Human Remains & Shocking Secrets: Disturbing Twists in Missing Mother, Daughter Case

A young mother and her two-year-old. daughter vanished seemingly without a. trace. But now, years later, shocking. discoveries are shaking up this story. Police have raided a home. A home. connected to Jennifer Wix's former. boyfriend, uncovering weapons, disturbing material, and this summer, a. human leg has been identified in a local. creek. We are going to speak with. Jennifer's younger sister, Casey. Robinson, who has spent two decades. searching for answers. Welcome to.

Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. [Music]. If you don't know about this story, you. really need to. It's been years since a. young Tennessee mother and her little. girl disappeared without a trace. But. now, new developments are shaking up the. investigation. We are talking about. Jennifer Wixs. Jennifer Wixs was just 21. years old. Her daughter Adriana barely. two years old when both of them.

disappeared. For two decades, their. family has held vigils. They put up. billboards. They've hired private. investigators. They have been. desperately searching for answers. But. this is a case that sat mostly silent. until recently. Today we are not just. talking about the investigation. We are. actually going to hear from Jennifer's. own sister Casey who has been fighting. for justice all these years. I had an. opportunity to meet her at Crime Con.

That is why we're doing this story. today. But I want to rewind to where it. all began. Jennifer was a young mom in. Robertson County. She was trying to. juggle life after high school while. raising her baby girl. Family says she. leaned heavily on her younger sister. Casey for help. The two were. inseparable, especially when Jennifer. had worked nights. But then the. reporting indicates that things had. changed when Jennifer started dating a. man named Joey Benton. And eventually. she moved in with him and his parents. Then you go to March of 2004. Jennifer.

called her mom sounding upset, saying. that she had a heated argument with the. Bentons. Adriana could be heard crying. in the background. And that phone call. would be one of the last her family ever. got. Next day, Jennifer's mom expected a. call back, but it never came. Family. started to panic. Joe eventually told. them that he'd broken up with Jennifer, dropped her and Adriana at a gas. station, that someone in a white car had. picked them up, but no one ever saw them. again. Police searched the Benton.

property, but never named any suspects. For years, Jennifer and Adriana's faces, they were printed on flyers. They were. posted on signs. Their family pleaded. for leads. In 2013, investigators. officially reclassified this case as a. homicide, but still no arrests. And then. 20 years later came March of 2024, the. exact 20-year anniversary of their. disappearance. Law enforcement raided. the Benton home. And inside,

investigators say they uncovered dozens. of weapons, explosives, disturbing. material, and that led to more than 40. charges against Joey's father, Joseph. Benton, Senior. And then this past July, another shocking twist. A human leg was. discovered in a local creek. DNA. confirmed it belonged to Joseph Benton, Senior, the same man facing all of those. charges after the 2024 raid. It's. interesting because apparently there was.

no missing person's report for him. His. wife did indicate it had been a minute. since she last saw him, but still again, no answers as to what happened to. Jennifer and Adriana. Two decades later, the Wixs family says their mission. hasn't changed. They want answers. They. want Jennifer and Adriana home, and. they're not giving up. Hey everybody, I. just want to take a quick second to. thank Upside for sponsoring this episode. of Sidebar. So, Upside is a free app. that gets you cash back on daily.

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was just 16 when her sister and niece. vanished. She has been searching for. them ever since. And I had the. opportunity to meet Casey at Crime Con. where I learned a little bit more about. this story. I wanted to cover it here on. Sidebar. And we have Casey with us right. now. Casey, thank you so much for. joining us, for coming on to talk about. what's happening here. Um, I will tell. you once again, I'm so sorry for what. you and the family have been going. through for such a long time. I want to.

get into some of these updates, but. first of all, what is the first thing. that comes to your mind when you think. about Jennifer and you think about. little Adriana? >> Um, well, the first thing that comes to. my mind is just heartbreak. Um there's. just that big hole missing in our family. uh missing in myself. So I mean the. unfortunately the first thought is that. trailing right behind that is uh. Jennifer was my big sister and I looked.

