Murder and Mimosas Podcast
A true crime podcast with a focus on lesser known crimes and the background of those who commit these heinous acts. Each case is told with a bit of southern sass, but with tons of in depth research and respect for those lost. Join this mom and daughter duo as they sip their mimosas while diving into tragic cases. New episodes every Saturday, just in time for brunch (and a mimosa of your own)!
Murder and Mimosas Podcast
Where Did He Go? Unpacking the Mystery of Jarrod Green's Disappearance
What lies behind the chilling disappearance of Jarrod Green? In today’s gripping episode, we journey through Jared’s life, exploring the moments leading up to his unexplained vanishing in 1994. Once an outgoing young man with dreams for his future, Jarrod’s story turned dark as he grappled with addiction and the looming presence of unresolved debt to dangerous individuals. His girlfriend's poignant recollections from their last interactions reveal a terrifying plea for help, hinting at the fears he faced daily.
With lesser-known cases often overlooked, we take a closer look at the hurdles families encounter when navigating the investigative process. Jared's parents faced delays and hesitations from law enforcement when trying to report him missing, representing a frustrating yet common experience for many families in crisis. As whispers of drug-related violence circulate, we uncover the potential players involved in Jared's last moments.
This episode revisits key developments in Jarrod's case, including the reopening that occurred years later, providing insights into how new evidence can spark fresh hope. We highlight the importance of never giving up on missing persons cases, ensuring that their loved ones stay remembered and that their stories persist.
Through a heartfelt approach, we encourage honest conversations around addiction, the complexity of tracking down missing individuals, and what it means to seek justice and closure. Join us in amplifying Jared's story and the stories of so many like him, as we aim to create awareness and evoke change. If you feel compelled, subscribe, share, and help us shed light on cases that continue to echo through time.
Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BfS7NFnaU/
https://casetext.com/case/wheeler-v-city-of-searcy
https://aymag.com/murder-mystery-in-the-drivers-seat/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hell-and-gone-murder-line-jarrod-green-part-2/id1437808691?
i=1000631056725
https://uncovered.com/cases/robert-webb-searcy-ar
https://www.kait8.com/story/35408776/police-arrest-man-suspected-in-23-year-old-murder/
https://casetext.com/case/wheeler-v-city-of-searcy
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https://uppbeat.io/t/the-wayward-hearts/a-calm-hellfire
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DarkCast Network. Welcome to the dark side of podcasting. Welcome to Murder and Mimosas a true crime podcast brought to you by a mother and daughter duo.
Speaker 2:Bringing you murder stories with a mimosa in hand. With a mimosa in hand, murder Mimosas is a true crime podcast, meaning we talk about adult matters such as murder, sexual assaults and other horrendous crimes. Listener discretion is advised. We do tell our stories with the victims and the victims' families in mind. However, some information is more verifiable than others. However, you can find all of our information linked in the show notes.
Speaker 1:Welcome back. I'm Shannon and I'm Danica, and if you follow us on social media you may see our TikTok and Facebook post on Mondays of Missing Men. That's how I came across this one. We usually don't do full stories on them, but today we are going to tell you about the story of Jared Green.
Speaker 2:I will just pause right now and say that you do a phenomenal job with the missing Mondays. Oh, thank you. Missing men Mondays.
Speaker 1:Thank you. So this one surprised me because it occurred in 1994 in the town right by where I grew up. In fact I had lots of friends in Searcy and Jared's girlfriend, who is also named Shannon, went to church where I used to attend and I knew her. So, oddly enough, I'd never heard of this disappearance. I did speak to one of his classmates and he seemed to know the whole story and what we will get into. But I must have been living under a rock, I guess. Plus I was 17 and didn't really watch the news or read papers. But I feel like this would have been something that would have been talked about.
