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E112: Jamie Fraley
1.6k Plays4 years ago
Jamie Fraley wanted to help those who were suffering and to touch lives in amazing ways. Sadly, her dreams were taken from her when she disappeared one night and was never seen nor heard from again.
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Transcript
Starting a Podcast with Buzzsprout
00:00:00
Speaker
Sleuth Hounds, have you ever considered creating your own podcast? Have you been inspired by listing some of your favorites and thought? I'd love to try this out on my own. Whether it's a true crime podcast like ours, a motivational podcast, or maybe one filled with tips and strategies for those interested in the same activities you are.
00:00:18
Speaker
When Maggie and I first decided to start our podcast, we knew absolutely nothing about what podcasting would entail. But when we found that the platform Buzzsprout was one for which we didn't need any special equipment, just a computer, microphones, and quiet space in each other, we knew that this was a way to go. It is intuitive to use, fun to play around with, and so helpful in getting analytical data about a number of downloads to track trends and from where our listeners hail.
00:00:45
Speaker
Best yet, Buzzsprout is affordable, even by our teacher salary standards. Buzzsprout will get your podcasts listed on every major podcasting platform. So, what are you waiting for? Fulfill that dream of yours and start today. If you use our coffee and cases referral code, 709-643, linked on Facebook and in our show notes, not only will you help support our show, but you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card after your second month on a paid plan.
00:01:14
Speaker
It's that easy. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. Join over 100,000 podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world. Now, it's time for the world to hear what you have to say.
Personal Story and Introduction to Jamie Fraley
00:01:29
Speaker
When I was small, I used to look at my brother and think he had his life together. You see, he was almost 10 years older than me. So when I was eight, he was nearly 18. So I saw a grownup when I looked at him. He went into the army when I was in fourth grade. He was a grownup. When he got out of the army, I was a junior in high school and he still was a grownup in my eyes. Now, as a quote unquote grownup of 31 years old, I know my brother wasn't really a grownup at all when he came home at the age of 27.
00:01:58
Speaker
He left the military and struggled to find work. I didn't really think anything of that at 17, but now at 31, I wonder how stressed he must have been behind that smile and booming laughter. He wasn't really a grown up after all, but someone just on the cusp of being a grown up.
00:02:14
Speaker
So much life was left to live for my brother when he passed away that year. Just like my brother, the young lady at the center of today's case had so much life left to give. She had big plans with her newfound independence and after a life of illness, she deserved to have all of her dreams come true. She wanted to help those suffering from addiction and touch lives in amazing ways. Sadly, her dreams were taken from her when she disappeared one night. This is the story of Jamie Fraley.
00:02:45
Speaker
ล ล
00:03:15
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams and my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families.
Listener Engagement and Community Building
00:03:36
Speaker
With each case we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page
00:03:40
Speaker
Coffee and cases podcast and to follow us on instagram at coffee cases podcast and on tiktok at coffee and cases podcast Because as these families know conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness Helping to keep their memories alive. So sit back sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week
00:04:03
Speaker
Allison, I wanted to take just a second and thank all of our listeners who've signed up for Patreon. We've only been live for a week, right? And we're already a little over one third of the way to reaching that goal of 100 patrons. Yes. We are so thankful for all of you who have already signed up.
00:04:24
Speaker
I decided. Okay. I think we should go ahead and do some of our shout outs. Oh, okay. I think we should do them at the beginning because we want to show our appreciation of the video. So shout out to Trisha Link. Oh, we love her. Yes. She has been one of our faithful listeners. She's been with us since the beginning. So thank you, Trisha, for your encouragement and your support.
00:04:45
Speaker
We also want to give a special shout out to Suzanne, which is one of my favorite names, and June, what a cute name. The co-host of True Crime podcast, Crime With My Coffee, they added, quote, we love supporting other podcasts and couldn't think of a better podcast to support. We love your episodes and can't wait to hear more. Oh, that is so nice. Thank you.
00:05:08
Speaker
Let's show some love right back and you guys go and check out Crying With My Coffee as well. Yes. And our final shout out this episode is going to Megan. She said, quote, good luck with Patreon. I'm so excited for you both. Oh, Megan. Thank you so much, Megan, for your kind words and your generosity. If you have signed up for Patreon but you haven't yet filled out the shout out form, make sure you do so we can share our love on air
00:05:37
Speaker
by announcing your name. And to all other Sleuth Hounds, we have so much planned for Patreon and we can't wait for you to be a part of that as well. So if you haven't yet, there is still time to sign up for the $8 level for the discounted price of only $5 a month. Yeah, and spots are filling up. So if you're on the fence about it, here's your sign to pause the show, head over to Patreon and sign up today. You really don't want to miss out on the spooky, heartwarming and funny stories we're going to share there.
00:06:07
Speaker
And speaking of kind of spooky, Allison, are you ready for this week's episode? So it's spooky? A little bit, a little bit.
Jamie's Life and Aspirations
00:06:15
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So before we get started, um, I do want to add that this week's episode has two Ricky's and two Kim's.
00:06:26
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, luckily Maggie and I are recording in a study room at a public library. So there is a whiteboard in front of us if I need to. We originally started recording in front of Starbucks and it was too loud. And then we came to the public library and there wasn't a room. And then a gentleman gave us a room, but there's an air conditioner going. So we're hoping you can't hear it in the background. Yeah. Say lovey. Yeah, beggars can't be choosers.