up to her in every way possible. She was. straight 90s kid um and just like my. idol as a little girl. we were very. close. And so whenever I think about. her, of course, all of the good memories. are are part of that thought process, too. And Adriana, I mean, she was just. two whenever she disappeared, so we. didn't get a lot of time with her, but. um now as a 37year-old woman looking.

back, like I I just think of her um I. took care of her a lot as as a young. girl. I helped my sister out with her a. lot. And so now whenever I think about. Adriana, I think of her as a daughter, but she would be 20 something years old. today. And so, um, she's kind of frozen. in time as that 2-year-old for me. But I. mean, Adriana was perfect in every way. Just the cutest little toddler angel.

baby that ever existed. So, a lot of. good memories and just I miss them every. day. And um it's hard to wake up and do. that every day and miss someone and not. know where they are. And so it's just. kind of whenever I think of them, it's. just kind of a mixture of all of those. things together. >> What was Jennifer like uh as a mother? What did that mean to her? >> Adriana was Jennifer's entire world. Um. she, you know, got pregnant really.

young, found out she was having Adriana. really young. And at first that was a. real big shock to all of our family, but. we all just kind of jumped in and were a. part of that process. And so whenever I. say I took care of Adriana whenever she. was little as an infant and I was, you. know, in my in my early teens, um I mean. I slept overnight with the baby. Got up. with her in the middle of the night and. fed her and everything while my sister. was working second and third shift jobs.

trying to make something of herself, you. know, straight out of high school and. having a baby. She didn't go to college. or anything like that. Um, she was very. artsy and intrinsic. She loved to write. Uh, she loved music and poetry and wrote. poetry herself and wrote songs and would. write everyone she knew letters and so. she just had that side of her that was. emotional and she was quiet and she.

wasn't like your loud in-your-face kind. of personality. She was more so like the. quiet, shy girl. Um, of course, everyone. that knew her said that, you know, she. was very kind to them all throughout. high school. And as her sister, I know a. different side of her, which is the more. fiery side where sisters would, you. know, argue and fight and everything. Um. but. yeah, she was.

I mean just starting out in the world. and um didn't really get the chance to. to figure out what what life had in. store for her. >> Can you take us back over 20 years ago, those final days in March of 2004? Do. you remember like the last time you saw. her? The last time you spoke with. Jennifer? It's really hard for me to. remember the last time that I saw her. because of everything that we've been. through. My memory attaches to like the.

last traumatic. uh experiences that we had. The last. time that I really remember seeing my. sister would have been on my 16th. birthday whenever she and Adriana came. by our house and uh dropped by to. celebrate with us. But I know that I. worked at McDonald's whenever I was. young. um as my first job and my other. sister Heather did too. And Jennifer. would bring Adriana to the play place. there while we were working and have a. meal for them or whatever. So I I.

believe that I saw her last uh probably. at McDonald's for my first job. Um and. then on my birthday probably would have. been the last time that that I saw her. But as far as talking with her, uh, I I. can't It's so hard because I can't. remember. back that far. It's been so long, but I. can't remember because of everything. that's happened. I don't really have. memories of our last conversations.

>> Do Do you recall what those first hours. and days were like when you couldn't. reach her, when the family couldn't. reach her, that panic? What it was like? >> Yeah, definitely. Um, whenever. we first kind of heard that no one could. get in touch with Jennifer, which was. super unusual, she would be in contact. with someone or multiple people in our. family multiple times a day. Um, it was. kind of like her pastime as a. stay-at-home mom. Um, so just her way of.

talking to other people and and not just. hanging out with a 2-year-old. Um, but. whenever we kind of realized no one. could get in touch with Jennifer, everyone just started showing up at our. house. And I was 16 at the time. And so. I didn't really know what was going on. I didn't really understand the gravity. of the situation until probably later on. um in in the coming weeks and whenever I. realized she wasn't coming back. Um, but.