Speaker 1:But Jared was outgoing athletic and everyone that speaks about him talks about how funny he was. He had graduated from Searcy High School in 1993 and was loved among his peers. Out of high school he entered the small community college, asu in Beebe, about 15 minutes from Searcy. He completed one year, then got a place with a friend, then moved back in with his parents shortly after trying to figure out life. I mean, while in high school he began dating Shannon.
Speaker 2:The other.
Speaker 1:Shannon yes, the other Shannon. And this will get even more confusing because his sister is also named Shannon.
Speaker 2:What is it Y'all all about the same age.
Speaker 1:Shannon was a popular name, yes, so she was a year younger than Jared. The two had known each other for some time but didn't actually start dating until he had asked her to senior prom, and after that the two were inseparable for the next few years. While in high school he began to experiment with drugs rampant with drugs at this time and I haven't lived there in over 20 years but still have friends and family there and drugs are still a pretty big issue. From what I did find out, the use of meth is down, but it went to opioids.
Speaker 2:I assume you're telling us this because his drug of choice was meth and not because you wanted us to have a statistic on the usage of certain drugs in that area? Yes, that is correct.
Speaker 1:It went into meth after, just like experimenting with weed, like a lot of kids do. Gateway drug.
Speaker 2:So was his girlfriend, the other Shannon, involved in drugs too, or did she know what was going on, or where was she with all?
Speaker 1:that. So she says she knew he would smoke pot some, but she had no idea he had gotten into meth. And it wasn't until after his disappearance that she and his family started to piece some things together and also noticed how his personality changed. And I know so many people may not believe that, but I was in the same situation. My ex-husband was also addicted to meth and I had no idea until he told me what was going on. I knew he was different, but I didn't know what it was. And also he called it crank at that time, but I didn't actually know what crank or even meth was really back then.
Speaker 2:And I think when people are using drugs and they're changing, it's probably like a gradual change and when you're with them all the time, it's probably hard to like put your finger on, kind of like when you know someone loses weight, if you see him every day that's just something I was gonna say.
Speaker 1:Shannon said, looking back at pictures from the summer she noticed like how much weight he had lost and just they're. So yeah, it is so subtle that you don't notice until like you're just like, this is a different person eventually. Yeah, but so September 30th 1994, Jared and Shannon were supposed to go to Little Rock for the day. He was going to pick her up around 10 that morning but he never called or showed. Shannon said this was becoming the new norm for him, not showing up or calling, which was not what it had been like before. Obviously she was irritated.
Speaker 2:I mean, and rightfully so. I mean, who wouldn't be, especially if this is becoming a pattern of behavior?
Speaker 1:Right, so well, while they had plans to go to the Watt County Fair that night together too, and he called her that evening. Like I said, she's irritated and she has her sister and her friend there. She tells him she's going to the fair with them and they can talk tomorrow. He's crying, he's begging her to go with him and she kept asking like what is wrong, because this just wasn't his nature either. He even told her in hysterics that he's just scared and so her sister being there, what did she do? Like a normal sister, she just goes and hangs up on him because Shannon's saying like you know what, I'll see you tomorrow, we're not doing this. And her sister just hangs up on him.
Speaker 2:I have a sister who would 100% do the same thing. You definitely do.
Speaker 1:So I mean it's sad and it's terrible, but at the time I mean you know that's what your sister does, but sadly that was her last phone call she ever had with him Did she find out, like?
Speaker 2:I know he said he was scared, but like did she find out, like, why he was so panicked?
Speaker 1:or like no, he wouldn't tell her what was going on that night. She had no idea, like what was going on, she just knew he was different. He had stood her up that day. She's, you know, ticked off about that, but he never like told her what was going on or why he was so upset okay.
Speaker 2:Well, if it's the last time he talks to her or she talks to him or whatever, what did he end up doing like that night, do we know?
