322. The Murder Salon - The Death of Joleen Cummings

On this episode, Payton and Garrett dive into the case of Joleen Cummings, a beloved hairstylist and devoted mother who vanished. Between a suspicious coworker, a messy divorce, and a new relationship, investigators quickly find themselves tangled in a web of unanswered questions. Links: Netflix Video Every Monday @11am PST, 12pm MST, 2pm EST 1pm CST https://www.netflix.com/murderwithmyhusband Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderwithmyhusband NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 Case Sources: ABCNews.com - https://abcnews.com/US/florida-moms-disappearance-led-arrest-woman-18-aliases/story?id=126903499 FirstCoastNews.com - https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-kimberly-kessler-murder-trial-local/77-1f1f916a-9965-4145-b6be-fdfa3c9ec3ce Jacksonville.com - https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2022/01/27/kimberly-kessler-sentenced-life-prison-murder-joleen-cummings/9230387002/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z112107p002150c002150v112107&gca-ft=248&gca-ds=sophi News4Jax.com - https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/05/05/they-know-shes-in-heaven-being-looked-after-joleen-cummings-husband-speaks-publicly-for-1st-time/ ActionNewsJax.com - https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/nassau-mom-joleen-cummings-murder-featured-fox-nations-50-ways-catch-killer-with-50-cent/MUYDGZMMSZAK7LJYOX5ITF2TBE/ Jacksonville.com - https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2025/09/15/case-of-joleen-cummings-and-kimberly-kessler-debuts-on-50-cents-tv-show/86172312007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z113007p001550c001550v113007d--30--b--30--&gca-ft=167&gca-ds=sophi Oxygen.com - https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/crime-news/kimberly-kessler-murdered-coworker-joleen-cummings-why WOKV.com - https://www.wokv.com/news/local/disappearance-murder-nassau-mom-joleen-cummings-featured-ids-see-no-evil/GDQDWEWWABE4ZFSPCE3BQUTUJY/ WPXI.com - https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/butler-county/butler-county-native-found-guilty-2018-florida-murder/K5KXO5SBDNBL5OESGZHI43KFYE/ AllThatsInteresting.com - https://allthatsinteresting.com/kimberly-kessler Yahoo.com - https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/florida-mom-disappearance-led-arrest-110843593.html ABC.com - https://abc.com/episode/892b628d-2221-42f5-ad8d-62adf35fcb3f/playlist/PL557226598 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Great meeting. Who took notes? Anyone?

• 0:05Speaker 01

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• 0:32Speaker 02

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• 1:01Payton Moreland?

  You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Peyton Morland.

• 1:08Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm Garrett Moreland.

• 1:09Payton Moreland?

  And he's the husband.

• 1:10Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm the husband. Welcome back. Another Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, depending on when you are listening. Thank you for being here. Thank you for watching. Thank you for supporting. And I guess it's officially summer, kinda.

• 1:27Payton Moreland?

  Kinda, yeah. School's out, I guess.

• 1:31Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 1:32Payton Moreland?

  Garrett and I are out of school for the summer, except Garrett, he got summer school.

• 1:37Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, I got a lot going on. I smell like bagels right now. I smell like Asiago bagels. What do you got?

• 1:45Payton Moreland?

  Um, I'm eating sour strips. I need to record Into the Dark. Need to give Daisy a bath. That's about it on my to-do list. I mean, there's a lot more, but that's really all I got going on.

• 1:59Garrett Moreland?

  A lot.

• 2:00Payton Moreland?

  I know.

• 2:00Garrett Moreland?

  Anyways, thanks for being here. Again, thank you to anyone who has been saying hi to me at the bagel shop. My brain's pretty fried, I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna go into any names because I'm fried right now. Brain completely fried. Guys, I'm gonna say it again. I hear your names when you tell me. I remember your, if you were to come in again, I would remember your face.

• 2:28Payton Moreland?

  Really?

• 2:29Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 2:30Payton Moreland?

  I wouldn't.

• 2:30Garrett Moreland?

  I'm good with faces. I'm bad with names.

• 2:33Payton Moreland?

  I'm bad at both.

• 2:34Garrett Moreland?

