The Murder of Jessica Heeringa
For this case I watched an episode of Disappeared. It’s season 7 episode 1, titled ‘Somebody’s Watching.’
At the time this episode aired, they didn’t learn what happened to Jessica. I will talk about her disappearance, suspects and eventually what actually happened to her.
Background
Jessica Heeringa
Jessica Heeringa was a 25 year old mom, her son Zevyn, was just three years old when she went missing. Jessica’s family said Jessica loved Zevyn more than anything and wanted to work hard to give Zevyn a better life.
Jessica worked at the Exxon gas station in Norton Shores, Michigan. She was also engaged to Zevyn’s dad, a man named Dakota. Jessica wrote frequently in her journal that she wanted more out of life. She eventually wanted to go to college and become an accountant. Sadly, Jessica would never get that chance.
The Disappearance
On April 26, 2013, Jessica was working the late night shift at the Exxon station on Sternberg Road. Jessica was described as being very popular with her customers, and many regulars didn’t go into the store unless she was working.
The store closed at 11:30pm, and Jessica was just cleaning up, when her last customer came in around 10:55pm. He purchased a lighter and left.
A regular customer named Craig Harpster stopped at the gas station at 11:07pm, to buy gas. He was interviewed briefly in this episode, and said he usually paid cash and had to walk into the store to pay. He said he walked in and called for Jessica, who was usually at the register. He said he checked the walk in freezer, but still didn’t see her. He realized something was wrong when he saw Jessica’s purse and the register slightly opened. Craig called 911, and the police arrived shortly after.
A 12 Minute Window
Det. Michael Kasher with the Norton Shores PD arrived at the gas station. He met with Craig, and a store manager was also called in. Her name was Sue Fallot, and when she arrived, she pointed out that Jessica didn’t close out her register or take her purse.
She also told the police that she and her husband had been riding their motorcycles past the station around 11pm. She said they saw a silver mini van drive behind the station, to the area where the delivery trucks usually go. She said they had never had a delivery that late, so she and husband drove in for a closer look. She said they saw a man walk to the back of the van, shut the back door, open it again and shut it really fast. They watched the man drive off, and were able to get a good look at the mini van and the man’s face.
Sue described the van as a silver Chrysler Town and Country, and said the man had wild blonde hair. She agreed to meet with a sketch artist to create a composite sketch.
Detective Kasher also asked if he could look at the surveillance footage, and Sue said they didn’t have any. That didn’t stop the police from searching the rest of the gas station, and they did find one piece of evidence. They found a blood stain outside where the delivery trucks parked. The blood stain was sent in for testing, and it eventually came back as being Jessica’s.
The police now believed that Jessica had been in that silver mini van and they needed to find it.
Jessica’s missing poster
Suspects
The first suspect that the police had was Dakota, Jessica’s fiance. Dakota told the police that he was at home with their son all evening. He also said he didn’t have a car and had to get a ride just to get to the station.
The police looked into Dakota’s phone records, and it proved that he was in fact at home the whole night. He was ruled out.
The composite sketch was released about three days after Jessica disappeared. The sketch was very generic and the police received thousands of tips, many people saying they knew the person from that sketch. The tips didn’t actually lead to a suspect.
The police spoke with Jessica’s friends and family, and they were told that Jessica would visit with her friends a lot while she was working. She had many visits from mostly male friends, and Jessica’s sister said Jessica was very friendly and many of these men had gotten the wrong idea because of this.
One man fell in love with Jessica. His name was Jess Ammorman. He was a 37 year old plumbing contractor, who was also married. He told the police that he went to the station around 9:30pm on the night Jessica disappeared. He told the police that he confessed to Jessica that he loved her, and wanted to divorce his wife for her. Jessica apparently got cold feet, and he left. He told the police that after he left the station he drove to a parking lot, sat in his car and talked to his wife for an hour.
The police obtained the surveillance footage from that business and his cell phone records. It proved that he was in his car and on the phone for 54 minutes. However, Det. Kasher still had his suspicions. He interviewed Jess’s wife, and his wife told him that she knew about the relationship and was fine with it. Det. Kasher didn’t believe her, and asked for her and Jess to come in and take polygraph tests. The results have never been released to the public due to legal reasons.
The next suspect was Rob Fallot, aka the brother of Sue Fallot. Rob said he went into the station around 9pm to buy cigarettes, on his way to a fishing trip. He also told the police that a month before Jessica’s disappearance she confided in him about her home life. Rob even offered to let Jessica move in with him, but she declined.
The police looked into Rob’s alibi, and he was ruled out. He was 40 miles away at his fishing trip, and had only been at the station for a few minutes that night.
The police looked into Dakota one more time after Jessica’s mom mentioned that Jessica had a journal that she wrote in. They wanted see if Jessica had written about anything that could end up being a lead. Jessica had written that she was unhappy with Dakota. He was controlling and had been abusive one time. Dakota was questioned again, and he denied ever being abusive. He was cooperative, and the police just didn’t have any evidence against Dakota.
Another Victim
In February 2014, a year after Jessica disappeared, a detective with the Kalamazoo police contacted Det. Kasher with a similar case.
There had been a young woman walking to her boyfriend’s house in Kalamazoo, and she was grabbed from behind and abducted. The abductor had held her captive and sexually assaulted her for hours. He had told her many times that he was going to kill her, but eventually let her go.
The man’s name was Brad Allen Mason. He had a lengthy criminal history, and spent time in prison in 2004, for abduction and rape. He had also spent time in prison in 2011, for indecent exposure. He had also lived in a halfway house, right down the road from the Exxon gas station in Norton Shores.
The police went to arrest Mason, and when they approached his house, he was holding a fake gun. The police didn’t actually know it was fake and Mason was shot for refusing to give up his weapon.
Detective Cole believed that these cases were connected because Mason’s victim looked very similar to Jessica. They both had blonde hair, were petite and wore glasses.
It would be several more years until there were any answers in Jessica’s case, but as it turned out Brad Allen Mason was not involved in Jessica’s disappearance.
Getting Some Answers
On September 20, 2016, a man named Jeffrey Willis was arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Jessica. This came after he murdered another woman named Rebecca Bletsch. Rebecca had been shot while she was out on a run. The shell casings found at this scene matched a gun found in his mini van.
Witnesses came forward after his arrest and said that he was flirting with Jessica at the gas station on the night she disappeared.
Jeffrey Willis
He owned a silver mini van, and was captured on surveillance cameras speeding away from the Exxon gas station on April 26, 2013. Jeffrey Willis was also supposed to work on that night, but never showed up to work.
The police obtained a search warrant for Jeffrey’s home and they found many disturbing things. They found many pictures of woman bound and gagged with items like handcuffs and ropes. He also had a folder on his computer labeled “vics.” There were pictures of Jessica and the date that he abducted and killed her. He also had pictures of Rebecca.
Trials and Conviction
Jeffery Willis went to trial for Jessica’s kidnapping and murder in May 2018. He pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution said that Jeffrey also had many porn videos and necrophilia on his computer, and abducted Jessica to live out his fantasy.
The defense said someone else killed Jessica after she sold them drugs.
The jury only deliberated for 1 1/2 hours and found him guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He was also found guilty of the first degree murder of Rebecca Bletsch. He was also found guilty of the use of a firearm. He was also sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Other Charges
It’s believed that Jeffrey Willis killed a 16 year old girl, after she was seen walking home from a party in Lake Township, Michigan.
He was also charged with production and possession of child pornography, after he asked to use his neighbor’s bathroom and filmed their underage daughters.
He is also a suspect in the 1996 murder of Angela Thornburg. She was 15 years old, and was found partially naked in the woods in October 1996. At that time, Jeffrey Willis worked as a janitor at the school Angela attended.
On June 21, 2016, Kevin Bluhm, a former prison corrections officer was charged with lying to the police. He was Jeffrey Willis’ cousin. He had lied about Jessica and Rebecca’s cases.
Kevin Bluhm
He was charged with accessory after the fact, and it’s believed that he helped Jeffrey bury Jessica’s body, which has never been found.
He pleaded no contest to his crimes, and on January 9, 2018, he was sentenced to time served, plus five years probation.
Other
Jessica’s sister was awarded custody of Zevyn, after a custody battle with Dakota.
Jessica’s family worked with the Michigan House of Representatives to create the Jessica Heeringa act or Jessica’s Law. This law requires gas stations that are opened from 11pm to 5am to be required to install surveillance cameras. On March 11, 2020, the bill was passed.
When Jessica first went missing her family was distraught over the fact that the Exxon gas station wouldn’t want to protect their young employees.
FINAL THOUGHTS
WHY WERE THESE TWO DISGUSTING PEOPLE NOT IN JAIL? Ugh, it makes me so sick to know that there were so many victims that this guy hurt and families he destroyed. Jessica was truly in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to earn a living for her family.
At least Jessica’s family has gotten some answers, as well as most of these other families. I hope one day the rest of Jeffrey Willis’ victims and their families will get justice as well.
It makes me sick that one of these two awful people is back on the streets, and would probably hurt someone else. He willingly helped cover up a murder, and should have received the same sentence as his awful cousin. At least one of them is rotting and hopefully suffering in his cell.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jessica_Heeringa
https://people.com/crime/jessica-heeringa-murder-jeffrey-willis-convicted/
https://charleyproject.org/case/jessica-lynn-heeringa