Speaker 1:so that night he told his parents he was going to meet somebody at the Searcy Country Club. He didn't return that night and it wasn't like immediate panic for them. I mean, he was 20 at that time and by all accounts considered an adult. Plus, sometimes he stayed with a friend, you know, stayed the night, whatever. So after a few days they began calling his friends to check on him and no one had seen or heard from him. So some interesting news comes up when a friend of his named Jason comes to the house. On that night Jared went missing. He had met up with Jason and asked for his gun back. He said he needed it for protection because he was meeting with Brandon Willer that night.
Speaker 2:OK, first off, why does this friend even have Jared's gun?
Speaker 1:So apparently Jared had borrowed six hundred dollars from him and the friend took the gun as collateral. Jared told him, if he didn't pay the money back in a few days, that his dad definitely would.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, I guess the more important question is who's Brandon Wheeler?
Speaker 1:So the short amount of time Jared lived on his own well with a roommate. He lived across the hall from 19-year-old Brandon Wheeler and 18-year-old Robert Webb. Jared knew both of them from high school, but they didn't exactly like run in the same circles then. These two were drug dealers and it's said that Jarrett owed them about $7,500. He's racking up debt in a lot of places, yeah. So his family called the police and were first told he had to be missing 24 hours. Then they called after that and was told he's 20. He may have left on his own accord. You know all the things that they tell you, but I'm confused because by this point it's been a couple of days, right?
Speaker 1:Well, I think that they did initially like well, I don't know if it was like right away, but the police were like, oh, it's got to be 24 hours.
Speaker 2:And then they waited and called back yeah, that makes more sense.
Speaker 1:So October 5th 1994, the family get a tip that Jared's car was in the Walmart parking lot. His sister that I had said is also named Shannon and his father go to get the car. The windows were rolled down, the sunroof open and the keys were thrown in. The floorboard Also were rolled down, the sunroof open and the keys were thrown in the floorboard Also. Jared always had a gun underneath the seat and that was missing.
Speaker 2:Is that the same gun that he used as collateral?
Speaker 1:I wonder. I don't think so from the way they had mentioned it, because they knew that Jason had the gun that was used as collateral. So I think it was a different gun, Okay.
Speaker 2:So they get this tip, do they call the police to check the car first, like see where the seat was situated. You know like for them basically to come out and like process the car. Did they do that?
Speaker 1:Right. So not at the time they found the car, although they knew Jared would never leave his windows down and his car unlocked. That just wasn't him. I don't think that's most normal people, right. I mean they drove it home and called the police again and practically begged them to come fingerprint the car or at least the keys, just anything like just help us in some way.
Speaker 2:And the car with the keys in it, the windows down, it's basically got a giant target saying like please steal me right that's my thought too.
Speaker 1:So on october 5th 1994 his father was able to make an actual missing person's report that they take but most likely did nothing with okay, and I mean, I don't know exactly the date.
Speaker 2:This is like almost a week after he's gone missing, right, right.
Speaker 1:Okay. So when his father made the police report, he said that Brandon Willer and Robert Webb were the ones supplying Jared with meth and that he owed them money.
Speaker 2:If he disappeared that night, how did anyone know that he was using meth? I mean, was his family aware?
Speaker 1:So, yeah, his mother was getting something out of his car one day and she moved the seat back and she found his stash. She was shocked and she called his father to come home so they could plan how they were going to handle this. And you know how parents are.
Speaker 2:I mean, how did they go, Like, what was their plan in confronting him? I guess?
Speaker 1:So his mom said he wasn't forthcoming at first, but then he was like yes, that you know. This is mine. I'm fearful, I'm intimidated of the people that gave me the drugs. He didn't really know what to do at this point and his parents sent him to his uncles in Houston hoping to like getting him out of the area would fix things. I mean, they don't know what to do either. I mean this is new to them. So he was there for a week. Then someone called him and said you can come back now. They aren't looking for you anymore.