00:06:56
Speaker
So Jamie Fraley's life could not have really been considered easy. From the onset, she was faced with many challenges. According to an interview with her mother whose name is Kim on the show disappeared. Jamie was born on March the 5th 1986 and her birth was not an easy one. Like her mom said she had trouble bringing Jamie into the world. That was like
00:07:20
Speaker
a quote from her mom. That has to be traumatizing. Yeah. And Jamie was actually born dead and was resuscitated by doctors. Oh my. So she's a miracle baby. Yeah. She is a miracle baby because even then, like doctors told her mom that she wouldn't survive past infancy and then she did. And then they were like, she won't live to be three, but she did. And like she kept overcoming all those obstacles that they said she wouldn't. She's a miracle baby and a fighter. Yes, exactly.
00:07:49
Speaker
And throughout her life, she was played with like some lasting effects of her birth. She was really small for her age. In fact, by 2008, when Jamie was in her early 20s, she wasn't even five feet tall. Like she was tiny and she had a hard time gaining weight. So along with like being short, she was also like really thin.
00:08:16
Speaker
She would eventually be diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 18. And her mom said in that same interview that...
00:08:24
Speaker
she didn't really take her diagnosis very seriously, but I don't know if it was really so much that as Jamie had like a hard time finding a medicine that worked for her. Oh, okay. So I get that because then you could be like, well, this doesn't work anyway. So like, why am I taking it? And it was like, she would take medicine, but it made her feel like kind of foggy and then she would quit taking it. So I think she just never found the medicine she needed.
00:08:53
Speaker
Jamie didn't drive and was very dependent on her family to get her from point A to point B. And she actually, because of all those like circumstances surrounding her health, she did not graduate high school. She lived at home with her mom who helped manage her finances and take care of her. But Jamie
00:09:13
Speaker
Despite those limitations, everybody described her as like a firecracker. She was big hearted, like just an overall very loving person.
00:09:24
Speaker
And because Jamie had such a big heart, she was dedicated to helping others. In fact, she became very active in a local church and through that church, she discovered a program that helped addicts overcome addiction and Jamie felt like called to that profession. She felt that's what she needed to do. That's awesome.
00:09:43
Speaker
And so at the age of 22, everything started to kind of click into place for her. She had decided to go to school to get her GED and do like drug counseling and pursue a job in drug counseling. Well, that's good. She's going to college and getting, you know, her high school diploma and getting that certification with the end goal in mind. Because so many people, you know, start college and they're like, I have no idea what I want to do. No, I do what I want to do. That was me.
00:10:09
Speaker
Jamie drew Social Security because of some of those disabilities and illnesses, but she had actually reached out to the Social Security office to kind of help gain her independence. Like she wanted somebody to help her like figure out how to make sure she paid her bills on time.
00:10:24
Speaker
manage a checking account. And so they had appointed her like a caregiver, which I didn't even know they did that. Yeah, I didn't know that. But they would like give a point someone to you to like take you to your appointments and show you how to like balance checking. It's not as much of a burden on your parents to Yeah, because they can go, you know, what if they have to go to work and you've got to go to a doctor's appointment?
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah. And so they had given her a care provider. And so she was teaching Jamie how to manage finances. She was taking Jamie to doctor's appointments or social security office appointments. Jamie had moved out
Jamie's Relationship with Ricky Jr.
00:10:56
Speaker
of her mom's house. So she's taking yet another step of independence and moved into an apartment that was about an hour away from her mom Kim's house. That's a little far far. I know I would be nervous as
00:11:21
Speaker
And all of her family kind of was because they all had a really big role in like
00:11:28
Speaker
kind of taking care of Jamie and like played a big part in her life. Her aunt was interviewed a lot on that disappeared episode that I watched and her cousin and they all talked about they had a hard time kind of letting her go but knew that was what was best for her. Yeah.
00:11:44
Speaker
And Allison, Jamie actually found true love after she moved out of her mom's house with a man named named Ricky Simons Jr. Okay, I'm giving
00:11:59
Speaker
a look like I don't know. Again, all of this independence is happening very quickly for me. Yeah. And a lot of people felt that way too, that it was very quick. But the pair began dating in 2006 when I watched this episode and then all that I read, like this part just really kind of like, I have questions about this. Okay.
00:12:22
Speaker
But they started dating when Ricky stepped in to help Jamie in like a confrontation that she was having. Like, I don't know if she was like, somebody was trying to find her if she was like, I don't know the extent of this, like, okay, this happening. But he was essentially like, kind of like a knot in shining armor and like came to her rescue and stepped in to protect her, like during some type of altercation. And then like after that moment,
00:12:51
Speaker
it was just like love. Yeah. Now maybe, you know, if somebody were bullying her and he stepped in, okay. But I don't, yeah. And I don't know, like that's what I'm saying. I don't know like what type of altercation this was, but there was an altercation. And not long after they started dating, Ricky Jr. and Jamie moved into an apartment together at Copperfield apartment complex. And we had to Google this.
00:13:21
Speaker
Because the county is Gaston County. Yes. And we're Estonia.
Mysterious Disappearance of Jamie Fraley
00:13:27
Speaker
That's what we're assuming the name is. Maggie keeps wanting to say it like Gaston. From Beauty and the Beast. No one left like Gaston. No one lives in Gastonia. But they moved into an apartment together. Okay. So they're serious. Okay.
00:13:47
Speaker
Sadly, though, Ricky Jr. was not a saint. I knew I couldn't trust him. I knew it. So, Alison, your, like, side glances at me were not in vain.