  I'm sorry. I don't have a shout out to give because it's, it's, a lot of it is too, is I hear you guys' names and I'm talking to you and I'm so excited and I'm so, thank you so much for saying hi. And then also in two seconds later, I'm helping somebody else at the cashier with a different name and then another name. And then, yeah, it's just, it's a lot of names. And again, I'm sorry, but I promise I'm engaged and I hear what you're saying. If you ever come in again, I will remember your face though.

• 3:04Payton Moreland?

  That's a hefty promise.

• 3:06Garrett Moreland?

  No, I'll do. I remember it. I'm pretty good with faces. As far as my 10 seconds goes, I don't like cookies. Um, I'm not really a big fan of cookies and I know that might be controversial, but like, give me a piece of cake, give me brownies, give me cheesecake, give me candy. Cookies for some reason just doesn't, it doesn't really do it for me. Like some people are like, I love chocolate chip cookies. And I'm like, eh, I could probably go my entire life without eating a chocolate chip cookie ever again. Or any type of cookie. Like, I don't know, something about cookies just doesn't do it for me. Just fine. I mean, I'm sure a lot of you guys feel the same way about bagels. You're like, eh, I don't care about bagels. Yeah. Cookies just doesn't do it for me. How do you feel about that?

• 3:47Payton Moreland?

  I love cookies.

• 3:47Garrett Moreland?

  Peyton loves cookies, so she disagrees with me. But yeah, so my dessert of choice would be like brownies, cake, cheesecake, regular cake, any type of cake.

• 3:56Payton Moreland?

  You love cake.

• 3:58Garrett Moreland?

  I do like cake.

• 3:59Payton Moreland?

  It's like, cake is something I could go for like the rest of my life without eating.

• 4:03Garrett Moreland?

  Well, I like, like a white cake or like a vanilla cake, not like chocolate cake or like a cheesecake. I like a good cheesecake. I do like brownies. I like candy. I love candy.

• 4:15Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, you're a candy boy.

• 4:18Garrett Moreland?

  Anyways, just figured I'd let you guys know that. So your thoughts, go ahead, let me know. But yeah, cookies, not really my thing. So on that note, let's get into today's episode.

• 4:32Payton Moreland?

  Our sources for this episode are abcnews.com, firstcoastnews.com, jacksonville.com, newsforjacks.com, actionnewsjacks.com, jacksonville.com, oxygen.com, wokv.com, wpxi.com, all that's interesting and abc.com. I think it's human nature to want to have deeper connections with the people in our lives. It's probably why small talk is so painfully uncomfortable. We have this desire or need to relate to others, to see ourselves in them, to form strong connections and bonds, especially when you see those people day in and day out, like coworkers, for example. When you spend so much time in close quarters with someone, it's hard not to ask questions about their lives,

• 5:17Payton Moreland?

  to want to get to know more about them, their past. And not everyone is an open book. Some people work hard to keep their stories close to the vest and are willing to do anything to keep the world from knowing too much about them. And I mean, anything. So for today's case, we are headed south to Nassau County, Florida, to a little area northeast of Jacksonville, on the tip of Amelia Island called Fernandina Beach. And it is here on Fernandina Beach, right along the shores of the Atlantic coast, that 34-year-old Joleen Cummings has built her life. And in case you're wondering, yes, Jolene is named after the Dolly Parton song.

• 6:02Payton Moreland?

  It's spelled a different way, but her mother, Ann Johnson, felt it was fitting for her little girl. Jolene was born in 1984, and she grew up in this area in Florida. She was the kind of girl who always had a large circle of friends, who was always popular and busy. And maybe because she had such a tight-knit community at home, Jolene never really ventured far as she grew up. Instead, Of taking the traditional route of college, Jolene went to Jacksonville to study cosmetology after graduating high school. And it was around then that Jolene met someone, she fell in love. The two of them had a daughter together, but the young relationship didn't work out.

• 6:43Payton Moreland?

  Still, Jolene did everything she could to be a good mom and work hard for her daughter, which eventually meant getting a job as a hairstylist at a place called The Tangles Hair Salon.

• 6:56Garrett Moreland?

  The Tangles.

• 6:57Payton Moreland?