the initial panic was just seeing like. all of the adults in my life showing up. at our house and everyone going out. driving trying to find Jennifer to see. if she was with someone, you know, there. in town. We're from a really small town. and so you could just drive down the. road and see someone driving down the. road. And so that's what everyone in my. family was doing. And they all were just. kind of congregating at our house just. coming up with a game plan like, okay, you call this person, you call this. person. Um, you know, before we filed. the missing person's report, it was just.

kind of no one knew what to do. Um, everyone felt something was wrong, but. we didn't know. where to start. And because we couldn't. get in touch with Jennifer, she didn't. have her own phone. She didn't have her. own car and things like that, it made it. even even more scary. Like, we couldn't. get in touch with her at all. We had to. rely on the last people that saw. Jennifer and that she was living with. and they were saying they didn't know. where she was.

>> Well, yeah. When you when when Joey. Benton initially told you that Jennifer. left with someone in a white car, drops. them off at a gas station, someone picks. them up. What was your reaction to that? And what followed from that? >> Yeah, our first reaction is that's just. not true. like Jennifer would not just. up and leave with someone that no one. knew. And so whenever we're calling. around to all of her friends, the people. that she had regular contact with and. that she would potentially go with, uh,

everyone said, you know, no, uh, we. haven't seen her, we haven't heard from. her. And so that that left Joey as the. last person to see Jennifer and Adriana. And so our initial reaction was like, something's not right. That's not right. She wouldn't just leave with a random. person. um she had also made plans. the day before um speaking with my aunt. to come to my aunt's house. So, she had. already kind of made a plan if she were.

to go somewhere. So, for him to say that. she just got into this arbitrary white. car with someone that we did not know uh. and just had no contact anymore, that. just was super out of character for her. uh and something that she just would not. do. What was Joey's relationship like with. Jennifer? What was your relationship. like uh with Joey? >> I didn't really have a relationship with. Joey. Jennifer and Joey's relationship. was short. They started dating in July.

2003 and they disappeared in March 2004. And so it was a short nine months or so. relationship on again, off again. Um, in. the fall of 2003, my mom and myself, we. lived out west outside Las Vegas. My mom. took a job out there and we moved back. because of an incident that happened. with Jennifer and Joey. They got into an. argument. They had only been dating for, you know, a month or two at the time.

So, um, so I had never met him. And then. whenever we moved back to Cross Plains, uh, Jennifer and Adriana moved in with. us. And then the only other time that I. really saw Joey, um, he was moving my. sister, my niece, out of our house, telling my mom she didn't have a. daughter anymore. Only impressions of. Joey, and they were traumatic and scary. and things that I had never, you know, seen before at that point in my life. And and so they had this on-again,

off-again relationship that were. throwing up red flags left and right. And then she moved in with him. and I. guess decided to continue that. relationship. And from January to March, I didn't really see Joey at all. But I. guess Jennifer and Joey's relationship. was going okay. We didn't really hear of. any arguments that they had. And um and. then in March, they started arguing.

again because Jennifer wanted to move. out of his parents' house. And so the. arguing picked up not just with Joey but. with also his parents, Joe and Cindy. >> Didn't you recently speak to him? >> Yeah. Was that about. >> I talked Yeah, I talked to him for the. first time ever in uh April of 2024. So. this was after the girls 20-year. anniversary of their disappearance. Uh. there was a big raid at their family's.

house. And we thought potentially that. it had to do with Jennifer and Adriana, but it didn't. There were some other. things going on uh with his dad and. illegal weapons and things like that. And he received 40ome plus charges um. from that raid at their house. And then. shortly after that, I talked to Joey for. the first time. I I told him, you know, um can you and I talk? I just want to. know my sister better. You were the last. person that was really around her that. knew her probably better than anyone.