00:14:01
Speaker
He actually had quite an extensive record with the local police and was arrested in 2007 when he was convicted of crimes related to larceny. And I'm going to be honest, what is larceny? Isn't it stealing? I don't know. Graham larceny? Oh, probably. Is that like, when you. Like, like I steal from like Kroger. I got to Google it. Yep, up to personal property. Okay.
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah. So he was convicted of crimes related to larceny and sentenced to 15 months in prison. So not a huge sentence, but still you broke some laws.
00:14:38
Speaker
And Jamie's family and everything that I've read were super open with Jamie about their concerns of staying with Ricky Jr., but Jamie stood by him. Blonded by love. Yeah, she was blinded by love. Her cousin actually talks about that anytime she would go over to Jamie's, like there would be, and I could just kind of picture it in my head, but like papers everywhere because she wrote a letter to Ricky Jr. every day that he was in prison, every day.
00:15:07
Speaker
And like she would read dedication. Yeah. Yeah. And she would rewrite the letter until it was like perfect to send to him. So it wasn't like the first copy. She would like rewrite. I'm sorry, Rodney. When I write you notes and I crosswords out. Yeah. Same. Same. But she wanted them to be perfect for him. So she would rewrite them, which takes some dedication.
00:15:32
Speaker
well. And so all day. Yeah. But I think that's what she did all day. Oh, yeah. Okay. And if you remember, Allison Jamie didn't have a driver's license. And while she was slowly like gaining her independence, she still needed some help with things. And for right now, we'll say luckily, he Ricky's father, Ricky senior, see, okay, okay, Ricky Jr. Ricky senior. Okay.
00:15:58
Speaker
live just a few doors down from Jamie. I've read like two doors with his girlfriend Kim. So we have mom Kim and girlfriend Kim. Okay. Ricky Jr. and Ricky Singer. Okay. Okay. I got it. I think I got it. So like even after I was reading back through this, I was like, wait, which Kim? Yeah. And I was like, did I get this correct? Or did I mix names? Yeah, but it's correct. Okay.
00:16:19
Speaker
So while Ricky Jr. was in jail, Ricky Sr. steps up to help Jamie and like kind of be there for her as a friend or so Jamie still had given some side eye. I'm just not feeling this right now. Yeah.
00:16:35
Speaker
And with Ricky Jr. gone, Jamie slowly starts to depend on Ricky Sr. more and more. At his house a lot, he's taking her places a lot. And we'll find out some more stuff about Sr. Listen, I'm not saying that there can't be a father-daughter relationship between two people who are not related. I just think that when you add a lot of
00:17:03
Speaker
tendency to it and especially in a situation like this one. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'll I'll just say that. Yeah. There'll be more. You'll have more thoughts. Okay. On April 7th, 2008, Jamie came down with the stomach flu and there is nothing worse than this. I hate throwing up. I think I would rather have anything. Yeah. Like, well, I mean anything like
00:17:32
Speaker
Like I think I'd rather have strep throat. We're not saying like any disease or anything, but like anything that is like something that you get over within. Like if they said pick between semiclune strep throat, I'd be like strep throat. Yeah, same. For sure. Cold flu or throwing up, cold or flu. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And she...
00:17:52
Speaker
Like this just wasn't a normal stomach flu. It was bad. Like so bad that she actually is admitted to the emergency room at her local hospital, like to receive fluids around lunchtime for like severe stomach pains related to this stomach bug. And they say like you have stomach flu. And she's not kept at the hospital very long and returns home because she's babysitting girlfriend Kim's dog. Like that's, she watches her dog during the day.
00:18:22
Speaker
And so she goes back to her apartment to watch the dog. When girlfriend Kim arrives at Jamie's to get her dog, she obviously finds Jamie like in the fetal position, in extreme stomach pain. And she says, you know what, like, I'm going to take these prescriptions that the ER doctor gave you, I'll drop them off at the pharmacy, and then somebody can like pick them up or you can pick them up if you start feeling worse.
00:18:49
Speaker
So she takes the prescriptions and like tries to make Jamie as comfortable as possible and like takes her dog and goes on about her business. But Jamie never picks those prescriptions up. Oh, yes.
00:19:06
Speaker
Sometime around eight o'clock PM to 10 o'clock PM, Jamie's pain increased to the point that she was sure that she'd been improperly diagnosed with her earlier trip to the ER. So she calls a bricky senior for a ride back to the hospital. Okay. Yeah. Cause so she knows like she is in bad pain. Yes.
00:19:25
Speaker
And she's like, they obviously didn't get it right. And this just recently happened to me. Right. I was missed. I did not go to the ER. Like I'm not one of those people that like, if I can't stop coughing that I go to the ER. Like this is only my second ever ER visit. And they like I thought I had a spider bite because it was huge and swollen and like nasty.
00:19:46
Speaker
and they misdiagnosed me. And then my insurance wouldn't cover my ER visit because they said it wasn't an emergency. So I had to submit like a claim that explained that I tried to see like first care and all this. Wow. Listen, this extreme pain, one time I had kidney stones. Oh, you want to talk about pain. I was like, I'm going to say from where I'm sitting in this chair, slu-towns, this is like four feet.
00:20:14
Speaker
I was about four feet away from where I needed to be. And I was like, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. It hurt that bad. And it was like stomach pains. I also thought that maybe she may be having like appendicitis. Can't you throw up with appendicitis? Sadly, we will never know really what the true... Did she make it back to the ER?