  In Fernandina Beach. Now, Jolene quickly built a strong client base with how warm and open she was. She was a thriving hairstylist at this point. And as many of us know, hairdressers can quickly feel like therapists or close friends when you spend enough time in their chair. And I don't know if this is like the same for boys, but any type of beauty service, it's almost like that provider, there's this stereotype where they just become an off-duty therapist, where they just sit in the chair and talk and you get to know your client's entire lives and their trauma and everything going on. And it literally is just like what they say is they're like off-duty therapists

• 7:40Payton Moreland?

  or they're a therapist and a hairstylist.

• 7:43Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, I mean, kind of. I mean, I guess guys tend to not believe as an emotional.

• 7:49Payton Moreland?

  Open up. I feel like they're a little more closed off.

• 7:52Garrett Moreland?

  Stuff. There's a lot of talk about just sports and, you know, work and stuff like that.

• 7:57Payton Moreland?

  Oh, small talk.

• 7:58Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 8:00Payton Moreland?

  See, when I go get my hair done, I'm like, let me teach you everything I learned at therapy this week.

• 8:04Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 8:07Payton Moreland?

  Um, okay, so again, she has this thriving clientele. So things were going well for Jolene professionally, and soon her personal life followed. In 2012, Jolene reconnected with an old neighborhood friend of hers on social media. It was this guy named Jason Cummings. And a little while after that, Jolene told him she was looking for a new roommate and Jason was looking for a new roommate too. So these two old friends moved in together and quickly become more than roommates. Jason said one of the main reasons he actually fell in love with Jolene was because she was such a great mom to her daughter. And by 2013, the following

• 8:51Payton Moreland?

  year, Jolene and Jason were married. And after this, they added two little boys to the family. Now, unfortunately, again, things didn't last between Jolene and Jason. Cracks began to appear in their marriage and by 2017, four years later, Jolene wanted out. Her only focus at that point was her kids and her career. And by this point, she'd been at this salon for almost five years, but that also meant Jolene didn't really have time for the drama of a divorce. So she and Jason co-parented pretty well as they separated and they went through the divorce. Jason moved out, Jolene was saving up for a new place of her own. And meanwhile, the two shared custody of their

• 9:36Payton Moreland?

  sons until the courts came to a final ruling. But in May of 2018, all of these plans for a bright and peaceful future with her kids came to a screeching halt. On Saturday, May 12, Jolene showed up for her shift at the Tangles Hair Salon and she was scheduled to work a full day. She was going to be working until 5:00 PM. Now that night, her two sons were staying with their father, Jason, but it was Mother's Day and Jolene's 34th birthday was the following day on May 13. So the plan was actually for Jolene to meet up with Jason and pick their

• 10:21Payton Moreland?

  two young sons up so she could spend the special day with them, even though he technically had custody. So they set a time in a meeting place for after work. It was a grocery store parking lot near her salon. But that afternoon, Jason arrives with the boys and he waits and waits and waits and Jolene never shows up. Now, I do have to say, it is not totally unlike Jolene to feel a bit overwhelmed with the job of being a single mom, a provider for three kids. So it does run through people's minds when she doesn't show up that maybe she just decided to spend the day by herself.

• 11:02Payton Moreland?

  But when day turns to night and Jason still hasn't heard from Jolene, he decides to call her mother, Ann. And her mom also finds this strange because she hadn't heard from her daughter all day either. And again, it's Mother's Day, it's her birthday the next day. So she's like, I would have at least thought my daughter would call for Mother's Day, or at least talk because it's her birthday coming up. But there was nothing. So by the time they wake up on Monday, May 14th, and neither of them still haven't heard from Jolene, and she has these kids that she shares with another man, they call the police. So it is 8:00 a.m. when her mother,

• 11:44Payton Moreland?

  Ann, files a missing persons report with the Fernandina Beach Police Department. And based on the family's level of concern, they actually do start looking into this missing mother right away. They do confirm that the last time anyone spoke to Jolene was when she worked on Saturday, the 12th, and that appears to be the last time she used her cellphone, too. So it's now the afternoon of the 14th. This is hours after she's been reported missing and police finally go to her house. Now, Jolene's stepfather actually has a key, so he's the one who lets police inside.

• 12:27Payton Moreland?