else at that time. uh so can we talk and. he said sure. Uh, so we were on the. phone for over an hour and I got the. opportunity, you know, to ask him about. their relationship and he said that they. loved each other, that they had plans to. have another baby, to get married, uh, that he really loved them. And I asked. him, you know, about the last days. leading up to their disappearance, and I. asked him if all of that was true, about. him taking them to the gas station and. dropping them off and the white car and. all of that. And he said that yes, that.

all of that was true. So we ended that. first conversation. He was super cordial. on the phone. Said that we could talk. again. He would he would love to talk. anytime. Um but I left after that first. conversation. It left me kind of feeling. like like maybe we have this all wrong. He really did love them and he was very. nice to me. Like maybe we just never. gave him the opportunity to talk. And so. that was our first conversation and it. left me feeling that kind of way like. kind of like maybe we're looking at the.

wrong people. maybe she did get in this. white four-door car. Maybe he's telling. the truth. Um, so that was our first. conversation, but I talked to him again. in July of last year and it was a. completely different conversation. Um. they they his family was going through a. lot of things because of that raid. And. so they were kind of turning on each. other, if you will, that um Joey and his. other family members had turned his dad. in for some material that they had found.

on the computer, these illegal weapons. and things. Um one of the charges that. his dad received was sexual exploitation. of a minor. And um that was one of the. things that they turned him in for. And. so because of all these disagreements. and the tension in their family, um Joey. decided to interrupt a meeting that my. family had with the district attorney at. the time. And he came forward and said. that he was ready to tell law.

enforcement and my family everything. And he. did tell law enforcement and he sat face. to face with my mom. uh in town in. Springfield, which is where Jennifer and. Adriana disappeared from. Uh Springfield. and Crossplanes we kind of use. interchangeably because they lived on. the line of those two cities. But he met. with my mom face to face. I was on. speaker phone. This was my second. conversation with him. And he said that. the gas station story, everything that. they had told and had been telling for.

the last 20 years was a lie. So. completely different conversation from. the first one that we had in April. Did he explain the circumstances about. how she died? >> Yeah. Yeah, he did tell a version uh. which I'll refer to as another version. uh and and potentially another. wellthoughtout lie like the lie that. they told for 20 years. Um so he said. that whenever he got home from work on. March 25th, 2004 that Jennifer and.

Adriana were already dead. and um he did tell what happened to. Jennifer and Adriana, but that's not a. story that we believe. Uh and it's not a. story that law enforcement uh can prove. or corroborate in any kind of way. Um. and so we're not putting that. information out publicly right now, what. he said happened, because we don't want. to we don't want another story to be. believed. That's not true. We just want. to get down to the truth of it. So,

we're not going to share those details. and help him in any way, but. >> in your opinion, why has there been no. arrest in this case, particularly after. what you just told us? >> Yeah. Um, well, for the past 20 years, everything in our case has been. primarily circumstantial. There's no. physical evidence in our case. Um, if if. what Joy's saying is true and and. Jennifer and Adriana died on March 25th, 2004, and that's the last time that. anyone in our family had contact with. them, we reported Jennifer and Adrian.

missing on Saturday. So, a few days had. passed before we filed the missing. person's report and before law. enforcement was able to go do a welfare. check and and actually walk through the. property. The first time they tried to. do the welfare check, they were told by. Joey they need to come back with a. warrant. And so they got a permissive uh. walk through on Sunday after we reported. the missing. And so by that time I think. that any evidence of a crime um you know.

signs of a conflict or a struggle that. they would have been looking for could. have been cleaned up. Uh surveillance. footage that was at the gas station by. the time law enforcement was able to try. to get that footage it had been ticked. over. So, a lot of the evidence in our. case because there were, you know, those. couple of days where, you know, from the. time it happened, the time we reported. him missing and they started actually. questioning, looking into things. I. think that that was time missed and and. evidence lost. And then not to mention.

the last 20 years of, you know, being. told, "No, you can't search on our. property by the Bentons. every search. that we've ever tried to set up being um. you know met with aggression and them. trying to get the search called off. Every search has been permissive. There. have been a few search warrants that. were executed uh in our case, but search. warrants are very specific. And so um. you know they they did not also turn. into us locating any evidence or.

