And the task of searching this particular geographic area was not easy by any means. Some of the terrain that police and volunteers were combing was treacherous. For example, on Friday night, August 17, a canine handler from the Kentucky SearchDog Association and his four-legged partner accidentally fell off a 45-foot cliff. The handler actually fractured some bones in his back, but the dog he had with him was un-injured. On Sunday morning, August 19, three days after Jennifer vanished, police officially disbanded their search for her. In total, eight canines and more than 100 volunteers and members of law enforcement had dedicated time to the effort, but nothing of value surfaced in all the time they'd been searching. Jennifer's mom told reporter Eric Gregory that she suspected someone had abducted Jennifer, but a detective for the state police explained that his agency was considering that scenario as well as other possible theories. He told the Lexington Herald Leader, quote, she either flew the coop with some guy, or it was just one of those chance things, like some freak driving by. End quote. In that same breath, though, the detective went on to say that it didn't seem likely someone had stalked or watched Jennifer while she was jogging, because they would have likely been spotted by other people using the trail. But so far, no witnesses had come forward to report that kind of information. Still, investigators asked people to call the Kentucky State Police Post in Harlem if they had any information that could help them figure out where Jennifer was or what had happened to her. Meanwhile, her co-workers at a Walmart store in Barbara, Vilkin, Tucky told The Press that Jennifer was always a responsible and reliable person. She took care of herself and performed well at her job. Any suggestion that she'd taken off to start a new life or was perhaps struggling with depression did not align with the person they knew Jennifer to be. One co-worker told reporter Eric Gregory, quote, it's caught us all by surprise. She's always in good spirits, never acted depressed or nothing. End quote. Also noteworthy was the fact that Jennifer had failed to pick up a $400 paycheck from her employer before she vanished. So it seemed unlikely that she'd just up and take off if there was money still waiting for her at work. On Monday, August 20, the sheriff of Bell County, which is where the state park is located, told The Press that there was no plan in place at that point to resume looking for Jennifer. Authorities had received some tips that they were still investigating, but by and large law enforcement had no substantial leads pointing them in one specific direction or another. However, that was about to change. When the biggest clue investigators had been looking for, turned up. If you like your true crime, like you like your coffee, red handed is the podcast for you. It's dark, intense and might just keep you up all night. I'm Hannah, I'm Sauruti, and every week on red handed we break down a different fascinating case. From the most recent US trials, everyone is obsessing over, like Brendan Banfield, Karen Reed and Ellen Greenberg, to the most unbelievable stories from around the world. There's nothing we love more than digging into every detail of the case as we cover, getting beyond a basic analysis and cutting to the heart of the story. Red handed has over 400 episodes ready to binge right now. Plus be sure to check out our weekly sister show, Shorthand, where we unpack everything from the Black Death to Area 51. If you're looking for smart, detailed true crime with personality, check out red handed wherever you get your podcasts. Hi everyone, it's Deelia DeAmber here, and I want to tell you about a podcast that's one of my personal favorites that I know you're going to love too. Dark Down East, hosted by my friend and fellow investigative journalist Kylie Lo, Dark Down East dives into New England's most haunting true crime cases. From unsolved mysteries to stories where justice has been served, Kylie brings her meticulous research and heartfelt storytelling to uncover the truth behind these cases. If you love the way I take you deep into the details of a case, then I know you'll appreciate Kylie's dedication to honoring the victims and uncovering their stories. There are so many episodes of Dark Down East already waiting for you and new episodes every Thursday. Find Dark Down East now wherever you listen to podcasts. According to the available news coverage, shortly before 7 p.m. on Sunday, August 26, almost 10 days after Jennifer was reported missing. Three people who were looking for arrowheads in the state park stumbled across a mostly nude, decomposing body over an embankment and a remote section of the woods. Additional reporting by Barry Reeves for the Lexington Harold leader explained that Kentucky State Police detectives responded to the scene. But I'll be honest, it was hard to tell from the source material when exactly they got to the victim on Sunday night. Because per that associated press article I mentioned a second ago, the body was reportedly found in a mountainous region of the park. So I have to imagine it probably took a little while for authorities to get there considering the challenging nature of the terrain. Once they did get there though and assessed the scene, a few detectives then left to travel to Jennifer's parents' home and let them know what was going on. The only detail the state police initially shared with the press was that the death was suspected to be a homicide. But other than that, they were very tight-lived. They refused to reveal where exactly in the park the