MISSING PERSON
CASE #: 2018-4
Jessica Leeann Hamby
Status:
Open
Date of Last Contact:
Date of Last Contact:
Jurisdiction:
Missing From:
Hamilton, AL
Summary:
On the night of January 2, 2018, Jessica Leeann Hamby and another woman checked out of a detox facility in the rural Alabama town of Haleyville. She caught a ride to another town to stay with an associate. Over the next 9 hours, Jessica spent much of her time sending texts and messages to friends and acquaintances via Facebook Messenger. All the activity on Jessica’s phone came to an abrupt halt on the morning of 1/3/18. Jessica has never been reported to be seen again.
Vital Statistics
Circumstances of Disappearance:
At exactly 9 pm, Jessica’s phone turned on while she was still at the detox facility. As soon as she turned her phone on, she began communicating with an acquaintance, Alicia Motes. By 9:07 pm, Jessica and Alicia were having the first of several phone conversations. Alicia was with her boyfriend, Eric Edwards, in the Hamilton/Hackleburg area and the 2 women quickly made plans for Jessica to come there. She left the detox facility by 9:08 pm, catching a ride with another patient. Law enforcement was able to track Jessica’s movements through geofencing. The route they took that night wasn’t the most direct route. In fact, it appears they took a purposeful detour and made at least 1 and possibly 2 stops along the way. Jessica was dropped off at a camper occupied by Gilbert Shaw who was staying in the area while working on the new North Fork bridge construction project. Alicia Motes, Eric Edwards, David Shane Reynolds, Derek Motes and others not yet unnamed were all there. This is the last place where Jessica appeared on the geofencing which is a mystery in itself. Why did Jessica’s phone suddenly disappear from the geofence? Jessica spent the next 10 hours communicating with contacts through Facebook messenger until just before 8 am on January 3rd. Just a couple minutes before her phone dropped off the radar, she sent a message to Eric Edwards that said “hey they ain’t gonna shoot me for walking.” Jessica never called, texted or messaged anyone again from that phone or from her Facebook account. Jessica wasn’t reported missing until 10 days later on January 13, 2018. Despite all the social media posts circulating about her disappearance, those who were with her that night did not come forward. Instead, it appears they all used this time to weave a web of deceit. By the time Jessica’s movements were tracked to Gilbert Shaw’s and Derek Motes, Alicia Motes, Eric Edwards and David Shane Reynolds, they had a somewhat unified story. They all claimed that after they left Shaw’s camper, they spent the night and morning hours at the home of Eric Edwards’ and family and they claimed that after they all fell asleep, Jessica left the home walking in frigid temperatures.
Additional Details:
A good friend of Jessica's named Jeremy Abbott disappeared from Haleyville Alabama in June 2017. During the weeks that Jeremy was missing, Jessica told both her parents that she knew where Jeremy's body was. She expressed her desire to tell law enforcement where to find him but told her family that she was afraid for her safety. Just over a month later, Jessica did tell a Haleyville Alabama police officer where to find Jeremy. Early the next morning, that officer and an investigator found Jeremy right where Jessica said he would be. He was hanging from a tree just inside the edge of the woods, right beside the "friend's" home where he was last known to be seen. The Haleyville PD called the Marion County Sheriff's Office to the scene and Jeremy's death was ruled to be a suicide before his body ever left the scene. Evidence suggests that the county coroner did not come to the scene and despite the pleas from Jeremy's family, no autopsy was performed. After Jeremy was found, Jessica expressed fear and told many that she was being threatened and that "they" were going to kill her. She left the state for an unknown time period before returning home to Alabama. 5.5 months after telling law enforcement where to find her friend's body, Jessica disappeared under very strange circumstances. Many of the same investigators who ruled Jeremy's death to be a suicide were the investigators over Jessica's missing persons case.
Case Last Updated:
Timeline of Events
Jessica's phone location was within a 5,000 meter radius of Rideout Falls. Jessica sent Eric Edwards a message that read, "Hey they ain't gonna shoot me for walking." A minute later she placed a call to Eric that was not answered. It is that phone call that triggered the last recorded NELOS position for her phone and she has not been seen or heard from since.
Jessica's phone has left Elgin Cochran Rd again. By 7:33 am, her phone location was in northwest Hamilton again.
At some point between 6:03 am and 6:58 am, Jessica phone returned to Elgin Cochran Rd.
Jessica's device location indicates she had again left Elgin Cochran Rd, traveling by vehicle
Jessica's phone location indicates she was likely on Elgin Cochran Rd at the Edwards' home
Jessica's phone was moving at a speed that would indicate she was traveling in a vehicle and she left the Elgin Cochran Rd area. By 11:42 pm Jessica was north of the city of Hamilton in the area of Military Trail
Jessica's phone location indicates she was likely on Elgin Cochran Rd.
Jessica's device left Gilbert's Shaw's camper and went traveled approx. 4 miles to Harper's Junction area
Jessica is dropped off at Gilbert Shaw's camper where she met up with Alicia Motes, Derek Motes, Eric Edwards, David Shane Reynolds, Gilbert Shaw and possibly others.
Approximate time Jessica & other female patient at the detox center are picked up by the other patient's boyfriend. He drove Jessica to a neighboring county to drop her off with one of her acquaintances, Alicia Motes. The route they drove was not the most direct route and there are indications that they might've made a couple quick stops along the way.
Jessica's phone powers on and she began communicating with people via Facebook messenger as she and another woman wait outside the detox center for a ride.
Associated Persons
Lynn C. (Mother) - Living
Keith H. (Father) - Living
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