  And what they find is more than alarming. Items have been knocked off tables and onto the floor inside. Cabinets are ripped off their hinges. Holes have been just punched through walls. There is clearly evidence of a struggle or a fight that happened in this house. In fact, it looks like a domestic disturbance. So who's the first person police immediately want to speak to? Despite the fact that he was heavily involved in reporting her disappearance. Obviously, Jolene's ex-husband, Jason. Now, things weren't necessarily great between the two of them. Or they probably wouldn't have gotten divorced in the first place.

• 13:09Payton Moreland?

  But apparently, things had gotten a little bit more contentious by this point. Mainly because the couple was still going through the courts to determine a fair custody agreement for the kids. But when Jason comes in for questioning, he insists he had nothing to do with Jolene's disappearance. He said, yes, I mean, obviously, we're, we're getting divorced. We've had our disagreements, but we've been working together as amicably as possible for the sake of the kids, just trying to make this work. He's like, I actually still love her. We just weren't a good match for the long term. He also said it wasn't completely unheard of for Jolene to go AWOL for some time

• 13:52Payton Moreland?

  without explanation, which again, is why they even waited those two days before reporting her missing. In fact, he claimed that those disappearing acts were part of the reason he wanted out of the marriage. Because he assumed when she would just, you know, go ghost for a little bit, that she was sneaking off to be with someone else. Now, after hearing this, police also confirmed that Jason has a pretty solid alibi. On the day Jolene was last seen or heard from, literally all day when she was supposed to be at work, he was with his kids and his parents at his place. So he has two children who can be like dad was home and then his own parents.

• 14:35Payton Moreland?

  But it is during this first interview that Jason actually steers police in a new direction. Cause he's like, listen. I'm not the one you should be looking at for my ex-wife's disappearance. Turns out Jolene had been seeing someone new. It was another Jason who was referred to as Jason G. So this is her like next love affair, but he's also Jason.

• 15:01Garrett Moreland?

  That would be be kind of interesting. Not being with someone and then your new person you're with has the same name as your ex.

• 15:10Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 15:10Garrett Moreland?

  I don't know. I'd think it'd be a little weird.

• 15:12Payton Moreland?

  So this one is Jason G.

• 15:14Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 15:15Payton Moreland?

  And this Jason has a criminal history and he does run around with a pretty dangerous crowd.

• 15:23Garrett Moreland?

  This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. There are plenty of reasons we put off getting support. And for a lot of people, cost is one of them. With BetterHelp, insurance options may now be available nationwide with an average copay for eligible members of just $23 per session. And while we're reconsidering old assumptions, maybe there are a few others worth questioning too.

• 15:46Payton Moreland?

  Women inherit a lot of unwritten rules. Be ambitious, but not intimidating. Be there for everyone, but still make time for yourself. Have it all together, but don't look like you're trying too hard. And I have definitely fallen into all of these traps. But if you have been wanting to start therapy, BetterHelp works with more than 125 health plan networks and eligible members have an average copay of just $23 per session with insurance. If you don't have insurance or don't live in the United States, you can still get 10% off your first month.

• 16:17Garrett Moreland?

  And Peyton and I are big advocates for therapy. Give it a try. Life can be crazy. There's a lot going on. Like we were talking about, sometimes it feels like you need to have everything figured out. You don't. Go talk to someone. Go see what's going on. Visit betterhelp.com/husband to explore your payment options. That's better help, H E L P dot com slash husband.

• 16:39Payton Moreland?

  Guys, we're getting into an ad and waiting sucks. I hate waiting for things. But Earnin is an app, not a bank, that gives you access to money that you have already earned. Okay, if you don't understand, let me explain it. Up to $150 a day and up to $1,000 between paychecks. Tips are optional and standard transfers take one to two business days with no mandatory fees. There have been many times in my life where I literally was waiting on my next paycheck. I needed to go to the grocery store, but I had to wait until Friday. Earnin definitely would have been beneficial for me at a time like that.

• 17:23Payton Moreland?