anything to do with Jennifer Neutrina. So, I just don't think that their. property has been fully searched. thoroughly and therefore because there's. no physical evidence, everything being. circumstantial, I just think there can't. be any arrests um unless a district. attorney is going to move forward and. bring charges um for a nobody homicide. uh which is a possibility in the future, but uh with everything that happened. last year with him coming forward and. making that statement last year, um I.

think that our law enforcement team is. still working on it and trying to um. bring charges and locate Jennifer and. Adriana without having to go that route. So, and just to be clear, the search. from last year, was there anything from. that search of the property, anything. that connects to Jennifer or Adriana? >> We believe that there is. Um, we're told. that that search had nothing to do with. Jennifer and Adriana. Had to do with the. illegal weapons. He was a convicted.

felony. He wasn't allowed to have those. And then during that search, they found. bomb making materials and then the. 20-year-old photograph of a minor and. the charge he received for that sexual. exploitation of a minor. Um, so we. believe that that photograph could. potentially be connected to our case. We're told it's not Adriana or Jennifer. Um, but with that kind of history, um, you know, having that kind of material.

on your computer, um, we believe that. that could potentially be a motive, uh, for. Jennifer and Adriana's disappearance or. or their possible murders. Um, but right. now there's no connection between those. Um, so that search did not lead to. anything directly related to Jennifer. and Adriana's case. I also have to ask. you about what happened this past. summer, right? Investigators, they. identified this leg, human remains. belonging to Joey's father. Uh, how did.

you process that discovery? If police. told you how he died, whether or not. that is connected to your case at all? I. mean, that's a big revelation. >> Yeah. Yeah, it is. So after his dad his. dad served one year uh for all of those. charges from the raid back in 2024, all. the other charges were dismissed, including the exploitation of a minor. And he served one year for the bomb. making materials he got out in March. earlier this year. And from the time. that he got out, no one knew his.

whereabouts. So his wife had filed for. divorce and had an order of protection. against him. So technically he wasn't. allowed back at their at their home at. his home that he had lived in for all of. this time. So he wasn't technically. allowed there and he was listed as. homeless, but he was on probation. He. didn't show up for a probation meeting. And so from the time he got let out in. early March until July 4th is whenever. they found this leg. And then uh TBI and. the local police department law.

enforcement agencies had to identify it. and they told us probably about two. months ago um that it it came back. identified as Joey's dad, Joe, and it. was his leg. We were told that the. condition of the leg um it was severely. decomposed and the condition of the leg. would mean that he is likely deceased, but they have not found other. parts of his remains. They've searched. multiple times, but have not been able. to locate any other parts of his. remains. So, it's definitely a big.

revelation in our case. Um, we've been. pushing for them to go search the Benton. property, not just for Jennifer and. Adriana, but for. possible evidence of foul play in Joe's. death. I think that, you know, having. three suspicious deaths from that. property from, you know, surrounding. that family would mean that law. enforcement would go and search there. regardless if he was technically allowed. there or not. Um, so at this time, law.

enforcement is still investigating. um you know his death. They haven't. given us a cause of death yet. I don't. think that the medical examiner can. determine a cause of death just from. finding his leg. I think that they would. need other remains to be able to. determine that, but they haven't been. able to. Um so right now we're just. still in a waiting period and still. waiting on them to go and search the. Benton property for for all three of. these people's deaths.