Speaker 2:So I'm assuming he was not only taking drugs but just selling them. I don't know a lot of drug dealers that are worried about like a customer, unless the customer stiffed them on a lot of money. Okay. Yes, unfortunately, so were the drugs. His mother found something he was supposed to sell and then they didn't get their money. I mean, it just seems like a lot of money for, like them, to keep selling him and to be able to rent Okay.
Speaker 1:So his mother assumed that later. But one of his friends also mentioned that he had come to Jonesboro not long before he had vanished and said he owed them money but he wasn't giving them any more because they had ripped him off so many times. And I also wanted to add this interesting note On somewhere around October 9th, I believe, the police get a call from someone who says they are David Green, which was Jared's father, and that they don't want the police to look for Jared, they want to do it themselves. And his sister, shannon, said this never happened. She was helping her father gather everything to take to the police. They never called the police and said oh hey, we want to do it ourself.
Speaker 2:So the police just say what Like cool that's for us to do. They don't verify this. Honestly, I don't really think that the police it should matter what they say. It's your job to find the missing person, right?
Speaker 1:So from what others could gather, they weren't actually looking for him anyway. So to my knowledge and no, they never even verify this, but it was in notes she had found later in police reports.
Speaker 3:So you're looking for something creepy to read? Well, I got you. Just grab my two books psychological domestic thriller series called Willow's Wounds. Willow's Flame is book one and Willow's Crush is book two. Both are told from dual point of views and in book two there is a stalker psychopath. You're not going to know who that is until the very end and all chapters of his are labeled as him. Both have creepy, stalker psychopath vibes and they are realistic stories, which makes it even scarier. You can grab it on Amazon, barnes, noble and more. Thank you for reading and reviewing Willow's Wounds.
Speaker 1:This is Tracy. This is Samantha. This is the Suspended Sentence.
Speaker 2:Grab your latte and join us as we enter Season 2, starting January 1st of 2024.
Speaker 1:A year packed full of serial killers that you may or may not have ever heard of. Thanks for being there. Stay safe. In a world where anything can happen, being prepared with critical information can make all the difference. That is why we have partnered with Help you Find Me, which is a platform where you can securely share your private information with loved ones they have so many different features, such as the live location, travel itinerary, medical information and more, All important to have, especially if you go missing.
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Speaker 1:So others told police Brandon's dad was trucking drugs in from the West Coast and Brandon was selling them. But nothing was done. I mean, many say that the police were in the drug business in the 90s as much as the drug dealers themselves and they just turned a blind eye. Now I can't confirm that. I'm just telling you what others said. So Brandon and Rob moved to North Little Rock. They rent a house and even hire a housekeeper. They bought new furniture. They're living large for two teenagers with no real jobs. The housekeeper found a driver's license that said Lance Wells, but the picture was Rob Webb and she said there was an excessive number of guns and weapons in the house. There was an excessive number of guns and weapons in the house. At the end of September another guy pops up and is staying there named Felix, which was actually 16-year-old Baron Stafford. Remember his name because we will circle back to him. So October 1st Brandon called the housekeeper and said check on the pets and they would be back in about a week. But he nor Rob never returned.
Speaker 2:Does the landlord not find this a little strange? Or like ask for proof of like their jobs when running to two teenagers?
Speaker 1:Yeah, he did, but the landlord said that they informed him that they were law students at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock and they had come there from California and their parents would be paying all their bills, which I'm not sure why. You're like you live in California and you're like, oh, I better go to the University of Little Rock.
Speaker 2:Well, that, and, like you, would still need proof that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, did their parents provide income that they could afford it? No, that was all that was done. So I mean, and he didn't contact them anything. He didn't contact so-called parents, whatever I mean, but this was the 90s, so I don't know, I mean in the 90s, I think they still wanted the rent money. Right, and they did get it from what I can tell. Yeah, but I'm not trusting too strange teenagers.
Speaker 1:No, me either, I'm going to feel like you're going to destroy my house when I see two teenage boys. But October 24th 1994, brandon contacts the landlord and says they moved out and they were going back to California.