  Time just feels different. When you're not waiting around to make moves, you have already earned this money, so collect it. Download Earnin on the App Store or Google Play. Spelled like earning money, just without the G. And then type in murder with my husband under podcast when you sign up. It just lets them know we sent you. It really helps out the show. Earnin is a financial technology company, not a bank. Access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors. Standard cash outs take one to two business days with no mandatory fees. Expedited transfers available for a fee. Tips are voluntary and don't affect the service. Available in select states. Terms and restrictions apply. Visit earnin.com for full details. So when police begin looking into Jason G.,

• 18:07Payton Moreland?

  they find he had an outstanding warrant for violating his probation. And this guy had been arrested plenty of times before, from everything to drug offenses to domestic charges. So knowing this, having seen the state of Jolene's place and the fact that she's still missing, police look into whether there were any reports filed recently between the two. And sure enough, just a few days prior to her disappearance, 911 was called to a domestic violence situation at Jolene's home. Apparently, Jason G had showed up at her house wanting to spend the night, but Jolene told him she thought it was going to cause more problems in her divorce

• 18:52Payton Moreland?

  and for her custody arrangement. And when Jason G felt rejected, they got into a fight. He ended up destroying her place, the remnants of what police saw in her home when they went to investigate. So they realize, okay, they've, like, the cops were called because of these two. So they need to get this guy down here for questioning. But the problem is, they can't find Jason G.

• 19:16Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 19:17Payton Moreland?

  His cellphone's off, likely, so he can't be tracked. And he doesn't have a car registered to him, so running his plates really isn't an option. They do learn that his parents live in the area, though. And through his parents, they end up finding Jason hiding out in some friend's bedroom somewhere. And that's when they're able to place Jason G under arrest for that warrant and then drag him to the police station to do an interview in Jolene's missing persons case.

• 19:49Garrett Moreland?

  Okay, got it.

• 19:50Payton Moreland?

  Now, the fact that this guy was hiding from the police to, like, begin with is not a good look. But he insists he would never do anything to hurt Jolene, which seems strange considering he has some scratches on his hands and wrists that look like they came from fingernails. Though he swears the last time he saw Jolene was the night that the argument occurred at her house a few days before 1911 was called. And he also says he has an alibi, too. He says that entire weekend after the fight, he went to Jacksonville for a barbecue at a friend's place and stayed there until Sunday. This was the day of Jolene's birthday and the day after she went missing.

• 20:32Payton Moreland?

  So not really buying his story or wanting to trust him. Police book him anyway for violating his probation. They keep him behind bars and they add him to the suspect list for now. But it doesn't take long for them to realize this is an easy alibi to check out, and it does. He was nowhere near Jolene or her salon the weekend she disappeared. And with both Jasons now crossed off their list, police are back to square one for now. Now meanwhile, detectives are also at Tangles Salon, talking to Jolene's coworkers to see kind of just like what's up, what's been going on with her life. She's worked here for a long,

• 21:14Payton Moreland?

  long time. So these people might know her. And I mean, when you're trying to find someone, the best thing to do is dig up their life. And her coworkers say that there was only one other person working at the salon with Jolene that Saturday, May 12th, the day before her birthday. Her name was Jennifer Seibert. Now Jennifer hadn't been working at the salon for very long, actually, only a couple of months. But other hairdressers at Tangles said, we actually don't really know that much about Jennifer beyond what was kind of on her resume. They said she was a bit cagey about her past. She didn't really open up to them about her personal life. She wasn't the friendliest. It was strange, but they're

• 21:58Payton Moreland?

  like, I mean, she's only a couple of months old here. Maybe it's just her personality. And she was the only one who was working with Jolene that day. What's even stranger, though, is what Jennifer did when she saw the police at the salon, talking to people. So they noticed that Jennifer pulls into the parking lot that day for her shift. But as soon as she sees that detectives are there interviewing coworkers, she immediately gets back in her car and doesn't come inside.

• 22:29Garrett Moreland?

  Interesting. Okay.

• 22:30Payton Moreland?

  And everyone, I mean, the coworkers are like, well, that's who last worked with her. And now she's not coming inside. Instead, Jennifer texts her boss at the salon saying, hey, I quit. She'll mail her back the salon key and they can put Jennifer's check in the mail.

• 22:48Garrett Moreland?

  People are so stupid.

• 22:49Payton Moreland?

  I know.

• 22:51Garrett Moreland?

  People are so stupid. Okay.

• 22:53Payton Moreland?