00:20:38
Speaker
Okay, so let's pick back. Okay, so Ricky senior, she calls him. She's like, I gotta go back to the emergency room. They have misdiagnosed me. Yeah, so he picks her up and takes her to the ER and he's like, you know, call me when you're done. I'll come pick you up. But the ER tells her that it's going to be a three hour wait.
00:20:59
Speaker
So obviously they're not taking this like emergency and she's like, yeah, I'm not going to see her that long. Like I'm throwing up. I'm just going to go home. Yeah. So that's what she does. She calls another neighbor to give her a ride back to her apartment. So Ricky senior takes her. She doesn't wait. So he doesn't wait with her. No, no, just like, yeah. Yeah. Okay. According to him. I'm sorry. So drops her off. Yes.
00:21:25
Speaker
and is like, call me. Why would you not wait? I don't think from the kind of gist I got from the stuff I read, I don't think anybody waited with her. Oh, okay. Because they would never know, I guess, how long it would be or something. Right. And it wouldn't be like if I went and Anthony waited with me, right? Because it's just like friends or people like that that's taken her.
00:21:45
Speaker
According to most reports, Jamie arrived back to her apartment around midnight and called her mom, Kim. So obviously her mom is concerned and tells Jamie like, I will come to you right now. I will leave. I'll drive the hour to your house. I will bring you back home.
00:22:02
Speaker
like make sure that you're okay. And then when you start feeling better, take you back to your apartment. Okay. Um, Janie though declines her offer because she actually had a very important appointment at the social security office the next day that she did not want to miss. So she's like, well, if I'm depending on you and I'm an hour away and all of that. Right. Because this appointment was, um, if I'm remembering correctly, like talking about
00:22:29
Speaker
putting her check into her bank account, like making her over, like another step towards that independence that she's wanting. So she declines the mom's offer. But Jamie would soon be on the phone again. This time around like 1.30 or 2 a.m., Jamie is back on the phone with a friend telling them that someone was taking her back to the hospital. But she didn't say who?
00:22:57
Speaker
No, which is part of the part of the problem. Jamie, why couldn't you have just said who was taking you? Yeah.
Investigation and Unanswered Questions
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah. So we know she didn't drive. And she didn't say who was driving her. She only referred to this driver as a quote unquote friend. And she ended the call by saying I have to go my ride is here. He's here. Okay, so we know it's a he we know it's a he.
00:23:23
Speaker
but that's all we know. That's all we know. But I'm wondering, I wish we could talk to this friend she was talking to on the phone and be like, would she normally talk about like Ricky Sr. and say his name? Would she normally talk about like- But I didn't feel like, like if I called you and I was throwing up and I'd be like- And if I said, oh, can I take you? Do you mean to take you? Yeah, I'd be like, no, Samantha's taking me or you know. Right. I wouldn't just say, no, she's taking me. You're a friend. Like I feel like I would be specific. I feel like I would too. Yeah.
00:23:53
Speaker
or like if Anthony's out of town and I'm calling him and he said. Especially if this is a close friend that you're calling at 1.30 or 2.00 in the morning, then that's odd to me. We know that Jamie never made it to the hospital that third time. And according to an article called the disappearance of Jamie Fraley on April 9th, 2008, so her appointed healthcare assistant or whatever arrived at Jamie's apartment to take her to that appointment at the Social Security Administration.
00:24:23
Speaker
her door's locked, which, you know, why wouldn't it be? Or even if she's there, I wouldn't leave my house unlocked. So she knocks on the door a couple times, nobody answers, she calls several times, nobody answers, and she knew that disappointment was important to Jamie. So she tries persistently for a while to get somebody to answer the phone or to answer the door, but when she finally is like, nobody's gonna answer, she just left.
00:24:54
Speaker
Again, I mean she could just be thinking well, obviously she forgot about this appointment or what she got another ride I think you know something horrible had happened and like this lady has no idea that she's been sick, right? So like or I don't know if it was a lady but this person has no idea she's been sick So she could just think like oh she probably got another ride. She forgot I was picking her up You know, you can explain any of that away
00:25:18
Speaker
On April 11th though- So now we're two days later. Yeah. Okay. When the healthcare providers still had not heard from Jamie, so I think it was kind of unusual for several days to pass and this person not here from Jamie, she calls to let Jamie's family know that Jamie isn't answering any of her phone calls. Okay. But I feel like, can we pause? Yeah. I feel like Ricky should have noticed Ricky Jr. before now because she writes in letters every day.
00:25:45
Speaker
So where have her letters been? Unless, is there like a delay? I mean, there probably is. But I also feel like, I'm just saying. Well, Ricky senior, I feel like also should have noticed if she's like, they said she was over there like basically every day. So they know that she's been sick. So why haven't they brought a check on her? Right.
00:26:03
Speaker
And her mom said, like, it wasn't unusual for her to go, like, a few days without talking to Amy. Because she lives far away. Not Amy, Janie. Yeah, because she lives far away. But she did say that it was unusual for her not to answer her phone.
00:26:19
Speaker
So that same day, her mom called the police and said like, can you just perform a welfare check on my daughter? She's been sick. Can you go over and just check to make sure that she's okay? Which I feel like should have been there before now, but I'm just being judgy. Yeah.