Speaker 2:Pretty sure that's a breach of your lease.
Speaker 1:So in September of 1995, charles Langley told the police that the year before Brandon and Rob had come to his house to sell him some crystal and asked him if he wanted to get rid of someone for them for a thousand dollars. He said it was Jared Green they wanted to get rid of and he owed them $7,500. So this is how we got that amount. He also said they returned in December and said they took care of Jared and he was now out of the picture. But Charles recanted that statement in March of 2000, saying he made it up in hopes to shorten his stay in prison or maybe even avoid going to prison altogether. So we don't even know if any of that's true.
Speaker 2:Seems a little too specific, right. It should not be true.
Speaker 1:So it was also said that Rob Webb was bragging around town, that he took out Jared and just 10 months later Rob's mother is reporting him missing on July 4th 1995. And to this day Rob has not been seen or heard from again. There is little out there about Rob that I could find, and Shannon Jared's sister says she has tried to reach out to his mother about joining forces to work together to find both of these men and she feels they probably met the same fate by the same person. But his mother is not interested at all in that and also had never heard of the disappearance of him either, which was around the same time.
Speaker 1:So now back to Baron Stafford. Baron killed himself in 2000, but before he did he confessed to his uncle, who was also a pastor, that he had helped in the murder of two men. This confession was also written, apparently, and has not been released by law enforcement because of course these are open cases. Assuming it's jared and rob he was referring to is what others have assumed and and if you remember, he's the one that was living in the house with rob and the one I said we'll circle back to.
Speaker 2:So it was said his name was Felix. Yes, okay, I mean just imagine carrying that around with you for years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and by the time he had gotten, by this time he had gotten married and he had a child of his own, and I know having a child can really change you. So the uncle also wrote a letter to the police after Barron's suicide and said here is where the body is located and apparently that was on the property of the Staffords.
Speaker 2:Okay, great, so they have a location. Did they search that area then?
Speaker 1:So not in 2000,. No, now, in 2016, jared's case was reopened. This is when they had a cadaver dog search the area on December 13, 2016, and the dog hit on an area by a deer stand where a confidential informant said Jared was buried. So December 17, two other cadaver dogs were brought out and hit on the same area. The area was dug up, but they never found any remains. Now this was over 300 acres out there, but they continued to search and even drained a pond that came up short.
Speaker 2:By the time that they're searching this area, it's 22 years later. I mean, I don't know a whole lot about like how long that works for cadaver dogs, but I mean, can there even be a scent still?
Speaker 1:I actually had wondered that too, and from what I read, they can smell after hundreds of years, and they can also smell something if there were remains that moved.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, so there could have been moved, but also, how accurate are they? I remember the video that was viral on TikTok because a lady found her rug in her backyard and then two cadaver dogs hit on the rug in the ground and then they found nothing Right?
Speaker 1:I know, I know I thought the same thing, but I read they have an accuracy rate of 95%. But yes, I did think about the same thing.
Speaker 2:I mean, I guess, if they can smell things that have been moved, maybe something dead had been on the rug.
Speaker 1:Possibly. I mean, yeah, it could have been, but remember when I said that Jared always had a gun under the seat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 1:So the family was not told about this until 2016,. But Jared's gun was found in 2006.
Speaker 2:So they know about the possible location of his body in 2000. They don't search it in 2016. In 2006, they found out about a gun and they wait 10 years to tell his family.
Speaker 1:Well, they're not even really just telling the family. This is police reports. His sister gets later because the police are just like they're keeping everything to the best or they're just not even they're not communicating at all. It's crazy. Well, where was his gun? So it was in Oregon. So two guys were arrested with the gun and said they found it on the side of the road. Now these guys have Arkansas issued Social Security numbers and I don't have their names. I searched and searched for their names and the gun was registered to David Green. They never called the family back then and the gun was never returned to the Green family at all.
Speaker 2:Found in Oregon by two Arkansas men.