death investigation scene was located and whether the victim was male or female. To assist them in making a positive ID though, the state police requested help from forensic anthropologists who traveled to the woods to examine the body before transporting it for an autopsy. The day after the victim was found, a man who worked for the state medical examiner's office told the associated press that he strongly suspected the victim was Jennifer because two gold chain necklaces that matched the description of the jury she usually wore were found on the victim's body and it appeared that the deceased had been in the woods for at least seven to eight days. This official also explained that where the victim had been discovered was about one and a half miles away from the trail Jennifer had last been seen on right before she vanished. It was his opinion that the victim had possibly been killed somewhere else in the park before being dumped in a ravine further into the forest. By the end of the day on August 29, 13 days after Jennifer disappeared, the medical examiner officially ruled that the body from the park was the missing 21-year-old. The forensic anthropologist who'd come in to help the state police had compared Jennifer's dental records to the corpse and confirmed they were a match. Unfortunately, possibly due to the condition of her body when she was found, it was difficult for officials to determine her cause of death right away. What investigators were fairly confident of, though, was that whoever had done this to Jennifer had gone to some links to conceal her from view. The available source material states that when she was found, it appeared she'd been pushed down the embankment into the wooded ravine and then partially covered in vegetation, which to me are two indications that whoever murdered her did not want her to be found. On Saturday, September 1, Jennifer's loved ones held her funeral in Middlesboro, Kentucky and then laid her to rest in Green Hills Memorial Gardens. The ceremony was just one day before what would have been her 22nd birthday. Understandably, the loss of their youngest daughter took a toll on Janice and Albert Bailey. Boughts of other people from Bell County were shocked too that such a tragic and violent act had been inflicted against a young woman from their community who seemingly had no known enemies. A few days after her funeral, initial news coverage reported that the state medical examiner officially ruled her cause of death as a spictiation, and later reporting says she died from strangulation. There was also evidence of sexual assault. It seems that between when her body was found and when her cause of death was officially determined, the state police's investigation had gained some much-needed momentum. Authorities confirmed that they'd interviewed a handful of people in different states that detective suspected could have been involved in the crime. They also had their hands full processing evidence that was discovered either on or with Jennifer's body in the state park. What exactly that evidence was, though, or who any potential persons of interest were, was not information that was readily released to the public. The associated press published that at one point investigators were eyeing a man from Lee County, Virginia, as possibly being involved, and had even gone as far as bringing that guy in for questioning. But his name was not released, and authorities in Virginia clarified that he was not being formally placed under arrest or charged with a crime. Shortly after that, a KSP spokesman told the Lexington Herald Ledger that they were also looking at a man close to Raleigh North Carolina who'd been arrested for a similar type of case, but that avenue of investigation ultimately didn't pan out. Reporting by The Source News stated that detectives tried to learn more information about the dark-colored pickup truck and man that witnesses had seen parked at the trailhead on the day Jennifer went missing. But despite detective's best efforts to figure out what kind of truck it was, or who it belonged to, nothing was ever identified. In late January 1991, almost five months to the day that Jennifer was found, authorities announced that they wanted to speak with three men who they suspected might know something about the crime. William Hayes, who was the acting Commonwealth's attorney for Bell County at that time, and had taken on an active role in the police investigation, told the Courier Journal that two of the men his office was seeking were living amongst the public, and the third guy was incarcerated at a federal prison for an unrelated crime. According to the coverage, Hayes said that the two free men were from northeast Tennessee, not far from Middlesboro, Kentucky. He also explained that they went by the nicknames Sam and Edward. Sam was described as short and muscular in his early 50s with a fleshed complexion, a receding hairline, and gray hair on his temples. He was known to drive a silver car that had rust on the sides and he spoke with a distinctive southern accent. Edward was reported to be in his early 20s and had curly blonde hair, a thin mustache, blue eyes, and was described as muscular and slim. He was said to be a frequent water skier at Norris Lake and had a tattoo of a cannabis leaf on his left shoulder. Included in the Courier Journal's article about these two men were side-by-side composite sketches which reportedly favored Edward and Sam's likeness. It was also around the same time that Commonwealth's Attorney William Hayes revealed he wanted to bring in a special detective who would dedicate himself to working Jennifer's case full-time. But