00:26:35
Speaker
When the officer arrived at her apartment, he found no signs of forced injury, no signs of struggle. The door was locked and everything seemed like in fine order. So he says, you know, everything seems okay on our end. It doesn't look like she was taken against her will. I understand why he said that. And if she did willingly go in a car with somebody, which she would have had to have done, she can't drive, then that would explain why nothing in her apartment seems like a mystery thing.
00:27:05
Speaker
So Kim though, mom Kim, was not satisfied with this answer. And she says, you know, like I said, it wasn't unusual for her to go a few days without talking to Jamie, but it was unusual for Jamie not to answer her phone when it did ring because she basically lives her life around Ricky Jr. So she's writing him letters every day. She keeps the phone near her and I see calls. So like she's gonna answer phone calls because it could potentially be Ricky Jr.
00:27:35
Speaker
So she's like, you know, maybe Jamie is in so much pain that she can't get up to answer the door. Maybe she's talking about how much pain she's in. Maybe she's like, yeah, incapacitated. She can't even answer the telephone. So mom, Kim, Jamie's aunt and her cousin drive the one hour to Jamie's apartment. So when they open the door immediately, several odd things stand out to them.
00:28:01
Speaker
So things that maybe only a mom or whatever could notice. Yeah. Okay. So it appeared that Jamie had left on her own. Okay. There were no overturned tables. Nothing was out of place. That would initially cause suspicion. Like if you were just kind of looking like, you know, but upon further inspection, they found that Jamie had left her keys and her wallet, but not her cell phone, but her door was locked, but her keys are inside her apartment.
00:28:30
Speaker
So I feel like whoever took her had to have keys to her apartment. Yeah, that does seem fishy or else she just accidentally locked herself out. Yeah, that's true. I guess because maybe like there's she didn't maybe there's like two like locks. Wouldn't she have needed her wallet for like insurance card or whatever for the hospital? You would think so. But she took her cell phone. But she did take her cell phone. So can I hang her cell phone? Well, we'll get to that. Okay.
00:28:59
Speaker
Okay, so if she has her cell phone though, like why is she not answering it is another question. Yes.
00:29:06
Speaker
So I think like we need to add some context for like younger listeners at this point. So we're in like 2008. So cell phones in that time, like could go days without being charged and still have battery to make. Cause you weren't surfing the internet. They weren't quote unquote smart phone. They were using it. Yeah. So like it could have gone days, maybe even a week without being charged and still like we'll be able to receive and make phone calls.
00:29:37
Speaker
So even though Jamie has been gone for about two days, like she still would have had plenty of juice in her family. They did notice that Jamie had been very sick because she had vomited in several places around her apartment. Well, I guess if you're feeling that sick, maybe you're just like, I can't wait until I feel better. So the theory that she had intended to go back to the hospital is even more probable. Right.
00:30:03
Speaker
But we know she didn't, so like, what has happened?
00:30:10
Speaker
One thing that the family found as they continued to search that it really kind of made the hairs on the backs of their heads stand up when they found it was at the top of Jamie's stairs were her favorite shoes. So Jamie either only wore flip-flops or like these like running shoes or tennis shoes as I call them. Like this is just one pair? Yes, one specific pair.
00:30:36
Speaker
So this pair was at the top of the steps, and while on their own may not initially be alarming, when the family approached them, the shoes were missing their laces.
00:30:52
Speaker
which is something that they said Jamie would have never done. If that's like the, like, okay, I always wear these tennis shoes that I have on. What cause would I have to take the laces out of them if these are the only shoes I ever wear? Right, unless they're in like the washer, but then the shoes wouldn't have been at the top of the step. I'll just be honest, I've never washed them. Well, there you go. I usually just wash them on the tennis shoe. Right, yeah, I've never taken them off. So that's weird.
00:31:22
Speaker
Yeah, and like if she's so sick, she's throwing up around her apartment.
00:31:26
Speaker
Why would she be washing her shoelaces? And why would she even be taking her shoelaces out of her shoes? It's strange. So the family calls back the police and they're like, you need to come back. Like this is wrong. Set things up. So the police come back and they're like searching Jamie's apartment and her family is desperately trying to reach her on her cell phone. Like continually calling her phone. Like it goes to voicemail, they call again. It goes to voicemail, call again.
00:31:57
Speaker
So Jamie, like I said, took that thing everywhere waiting for Ricky Jr. to possibly call. So she had to have it on her. Right. They knew. I mean, above all else. She's going to have this phone. Jamie has her cell phone. Yes. And they keep calling and they keep calling and they keep calling. And Allison, someone finally picks up. Somebody picks up. Yeah. Somebody picks up the phone. OK. It was a man.
00:32:26
Speaker
that they did not know, and he claimed to work for a cable company. So he was saying, like, we are fixing these cable lines, this phone kept ringing, it's like, and so I picked it up. And we have, like, this is true, like the police have said, like. I'm still skeptical, because that's weird. First of all, if I see a phone, this is just me. Now, maybe times were different then.
00:32:54
Speaker
But if I see a phone, and it's like, we're in public library right now. I see it randomly on a shelf over there. By the second time it rings, I'm gonna pick it up and answer it. And I'm gonna say, yes, whoever's phone this is, it was left in the public library, you know, at this and this address. Well, like, he says that- Why didn't he hear it the 50 other times that right now? Well, from what I could have gathered is, I think this phone was like,
00:33:20
Speaker
on the road, like had been tossed out of like a drive. Okay. And so maybe he just didn't hear it. If there was traffic or something like that. All right. I will go. Yeah.
00:33:36
Speaker
So it was about three miles from Jamie's apartment. Um, and the family was hopeful that, you know, there could be prints on the phone. They could pull records from the phone. So there, they were hopeful that maybe because obviously she had to call somebody to come and pick her up to take her to the hospital again. Right.
00:33:57
Speaker
So there should be a phone number. Unfortunately, police can't pull any prints from the phone because by the time they get it, it's been handled by so many people that there's really no prints that they can't pull any of the prints. They did though, like this was kind of the push that they were like, okay, we have to start, like this is serious. Like she didn't just go on her own. Like we have to start really looking into this.
00:34:23
Speaker
So the county police department assigned three investigators to the case full time. And I read, though I couldn't really find this backed up anywhere, that they requested assistance from the State Bureau of Investigations and the FBI.
00:34:36
Speaker
I think that's good. Yeah. So they're really taking it seriously. They're calling in extra forces to help. And they interviewed Jamie's friends and family. They conducted like door to door conversations with residents of the apartment complex. They searched the area around the apartment complex. Maybe somebody saw whoever it was coming in. And the only, I don't think I say this later, like the only like
00:35:00
Speaker
thing that any neighbor says that is like the least little bit helpful is that they for sure saw Jamie enter her apartment at midnight. So that's like the last one. I guess that's true because most people are going to be in bed at the time when this other person is coming to get her to take her back to the hospital. Yes.
00:35:19
Speaker
So they, again, searched the apartment complex. They searched the area near where the phone was found. Divers and cadaver dogs searched Armstrong that's located near all of this. But their efforts are for not. Everything turns up empty.
00:35:38
Speaker
they do pull Jamie's phone records and they found that her last phone call was made at 1 30 a.m. so we assume like to that friend where she's like hey somebody's getting ready to take me back to the hospital. Yeah but she had to have called that person who was going to take her to the hospital? Yeah um
00:35:55
Speaker
But so upon this is according to the Charlie project, but upon like getting her phone records, police found several calls were made from Jamie's phone. But the problem was they were like all dialed from just like her recent like
00:36:13
Speaker
contacts or whatever on your phone. You know how you have like the recent people that applaud you? And so I don't know that they were really numbers that were saved in her phone. There was like a, like it was confusing to me as I was researching this. But they know that several calls were made from her phone around 4 30 a.m. the day she disappeared. So
00:36:36
Speaker
which is weird, right? Because she would have technically been if she would have been at the hospital, right? But she didn't ever make it to the hospital. And we don't really know who placed those calls because it could have been somebody besides Jamie, unless she's like, she has her phone at that point. She's like frantically trying to fumble. But if she, if this friend,
00:36:58
Speaker
the friend who's supposed to come and pick her up, right, is like getting there around like two a.m. to drive her, then you wouldn't, the phone wouldn't be only three miles away from her house and her calling at 4.30. Right. Yeah. Unless something happened
00:37:21
Speaker
between the time at two when she gets off the phone with a friend, when the mysterious he gets there, but they didn't leave her apartment right away. Hence something to do with the shoelaces. Right. Or whatever.
00:37:35
Speaker
And we also know a call was made to Jamie's phone at 5 a.m. So somebody's calling her phone at 5 a.m. Okay, do we know who that is? No. Oh. And I don't know how we don't know that, but we don't know that. Well, were there still gay families in 2008? I think so. Like they're probably on their way out. Yeah. But I would think so. Yeah, investigators have been unable to determine who made that incoming call to Jamie's phone.
00:38:04
Speaker
I feel like so, and I could be wrong.
00:38:07
Speaker
But I feel like because Jamie doesn't have like, I know she has her position where she's trying to become like a drug counselor. And so she has that group of people who she knows. But she's not like driving every day, going to the same restaurants, going to Starbucks, going to like all of these places. I feel like her circle of acquaintances. Is small. Yes, would be smaller than the average person. So I feel like,
00:38:36
Speaker
narrowing down who he is shouldn't have been that difficult. I would agree with you but to this day I still do not think well they have a good idea of who he is and we'll talk about it but it's never been like concretely named.
00:38:53
Speaker
I did read Jamie's family made flyers that they passed out. There were, you know, like interviews that were conducted. I read in one place that they hired their own investigator. There was a billboard that was funded that was put up on I-85 to raise awareness about Jamie's case. They tried to get like a pathologist to help with the case, but like this person was denied access to her case file.
00:39:20
Speaker
Well this only found in one source that I read and they said it was because the police department said it was an ongoing investigation so they denied access to the file. Unless it's not like a, I don't know, if law enforcement like
00:39:36
Speaker
like if they had vetted like a transit versus like an individually hired person. Yeah, like not within their circle of things. So naturally police turn their attention to Ricky Sr. as he is one of the last known people to see Jamie other than that neighbor that saw her walk into the apartment at midnight. So Ricky Sr. did agree to be interviewed by police, which was good. But when he was interviewed, police said that he was considered like aloof and cold.
00:40:07
Speaker
And he actually denied or refused taking a lie detector test, which again, we know like lie detector tests, like what are their purpose. But I do feel like if you didn't have anything to hide, you would just be like, why not? But he refuses to take a lie detector test.