Speaker 1:That's not suspicious, I know, so I don't know a lot about what Brandon did with his life after all. This went down in the 90s. I know he eventually moved to Weatherford, texas, and got married. He was working on the pipeline out in Ohio, which is where he was arrested and extradited back to Arkansas in 2017. He was charged with capital murder and abuse of a corpse.
Speaker 2:Is this for Jared or Rob or a whole nother person, so this is for Jared. Okay, but so they found Jared, or did I misunderstand?
Speaker 1:No, he has never been found to this day. Okay, I know that it's possible to charge someone with murder without a body. No, he has never been found to this day.
Speaker 2:Okay, I know that it's possible to charge someone with murder without a body. Very rarely does that happen. How on earth do you charge someone with abuse to a corpse if you don't even have the corpse.
Speaker 1:Well, I think the prosecution may have jumped the gun on that one a little bit Maybe. So the officers that reopened the case got with the prosecuting attorney, rebecca McCoy. They go over all the evidence they have with her. Officer Sexton has a sworn affidavit prepared for Brandon's arrest warrant. Rebecca and the officers go to Watt County Circuit Judge Robert Edwards. I'm sorry I can't talk now to request the arrest warrant and on April 6, 2017, judge Edwards issued the warrant. Like I said, brandon was arrested, but he was released on bail and he, as well as his wife, were required to hand over their passports and Brandon was not allowed to leave the state of Arkansas. November 9th 2017, rebecca moved to Nolte to propose the charges against Brandon. She said additional evidence is expected to be recovered and DNA testing would not be completed within the time frame set by the court.
Speaker 2:For y'all that don't know what that means the time frame set by the court. For y'all that don't know what that means it means that they've dropped the charges, but it does also mean they can be prosecuted in the future if they have enough evidence. So basically like dismissed without prejudice type thing, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I know everyone us included are always wanting like you need to arrest them. You need to arrest them in cases we feel like people should be arrested, but this just shows you an arrest doesn't always mean something Like Brandon actually turned out or turned around and sued the city of Searcy and won a settlement. As much as I hate that, if you read the court documents you would be thinking that too. I mean they really had nothing to go on no body, no evidence, no witnesses. I mean I hope they will in the future, but at the time they didn't. And I think the prosecutor and detectives planned to find evidence on the Stanford land then, but they didn't at the time.
Speaker 2:Have they continued to search that land or have they just given up on trying to find them?
Speaker 1:So they want to continue to search not only the Stafford land but other land that is also out in that area where they used to have parties and things. They would like to raise funds for more cadaver dogs, and his sister, shannon, is doing a great job, in my opinion, of keeping his case alive. She has a Justice for Jared page and we'll put that link in our show notes. There's also a $25,000 reward that she wanted everybody to know about for information that would lead to the recovery or location of Jared, because I mean, there's never going to be anything solved unless they just find where he is, and of course, they feel like somebody knows. So that's why she wanted the amount to be known, like they want. They just want answers. Closure.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Being able to put him to rest. They would also love to get this featured on Dateline, so maybe flood Dateline's inbox. Also, if you are in Watt County, in the Watt County area, you can also request a sign from his sister to be placed in your yard so you can raise awareness for him.
Speaker 2:I love that his family, especially his sister, hasn't given up hope and I hope that this episode helps to shed a little light as well on the case, and I really do hope that they get justice for Jared, because it's not too late.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and all this hit home for me because, like I said, I don't live in the area, but I know a lot of people in that area that lost their life to mainly meth not or not just to meth, but drugs in general or have screwed their life up like from prison or health because of meth. And I don't know what it's like to have this addiction. But meth seems to be pretty hard to break free from. But the good news is I also know a lot of people in that area that have broken free from that addiction. So there are hotlines and rehabs if you have issues with this. So don't wait till it's too late and have issues like this.
Speaker 1:We always recommend more bubbly and less OJ Cheers and LestoJ Cheers.
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