another year would pass before Jennifer's name made newspapers again. But not for the reasons you think. This time, the articles were about someone else. Turns out, she wasn't the only young woman in Bell County or even in her own extended family who fell victim to a vicious killer in the early 1990s. If you like your true crime, like you like your coffee, Redhanded is the podcast for you. It's dark, intense, and might just keep you up all night. I'm Hannah, I'm Sireeti, and every week on Redhanded we break down a different fascinating case. From the most recent US trials everyone is obsessing over, like Brendan Banfield, Karen Reed and Ellen Greenberg, to the most unbelievable stories from around the world. There's nothing we love more than digging into every detail of the case as we cover, getting beyond a basic analysis and cutting to the heart of the story. Redhanded has over 400 episodes ready to binge right now. Plus, be sure to check out our weekly sister show, Shorthand, where we unpack everything, from the Black Death to Area 51. If you're looking for smart, detailed true crime with personality, check out Redhanded, wherever you get your podcasts. Hi everyone, it's Deelia DeAmber here, and I want to tell you about a podcast that's one of my personal favorites that I know you're going to love too. Dark Down East. Hosted by my friend and fellow investigative journalist Kylie Lo, Dark Down East dives into New England's most haunting true crime cases. From unsolved mysteries to stories where justice has been served, Kylie brings her meticulous research and heartfelt storytelling to uncover the truth behind these cases. If you love the way I take you deep into the details of a case, then I know you'll appreciate Kylie's dedication to honoring the victims and uncovering their stories. There are so many episodes of Dark Down East already waiting for you and new episodes every Thursday. Find Dark Down East now wherever you listen to podcasts. According to reporting by the Courier Journal and Lexington Harold Leader, on the evening of January 7th, 1992, a 24-year-old woman named Greta Henson was found dead in her Bell County mobile home after failing to show up at her job in Pineville. Concerned family members had discovered Greta in her living room with her hands bound behind her back with plastic ties. She'd been strangled and shot multiple times execution style in the head and back. Right away, the Kentucky State Police launched an investigation into the homicide, and some of the same detectives who'd been assigned to Jennifer Bailey's case came on board to look into Greta's. But even after interviewing some 40-50 people, leads in Greta's case were few and far between. The only strong clue in Greta's case was that her personal 38-calibre firearm was missing from her home, and investigators suspected it very well could have been the murder weapon. A solid witness account authorities had to work with was a description of a pickup truck that had been seen parked in front of Greta's home between 12 and 1 p.m. on January 7th. That vehicle was described as an off-white or beige early model 1980s pickup with a white plywood dog box in the back with moon-shaped entrances on the top of it. Unfortunately, though, it doesn't appear that the truck was ever identified or linked to a specific person. By all accounts, Greta was described as a friendly, kind, and trusting young woman with no-known enemies. She worked as a receptionist at a local car dealership and enjoyed baking peanut butter fudge in her free time as well as playing guitar. She'd reportedly purchased a new television set prior to her murder, and had told one of her co-workers the day before she was killed that she planned to have cable service hooked up to the device so she could use it. She'd even mentioned to this co-worker that she might potentially show up late to work on January 7th because she planned to stop by a service provider's office that morning. But when employees at that business were interviewed by police after the crime, they claimed Greta had never shown up. Aside from the brutality of her murder, what was especially frightening to the public was that her untimely death came nearly 17 months after Jennifer Bailey was killed. Even more bizarre was that according to reporting in the Clinton County News, the two women were cousins by marriage. They'd also attended Bell County High School at the same time, and I read in some coverage that Greta had a habit of shopping at a Walmart in Middlesboro, which was a Walmart branch that Jennifer had worked at about a year and a half prior to her murder. So, naturally because of these overlaps in the young women's lives, I imagined people wondered if perhaps their killer or killers were one and the same. But the state police were quick to dispel that theory. There were some dissimilarities between the two crimes that one couldn't ignore. For example, Jennifer had been attacked in Pine Mountain State Resort Park while jogging, and Greta had been killed in her own home. Jennifer's crime scene was about 20 minutes north of where Greta lived and in an entirely different environment. Not to mention, Jennifer had been found mostly nude, but Greta had been discovered clothes in a white sweatshirt. Greta's family also said that her mobile home had been broken into two days before she was killed. At that time, though, she hadn't reported that incident to police. She just got her dad to come over and fix her door. Before departing, her dad cautioned her to keep a chair pushed against it to prevent an intruder from getting in. However, there were seemingly no incidents like this in Jennifer's life leading up to her murder, which foreshadowed a risk to her safety. Still, the fact that both women had been killed in such violent ways shook up a lot of people in Bel County, particularly women. Conshops reported increased sales in mace and firearms, and even Albert Bailey, Jennifer's father, told the press he'd purchased a gun after his daughter was killed. Unfortunately, within a year of Greta's murder, her case went cold, just like Jennifer's. And by December 1993, Commonwealth Attorney William Hayes, who tried relentlessly to help the state police bring the investigation's to resolution, was set to leave his position. Before he departed, though, he publicly criticized the state police for not investigating several credible leads in the cases. Leads that he felt law enforcement should have paid closer attention to. At a news conference on one of his last days in office, Hayes told the press, quote, it is my firm conviction that both these cases could have been solved within a few months of their occurrence if the state police had been willing to commit the human resources to effectively running the leads down which they had. We have known for several years what the people involved looked like, but we are still looking at people that do not resemble the eyewitness testimony. End quote. A sergeant with the state police rejected that characterization of his agency's actions, though. He maintained that both women's cases were being regularly and thoroughly investigated in accordance with state police policy. And it seemed that Jennifer Bailey's family agreed with that statement. Janice Bailey told the press, quote, I feel that the detectives are doing the best they can do. I can't say anything against them in no way. I don't know why it came out in this press conference like this, but I am very satisfied with the way they have handled our case. My husband and I both end quote. According to the source news, the tension that had developed between William Hayes and members of the state police, particularly with regard to Jennifer's case, stemmed from the fact that Hayes' office and law enforcement had received a tip very early on that indicated one specific man was responsible for the crime. Yet years had passed and no one had been charged or taken into custody. It was reported that in the fall of 1990, so just a few months after Jennifer was killed, staffed from a jail in a nearby county had informed investigators in Bell County that an inmate at their facility claimed to know detailed information about Jennifer's death. This tip resulted in authorities conducting a number of closed door interviews with several prisoners between 1991 and 1993. In each of them claimed that a guy they'd been housed with back in the fall of 1990 had confessed to Jennifer's murder, and provided specifics about the crime that only the true killer would have known. Who the alleged killer was though was never revealed publicly, and it's not in the available source material I could get my hands on. Over the next few years, Jennifer and Greta's cases grew colder and colder, with seemingly no end in sight. A new Commonwealth's attorney who'd taken office assured the press and Jennifer's family that the case was being diligently worked, but no updates were provided. Officials maintained that the case was personal to many of the detectives who'd worked on it, and solving it would always be a top priority. Around the fifth anniversary of Jennifer's murder, her mother described life without her to Lexington Herald leader reporter, Gail Gibson, like this, quote, it's been like a living hell really. It's like you went to bed and had a bad dream, and you think you'll wake up and it'll be over, but then reality comes back and you wake up and it's still there. It's awful. It's just really awful. End quote. Perhaps a small comfort though was the fact that a few years after Jennifer was buried, her grave was relocated to a family cemetery plot in the side yard of her parent's home, where they could visit her anytime they wanted. Janice and Albert told reporter Gail Gibson that they wholeheartedly believed whoever had taken Jennifer's life likely knew her, or at least recognized the 1987 Mercury Cougar she was driving on the day she disappeared. At the time, Jennifer wasn't dating anyone and didn't have any x's who gave her problems. So the all-consuming questions everyone wanted answers to were who had murdered her and why? For that same article by Gail Gibson, a KSP detective who'd been assigned to the case since the beginning said that in his opinion, the key to Jennifer's case lay in the identity of the person near the dark pickup truck who'd been seen talking with, or as it's described in some of the source material, arguing with Jennifer and the trailhead parking lot on the morning she vanished. The detective stated, quote, whoever killed that little girl is going to be tied to a black truck one way or the other. They either own it or they borrowed it or their father owned it or their cousin. End quote. Periodically a handful of random tipsters claiming to have potentially valuable information had contacted the state police over the years, but no one had actually come forward to spill what they knew. Several folks who phoned in had briefly spoken with investigators, but then gotten spooked or didn't want to provide their names in information. In April 1999, during National Crime Victims Week, Greta Henson's mother Josephine attended a victim's remembrance ceremony at the Bell County Circuit Courthouse, and she grieved with other families who'd lost loved ones to violent crime. She told the room, quote, I thank God for