00:40:25
Speaker
police heard rumors that Ricky senior was becoming obsessed with Jamie. So like they have heard like through the grapevine of friends that he is like, this is more than just him being helpful. Like there's like an effectuation type thing. I wonder if that's why he seemed cold. Well, you know,
00:40:47
Speaker
Wait till you hear more about Ricky Sr. Oh no. In the meantime, like before Jamie's disappearance, I did read that Kim and Ricky Sr. had split up. So he's like single and Kim is on her own. Did Kim ever say that
00:41:03
Speaker
his obsession or infatuation was one of the reasons why. Yeah, so in that disappeared thing I've watched she does say that like his obsession with Jamie is one of the reasons that she left and he was also really heavily on drugs and she was too but she was ready to like get help and he wasn't so that was another big reason why she left. So police start following Ricky Sr. like
00:41:31
Speaker
telling him because they're like, you know, maybe he'll revisit wherever. So as they're following him, they find a trash bag that's full of items and I never found what these items were, but it was like from his car about two and a half miles away from their apartment and only about a mile and a half away from where Jamie's phone was left.
00:41:54
Speaker
were essentially tossed out of the window. Why would he have a trash bag full of his items two and a half miles from his apartment complex? He said he got a flat tire and had to move those out of his trunk to get to his flat tire and then just forgot to take the bag.
00:42:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. At least it's a reason, but I'm not believing this reason. So police though, like I said, I did not read anywhere where they said like what was in this trash bag. But I feel like if it were super incriminating, then that would have been like, okay, he did it. Yeah. And then if it was, then that's also probably why they haven't said anything. Right. Because it's evidence.
00:42:34
Speaker
Um, they do begin following him, but the creepy thing is that as they're following him, they realize that Ricky senior is stalking his ex Kim. Oh my gosh. So we stopped. Okay. So he was infatuated with Jamie, but he's also stalking his ex.
00:42:51
Speaker
And also, Ricky Sr. had a history of violence against women. In fact, he had served time for strangling his ex-girlfriend to death, which immediately I was like, shoelaces. I know, that's exactly what I was thinking.
00:43:08
Speaker
And he was charged with manslaughter and released only six years later in 1992 for good behavior. So I guess you can strangle your girlfriend and like- So be considered to have good behavior? Yeah, and only serve like six years. He also was charged with like he had some fraud charges, some larceny charges, some drug arrest, and police like they go to Kim, ex-girlfriend Kim at this point.
00:43:32
Speaker
And they're like, you need to get a restraining order. Like immediately you need to go get a restraining order. He's following you. And she actually does that. She goes like right after they tell her and she files a restraining order.
00:43:45
Speaker
Yeah, she's like, not today, sir. In an article I read on popculturecrime.com, which was so hard for me to just say, the author stated that on June 7th, Kim felt that something strange was happening, like her car started to smell bad. And two days later, she opened
00:44:12
Speaker
the trunk of her car and found something disgusting inside. Was it a dead animal? Sort of. It was a dead man. A dead man? Yeah. Ricky Sr. was dead inside the trunk of her car. He had like committed suicide and shot himself in there? No.
00:44:33
Speaker
How'd he get in there? So underneath his body, they found some of Kim's personal possessions. Like he had been sneaking and stealing things of hers. And like they, he had all of this and a knife in her car and he'd been dead for two days and authorities speculate that he hid in her trunk so he could ambush her and kill her.
00:44:57
Speaker
Yes. But it turned around their place. So he had suffocated or something? Well, they don't know if he suffocated or died of heat stroke, but there were like drugs and alcohol in his system. So they think like he was too like... Oh, and then like he's coming out of like, what's it called?
00:45:13
Speaker
Detoxing, right? And then maybe, cause you know, you can't get alcohol cold turkey. Well, I think he's like so disillusioned and so high that he doesn't realize he's stuck in there and needs to pull like the emergency, like release to get out of the truck. I didn't either until I read this and researched it.
Theories and Conclusion
00:45:29
Speaker
Cause you're like, what if I ever get it? Cause that's exactly what happened. So it was only after his death that police finally say that they have suspected him in the involvement of Jamie's disappearance. Okay.
00:45:42
Speaker
And obviously now there's really no proof right because he's dead. And they may seem pretty obvious what happened to Jamie but I do want to discuss some theories that I stumbled upon in my research. There are a couple that I found there were two that I found in an article called the disappearance of Jamie Fraley. Obviously one
00:46:02
Speaker
is that Ricky senior is responsible for Jamie's disappearance. So strangle the next girlfriend. Yeah. He was stalking another girl. Yeah. And her shoelaces. Yeah.
00:46:16
Speaker
So he's currently considered a person of interest. He has that criminal record. He served time for manslaughter. Those who knew Jamie said that he was obsessed with her and her cousin actually said, like, described him as a pervert, like, would make inappropriate comments to Jamie and say things that were really nasty. But she would go on to say in that interview that Jamie just kind of brushed off his comments and said, you know, I can handle him, like, it's no big deal. Yeah, it's harmless.
00:46:46
Speaker
This was my thought though. So he lived two apartments down from Jamie. He was the maintenance worker of this apartment complex. So as a maintenance worker, would he have keys? You sure would, because you would have to be able to fix the furnace or the toilet or whatever. Oh, man. Yeah.
00:47:08
Speaker
which could be why her keys were inside. But her door was locked because he would have had a key. And I felt like even if he weren't the maintenance worker, like he would have still had a key. And that's why I'm wondering if whoever she was talking to on the phone, remember I asked that like at 1.30 or 2 in the morning, would she have said
00:47:25
Speaker
Oh, you know, Ricky senior is here. Or if this is a friend or a cousin who doesn't like Ricky senior, maybe she didn't want to say. Yeah. So she was just like, Oh, he's here. I gotta go. That's true.
00:47:39
Speaker
That is very true. We also obviously know that he's the last person to see Jamie and that he had already driven her to the hospital at least once. Right. So something else that sticks out to me is that when Ricky Jr. was released from prison, so he was I think like I read like 20 some days before his release is when Jamie disappeared. He was released on the 29th.
00:48:06
Speaker
He chose to stay with Janie's family instead of his own father Ricky Sr. because he believed his father was guilty. I wonder if she said anything or made hints like in those letters that she would write him. I wonder if they like read those letters. And like I read that
00:48:30
Speaker
Ricky Jr. was furious with his father and actually there was like several things like altercations between the two where he just like said, I know you've had something to do with Jamie's disappearance.
00:48:42
Speaker
The family cited that Ricky Jr. was a really big help with them with the investigation and kind of looking for Jamie. Obviously we know it can't be him because he was in jail. But eventually the pain of having to like deal with Jamie's disappearance became too much for him and he turned to substance abuse to deal with her loss.
00:49:05
Speaker
A second theory, which has since been discredited by investigators, states that Jamie was killed by this man named Jerry Douglas Case, which I know, three names. At the time that he came on police radar, he was serving a 22 year sentence for murder. Okay, so he has a murderer. So the three name theory still stands.
00:49:26
Speaker
He was said to have confessed to Jamie's murder in 2015. Case killed a 17-year-old boy in 1985, and his death was originally ruled an accident, which to me is crazy. And Case wasn't suspected until he wrote a letter confessing to this crime. Why would you do that? But there's all kinds of false confessions, and I don't get psychologically why, but it happens a lot.
00:49:51
Speaker
He said at the time, again, serving that 22-year sentence that he had killed another individual, which would have been Jamie. He was convicted of second-degree murder in 2015. Later that year, he wrote the letter confessing to killing Jamie, but he didn't, no one believed his confessions. They were incredible, is what police said.
00:50:17
Speaker
A third and seemingly unpopular theory is that Jamie did leave on her own accord. So a lot of people say that since she was bipolar and wasn't really taking her medicine correctly, that she may have just like had a manic episode and left on her own.
00:50:38
Speaker
I just don't feel like, then why like all the hoopla of like, you know, she's, she does have a stomach virus. There's vomit everywhere. She's gone to the hospital.
00:50:50
Speaker
I just feel like that's a little... Yeah, I feel like she's been at the hospital enough over that time frame that if something psychologically was going on, I feel like it would have been noticed. And you're telling me she's gonna leave Ricky Jr.? Right, when she writes him a letter every day. I also do not believe that theory. And the final theory is that
00:51:14
Speaker
I mean I guess you just have to mention it is that Jamie was taken by like an unknown assailant. That this theory is likely like it's least likely in my eyes because I just don't see how it would happen. Like we know she was getting a ride from a he but she knew this he right or like she at least sounded like she did. Yeah well she called this person a friend. Right and I don't think you had to call and like just someone you meet on the street a friend. Right.
00:51:40
Speaker
And have we checked like everybody who she knew from like her hometown, from her new, from the Social Security office, from the like drug outreach that she was doing. I wonder if we've checked all of those.
00:51:58
Speaker
I just well part of me wonders that and then part of me says maybe they're so for sure that it's Freaky Senior that they've kind of just stopped because I think she's still technically listed as disappeared but like disappeared with like possible violence. I just think that it
00:52:20
Speaker
Like I think it had to be somebody she knew because her apartment was in such fine order other than the vomit. Like if it's somebody you didn't know, I feel like there would have been signs of a struggle. Yeah, there wouldn't just be shoelaces missing from your shoes. Yeah. But that's the part that has me puzzled.
00:52:39
Speaker
Jamie's mother believes that Ricky Simons Sr. was responsible for the disappearance of Jamie. In an interview, she said he was, quote, hiding something and we could never get it out of him, end quote. Ricky Jr. Jamie's fiance said, quote, first my fiance goes missing, then my dad climbs into a trunk and dies. Does that make sense to anybody? End quote.
00:53:01
Speaker
And he's right, it doesn't make sense to anyone. No one that knew Jamie ever would have believed that she would just up and walk away from her life. But they do believe that someone was cruel enough to take her away just as her life was starting. Jamie would be married now, maybe with kids. She would have been helping the addicted to change their lives. All the people she could have helped or lives she could have touched will never know the loving person that was Jamie Fraley.
00:53:25
Speaker
Sleuth hounds were hopeful that someone listening may know something about her disappearance. Remember, Jamie Fraley went missing from the Cooperfield apartment complex in Gaston County, North Carolina on April 8, 2008. She was 22 and was possibly wearing a large white t-shirt and blue jeans. At the time of her disappearance, she stood at 4 foot 9 inches and weighed approximately 90 to 100 pounds. She has strawberry blonde hair and either blue or brown eyes. The name Ricky is tattooed on her right ankle.
00:53:55
Speaker
Contact the Gaston County Police Department at 704-866-3320 if you have any information about Jamie's disappearance. Again, please like and join us on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and to see images related to this episode.
00:54:13
Speaker
as always follow us on instagram at coffee cases podcast and on tick tock at coffee and cases podcast or you can always email us suggestions to coffee and cases podcast at gmail.com please tell your friends about our podcast so that more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well we hope to hear from you soon stay together stay safe we'll see you next week