  So at this point, people are a little like, what is going on? Her boss texts her back and is like, is everything okay? Like this is so out of the blue. Why are you randomly just quitting? And Jennifer tells her, um, it's because an ex of mine, she's like, I'm terrified for my life. I can't be involved with anything having to do with the police. So because like, we have a coworker who's missing and they're like asking around the salon. I don't want to be here. Like, I don't want to talk to police because I'm scared of this ex.

• 23:24Garrett Moreland?

  I'm not sure that makes sense to me, but okay.

• 23:26Payton Moreland?

  So naturally detectives are like, hey, we need to get ahold of this woman because she was the only other person working and now she's acting weird. And after they do, Jennifer tells them she wants to help, but she can't be part of the investigation because again, it might put her life in danger. She explains it further to police, saying her ex is a stalker and a computer expert who will track her down and find her if her name is written on any police reports. So she's like, I can't have like my name on any file anywhere. But this reeks of suspicion. Detectives are certain this isn't the full story. They think there's something Jennifer isn't telling them.

• 24:06Payton Moreland?

  Now unfortunately, there is no security footage inside the salon that can cue them into what might have happened that day. There's only one camera above the desk and it's not even hooked up. But things become a bit clearer the following day on May 15th, because that is when officers get a call that Jolene's car has now been found.

• 24:31Garrett Moreland?

  Okay. All right. It's a big deal. A huge deal. Where? Where's this car?

• 24:36Payton Moreland?

  Her beige 2006 Ford Expedition was in a parking lot near a Home Depot in Yuli, Florida. This was about seven miles away.

• 24:48Garrett Moreland?

  It's not far.

• 24:49Payton Moreland?

  From the salon.

• 24:50Garrett Moreland?

  I always expect these cars to be extremely far away. And I feel like they're always within 10 miles, which is just weird.

• 24:59Payton Moreland?

  Now, when police get to the car, they don't find anything too out of the ordinary. There's no blood or signs of a struggle inside the vehicle. So they decide to start canvassing the area, like maybe why is it parked here? And police find a credit union whose cameras face the parking lot. Now, what those cameras show is that on May 13th, the early morning hours of Jolene's birthday, her car pulled into that parking lot around 1:17 a.m. This was seven hours after Jolene's shift would have ended at Tangles on Saturday.

• 25:41Payton Moreland?

  But in this footage, it is not Jolene who gets out of Jolene's car. It's another shadowy figure that's a different height and size. Now, they walk off screen in the direction of a convenience store. And another camera shows that same person who appears to be a woman speaking with a clerk who is on break outside. And then they go into the convenience store. And so when police check footage from inside this convenience store, it clearly reveals who this mystery person is, the one who dropped Jolene's car in the parking lot. And of course, it's Jennifer Seibert.

• 26:26Payton Moreland?

  She's dressed in all black with combat boots, and she appears to be overly chatty with the cashier there. So next detectives are like, hey, we need to track down this employee from the convenience store. And when they talk to this employee, they say they remember Jennifer clearly from that day. That night, she came in and said she'd been out drinking with some friends, and she seemed rather scared or nervous about something. She asked if they could just call a cab for her. So they do. And a few minutes later, the cab shows up and she darts off and gets into the passenger seat. They said she didn't really seem to have a purse or a phone. And even weirder, Jennifer told the store employee

• 27:11Payton Moreland?

  that she needed the cab because she didn't have enough money to pay for gas. But then she prepaid for the taxi using a credit card. And she apparently had scratch marks all over her face.

• 27:27Payton Moreland?

  So now they tracked down the taxi driver to find out, okay, where did you take Jennifer after this convenience store? And he says he dropped her off at a strip mall, but he wasn't sure what business she was there for. However, in this strip mall was the Tangles Hair Salon. After that, he said Jennifer got out of the cab, got into a small black car and drove off. Now, obviously, after discovering Jolene's car, police realize they have a big problem on their hands because they go to Jennifer's address, the one that the salon had for her from her employment paperwork. When they arrive, they realize this address doesn't even exist.

• 28:11Payton Moreland?

  It's a fake. So now police start to wonder, who is Jennifer? And what if Jolene was starting to catch on to this kind of suspicious coworker? What if she realized Jennifer had something to hide? