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Jennifer Bailey adored fitness & running & had a routine of going to Pine Mountain State Resort Park in Pineville, Kentucky, twice a week for a run on a path the locals refer to as “Fat Track.” She also frequently attended the YMCA on days she wasn’t at the park running. On the morning of Thursday, August 16, 1990, the 21-year-old headed to that area in her mother’s 1987 Mercury Cougar & parked near one of the park’s popular trails at about 11 am.
It was always Jennifer’s routine to hide her wallet & car keys under the front seat of the car & leave the car unlocked so she was free to run unburdened. Sadly, Jennifer never made it back to the parking lot that day.
When Jennifer failed to return to her home in Greasy Creek, Kentucky, her parents, Elbert & Janice Bailey, were immediately concerned. Janice recalled the conversation she had with her daughter earlier that morning when Jennifer told her that she was going to run some errands & then stop off at the park for a run before heading home. Because Janice was recovering from a recent surgery, Jennifer told her mom that she would pick up her prescription at the local pharmacy & grab a couple of cases of her mom’s favorite soda, Pepsi & Mt Dew. At 10:36 am she had rented a movie, Steel Magnolias, to watch later.
Jennifer was a very reliable young woman who was in frequent contact with her parents & would call home to let them know she was running even a few minutes late. Because of her reliability, Janice & Elbert felt that something must be terribly wrong when Jennifer seemed to vanish without word. When evening rolled around & Jennifer still hadn’t come home, Janice recalls the feeling as a sledgehammer hitting her in the chest.
When Jennifer’s parents reported her missing & police began their investigation, Kentucky State Police found her mom’s car parked on the street where Jennifer had left it. There was no sign of a struggle both in or around the outside of the car & her keys & wallet were located in their typical spot under the seat. A bag from the local pharmacy sat on the front passenger seat with a prescription bottle inside for Jennifer’s mom as well as money, the soda she had purchased & the video she had rented.
There was no sign of Jennifer along the jogging trail & police were puzzled as to how she disappeared from the area as it was highly populated. On average, each day, about 75 people utilized the trail that followed an old railroad bed. Additionally, detectives were able to determine that about every 10 seconds, a vehicle passed the trail which would make it very unlikely that Jennifer could have been abducted in broad daylight, unnoticed.
Approximately 100 people as well as eight canine units, searched the area throughout the weekend & didn’t find any clues to Jennifer’s whereabouts. On Sunday, officials within the Kentucky State Police made the decision to pause the search pending additional information.
Witnesses recalled seeing Jennifer in the park at about 11 am & indicated that she was wearing a white t-shirt with the sleeves cut off & gray or white shorts with “Kentucky” written down the sides. She was alone at the time & it was clear she was at the park to go for a run. Because the joggers that were on the trail that day indicated no suspicious sightings, Detective Walter Cashen felt that it was unlikely that someone had been lying in wait on the trail that day. Detective Cashen said, “She either flew the coop with some guy or it was just one of those chance things, like some freak driving by. But it doesn’t fit anybody in the area we can think of.”
Jennifer’s parents knew that their daughter would have never run off voluntarily, without notifying them. She loved her job as manager of the shoe department at Walmart. When investigators spoke with the assistant store manager, Joe Harris, he informed them that Jennifer never missed a shift & came in on time at 8 am each day, adding, “She’s always in good spirits, never acted depressed. She was very conscientious & ran a perfect department for us.. Definitely a leader in our store.”
Investigators also learned that Jennifer had a paycheck waiting for her at the store that she likely wouldn’t have left behind, not to mention her cash, wallet & credit cards, had she voluntarily left town. It was Detective Cashen’s hope that Jennifer had gone away for the weekend & would come back on Monday morning for her 8 am shift at Walmart.
Despite the fact that those who knew & loved Jennifer were confident that she would not have suddenly voluntarily disappeared, they still held out hope that she would come into work that Monday morning with a good explanation as to what happened & where she had been. However, Monday came & went without word from Jennifer & investigators admitted that they were at a loss as to what happened to her.
Little progress was made in the case until ten days after Jennifer went missing on Monday, August 26 when three people who were out searching for arrowheads came across a badly decomposed body in Pine Mountain State Resort Park. When police released information about the findings, little information was given other than the fact that a body was found at 6:48 pm; they did not indicate if it was a male or a female. Despite this fact, Janice told reporters that the body was that of her daughter, Jennifer, “We found Jennifer last night. Police came last night & told us. They wouldn’t have told us if they hadn’t been sure.” She later told reporters, “Some of the people here say they could hear me screaming forever. I don’t remember a whole lot about that part of it. I guess I blocked that out.”
The hikers found the woman’s body lying face up with her legs spread open & slightly bent which is a position that the killer may have arranged.
A representative from the state medical examiner’s office indicated that the body had been found naked except for sneakers & a pair of gold necklaces that matched what Jennifer typically wore. This allowed them to make a tentative identification which was later confirmed with the use of dental records. An autopsy proved that Jennifer’s cause of death was asphyxiation by strangulation. There was also evidence that indicated she had been sexually assaulted.
