Jessica voluntarily left her family's residence in Union, Missouri on December 26, 1995 and went to a friend's home. She was later picked up by a man named Jimmy Hopkins, who claimed she was pregnant and they were going to Niagara Falls, New York to get married. Hopkins paid his friend, Mark Henderson, to give him and Jessica a ride. They all checked into the Dollar Inn in the 1000 block of North Main Street in Cloverdale, Indiana during the early evening hours. Both Jessica and Hopkins disappeared by the following morning, as did Henderson's vehicle. Less than two weeks later, Henderson's car was found abandoned in Compton, California, where witnesses reportedly saw Hopkins with a girl resembling Jessica. Hopkins returned to Missouri alone in 1996. He told authorities he had not harmed her and had last seen her at a hotel in the Hollywood, California area. In April 2008, Hopkins took his wife’s life inside their Joplin, Missouri home and then died by suicide. He was never charged in Jessica's case.