You you say three people's deaths. In. your heart, do you think there's a. possibility that Jennifer and Adriana. could be alive? >> No, I don't. No. Uh we've we've really. felt it and known it for a long time. Jennifer would not just uh she had no. means to and she would not just. disappear. Um she was way too close with. family, depended on family. Um, and.

that's very difficult to do with a baby. >> Yeah. >> And so, you know, people have brought up. like going underground and witness. protection and things like that, but law. enforcement gets notified and if that's. the case, they they are able to find. someone if that's the case and they just. let you know, you know, they we found. them, they're safe, they don't want. contact with family, but their social. security numbers have never been used. She's never tried to enroll Adrianne in. school. We have all the things. Um, you. know, family tree, DNA, 23 and me,

ancestry. Um, if they were still out. there, um, Jennifer would have made contact by now. It's just not possible. And then that. paired with him coming forward and. admitting to their deaths at their home. after all this time, it just kind of. solidified what we've always known. Uh, so now we just need to know the why and. the where. >> You have spent 20 years fighting for. them. You have launched a podcast to.

document your search. What keeps you. going after all this time and and what. do you hope people take away when they. listen to you and listen to this story? >> Yeah, I've spent a long time I do this. every day. Um, every day of my life I. wake up and I think, how can I move the. case forward? How what can I do to find. Jim and Adriana today? Who can I talk. to? Um, you know, should I reach out to.

Joey and his family again? Um, every day. I do interviews with as many people as I. can. I'm constantly bugging our law. enforcement team, um, district attorney. and everything. I'm also working on. legislative stuff for trying to get. changes made for other families in. Tennessee, but also on a federal level, partnering together with other families. who have been in my shoes or who are in. my shoes. So, I do this every day. My.

mom, the rest of my family, we do this. every day, but we don't want to. Um, our. main goal and what I want everyone to. know is that if we could just find. Jennifer and Adriana, we don't have to. know the why or the who. Um, and I think. that a lot of missing person's families. probably feel the same after so much. time has passed. We just want to find. them and to know for sure. >> Yeah. >> And and end the not knowing piece. Um.

that's the hardest part. Every family. will tell you that and it's the hardest. part for us too. Uh of course we would. like to see justice served. Um if not on. the criminal side, we're pursuing um. justice or form of it on the civil side. as well. Um so what I would like. everyone to know is is that. whenever you have someone you love or. two people in our case that go missing. and you don't know where they are, this. doesn't end for you. you have to.

continue it. And in some cases that. means passing it down generation to. generation. I wasn't investigating the. case every day for the past 21 years. My. mom did it for 17 and then I took the. case from her. And I just really hope. that my kids aren't doing it for me one. day. Um, I wake up every day. hoping that today is the day that we get. the call that someone's been arrested or. that they've located Jim for Adriana so. we can we can rest and we can put them.

to rest. >> That was one of the reasons I wanted you. on the program is to shed awareness to. this, to bring light to this. If people. are listening to this, people are. watching this, what can they do to help. you guys? What can they do? Well, first and foremost, what you can. do to help us is is social media is a. powerful thing. Um, you know, your show. is a powerful thing. Share anything that. you possibly can, especially if you're. local in our area. Um, we are of the.

mindset that there's only three people. that know what happened to Jennifer and. Adriana. One of them is likely to see, so there's only two others. But in that. local area, we need uh continue added. pressure. other missing person's uh. families, they need help adding pressure. in their communities to keep the case. top of mind. It's it's extremely. important to not let the case be. forgotten, not let your loved ones be. forgotten, Jennifer and Adriana be. forgotten. You have to continue it. So.

sharing on social media is the biggest. thing you can do. And then whenever you. see our families fighting for change, um this is something that no one ever. wishes on anybody else. I certainly. don't. But if you see us pushing for. change, sign our petitions, get behind. us, talk to your lawmakers, um talk to. your local politicians, and and get this. on everyone's radars because it's it's a. big problem and it's going to continue. to be a big problem unless we can get in.

front of it. And we just need people to. do that. We need people uh to make. change. >> Well, Casey, I I really appreciate you. coming up to me uh at Crime Con, telling. me this story. I appreciate you coming. on. Um our hearts, our thoughts, our. prayers are with you, your family. Um as. you navigate this, I hope you get the. answers that you and the family are. desperately looking for and searching. after all these years. And maybe someone. who's watching this or listening to this. can help you guys in some way, too. So,

really, Casey, thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. [Music].