Jennifer’s body was found in an area that sat two miles off the jogging trail known as the “Gravel Pit.” The area had been searched by canine units during the initial days after Jennifer went missing which led investigators to believe that Jennifer had been murdered in a different location & later dumped there. The medical examiner determined that Jennifer’s body had been in that location for about seven to eight days before it was discovered & she had likely been killed on the day that she went missing which left the possibility that she hadn’t been moved to that location until 2-3 days after she was murdered.
Residents of Bell County were terrified by the fact that a brutal rapist & murderer was potentially living among them & could potentially strike again if not caught. The Kentucky State Police noted, “This is the first time anything like this has happened in the area. It’s an impact that is going to be felt for a very long time.”
Detectives interviewed those who were known to Jennifer & admitted that at that point, they had no solid suspects. Ten days after the discovery of Jennifer’s body, police reported that they had interviewed several persons of interest & had detained a man from Lee County, Virginia, questioned him about the murder, but released him without charges.
On September 15, 1990, almost one month after Jennifer was murdered, detectives informed reporters that they had a “strong suspect” in the case but would not identify him. They indicated that at the time, the man was under arrest for a similar case & was being held in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In January 1991, five months after the murder, officials released sketches of two men that they were interested in questioning in relation to Jennifer’s case. Both men were from the Middlesboro, Kentucky area & went by the names Sam & Edward. They were also looking to question a man who was imprisoned on unrelated charges but his name was not made public.
Despite the several suspects mentioned, detectives were unable to connect anyone to Jennifer’s murder & in December of 1993, more than three years had passed & they were still working to solve the case. They continued to re-interview witnesses who had been in the park on the morning that Jennifer was murdered in hopes of finding a new clue that could reveal something that had been missed during the initial investigation.
Detectives found more than a dozen witnesses who had seen Jennifer on the jogging trail that day & several believed they had seen her arguing with an unidentified male. Police believed that it was possible that two men had been involved in Jennifer’s abduction & murder & could have been driving a black pickup truck with a lot of chrome.
Over the years, about six people have called police & began to speak about Jennifer’s case, but then stopped & abruptly hung up without giving their names or additional information. One woman called & said she had something to get off her chest but quickly hung up.
As 1993 came to an end, Janice spoke to the media & said that despite the fact that her daughter’s killer or killers had yet to be captured, she felt that police were doing everything they could to solve the case.
As the fifth anniversary of Jennifer murder approached, Janice & Elbert continued to hold out hope that whoever killed their daughter would be brought to justice. Janice was still in contact with investigators on a daily basis to see if there were any updates, but the answer was always no. Janice indicated that they were living in a bad dream that never ended.
The one solid lead that detectives had was that Jennifer had been seen speaking with a man in the parking lot near a black pickup truck. However, they had been unable to identify both the man as well as the truck, but believed that they likely had something to do with her murder. Detective Cashen indicated that whoever killed Jennifer would ultimately be tied to a black truck one way or another; they either owned it or borrowed it.
More than a dozen potential suspects had been extensively investigated in the five years since Jennifer’s murder & almost all were from the local area. Despite the fact that no arrests had been made, detectives still felt confident that the case could still be solved. Some of the suspects were obtained by ex-convict informants after they had bragged about killing Jennifer.
It was Janice & Elbert’s belief that their daughter had not been murdered by a stranger & believed that someone that was known to the family had recognized Jennifer’s mom’s car in the park that morning & deliberately targeted Jennifer. However, they were unable to fathom who would possibly want to harm her. She didn’t have any serious boyfriends or love interests at the time of her death & spent much of her free time with her best friend Connie. Connie & Jennifer often went to fitness classes together & attended church services weekly. Jennifer had no issues with her co-workers & hadn’t reported any negative interactions with customers.
Soon, Jennifer’s case grew cold, yet Janice & Elbert did everything in their power to keep Jennifer’s memory alive & remind the public that their daughter’s killer was still out there somewhere. Sadly, Elbert passed away in 2008, 18 years after his daughter was brutally murdered & Janice was left to fight for justice alone. Elbert had been battling cancer for some time & his last words were, “I’m going to Jesus & Jennifer.”
By 2012, Janice admitted that she felt that by this point, there was little hope that justice would be served in Jennifer’s case, yet she continued to pray that the killer would be found. She wanted whatever monster who had taken her daughter from this world to pay, “I want a needle put in their arm. That’s what I want.” Despite the passage of over 20 years, time had not healed any of her wounds & Janice admitted that she still lived through hell & didn’t have the desire to do things that once brought her joy.
When Janice spoke with reporters in 2014, she expressed her wish that detectives could devote more time to Jennifer’s case so they could dig deep enough to find her killer before Janice herself died.
2020 marked the 30th anniversary of this case & investigators released new information to the public. Kentucky State Police Detective Aaron Frederick indicated that a number of Jennifer’s belongings had gone missing on the day she was killed & had never been found. This included her pastel jogging shorts, white sleeveless t-shirt, black & tan velcro belt, a Timex watch with a brown, imitation alligator skin band, a GE portable cassette player with headphones & small yellow gold diamond earrings.
Investigators hoped that this information could lead to someone who had recalled seeing a person with some of these belongings & get in touch to finally solve the case.
This case remains open & detectives know that any detail, no matter how small, could potentially break the case. They realize that the passage of time makes it far more challenging as suspect’s memories fade, people involved in the case pass away, but they urge that if anyone believes to have heard or seen anything in regards to this case, to please contact Kentucky State Police at 606-573-3131.
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