having a daughter like her for 24 years, and I would like to see justice for her. I believe even the dead wants justice. End quote. The following year, so 2000, a KSP detective who'd been recently assigned to her case, told Daily News reporter Jay Compton that solving Greta's murder was as important as ever. He pleaded with the public to contact the state police if they knew anything that could help investigators solve the case. Decades passed, though, with no further updates, and despite a glimmer of hope arriving in 2016 thanks to advances in technology, to this day, Greta's case remains unsolved. By 2018, Jennifer's mother had seemingly lost hope that answers and her daughter's case would ever materialize either. Back in 2008, her husband Albert had died, and Janice was getting older as well. But as hopeless as things looked, the case took a welcome turn in 2020, when KSP officials made an announcement. According to coverage by WYMT and The Source News, authorities released never before known information about the items of clothing and personal belongings that Jennifer had on her when she went jogging. These items were all things that law enforcement believed her killer had stolen from her during the crime. The missing belongings included a Timex watch that spanned was made of brown faux alligator skin, pastel colored jogging shorts, a white tank top, a black-and-tanned velcro belt, a small black GE-AMF-M portable cassette player, and yellow gold diamond earrings. Law enforcement's hope was that someone who'd perhaps received one or some of these items after the crime as possibly a present, or who'd purchased them from a pawn shop would recognize their description and provide additional information to authorities. A KSP detective in 2020 put it this way, quote, these items are significant to us because somebody in the 90s could have got these as a gift from someone, somebody could have sold these items, somebody could have found these items, and remember this, and remember where these items were located, a house the items were in. End quote. But it's unclear if any new leads came from that announcement because Jennifer's case was unsolved and Kentucky State Police couldn't say much about what was happening behind the scenes. What investigators did reveal though was that at least seven or eight different detectives had worked on the case throughout the years. In 2024, Jennifer's mother did another interview with WIMT News in which she shared her ongoing grief over her daughter's unsolved case. She stated, quote, she was my baby girl. She went to work every morning. She'd say, bye mom, I love you, see you at five. End quote. Janice expressed frustration over the fact that Jennifer's killer or killers had never been caught. That same year, so 2024, WRIL reporter Brian O'Brien wrote an article in which he claimed he'd received copies of the actual audio cassette recordings that former Commonwealth Saturni William Hayes and his team had captured with those jail inmates in the early 90s. If you remember, those were guys who claimed they knew who'd committed Jennifer's murder. Hayes, who was still around in 2024, verified the authenticity of the recordings and doubled down on his previous comments that he felt the KSP back in the 90s had not investigated this lead thoroughly enough. But since the case had surpassed 34 years with no progress, Hayes told the Middlesboro News that he was optimistic new investigators would breathe fresh life into it. He wrote in a statement, in part, quote, I tried repeatedly to get the authorities to prosecute this case. They declined. But that was the old guard. There is a new state police commissioner who, upon the request of Sheriff Mitchell Williams and myself, we assign this case some months ago. With thanks to him, we are very hopeful. End quote. Today, Jennifer's case remains unsolved after 35 long and agonizing years for her family. Greta Henson's murder is also unsolved. Today, the cases have never been formally connected by law enforcement, but it's certainly devastating to know that two bright young women were slain in such horrific ways. And their murderers have seemingly gotten away with the crimes. If you know anything about these cases or have been holding on to information that you finally feel ready to let go of and report to authorities, please contact the Kentucky State Police. You can reach them via email at kyunsolved at ky.gov or by calling the tip line at 1-877-735-2648. If you have specific information about Greta Henson's homicide, call 606-573-3131. KSP also has a confidential online tip portal where you can submit information. Links and phone numbers for all of those resources are listed in the show notes and blog post for this episode. Park Predators is an audio chuck production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow park predators on Instagram at park predators. I think chuck would approve. Hey park enthusiasts, it's Deelia. And if you enjoy unraveling the haunting tales that we explore here on park predators, there's another podcast that dives deep into all things mysterious and bizarre that I think you'll enjoy. It's called So Supernatural. Hosted by my friends, Russia and Yvette, So Supernatural explores some of the most puzzling and eerie cases, ones that often leave investigators and witnesses wondering if the truth lies beyond the realm of the explainable. From mysterious disappearances to legends and lore steeped in history, Russia and Yvette break down every possibility no matter how strange it gets. So after you're all cut up on episodes here, be sure to listen to So Supernatural wherever you listen to podcasts.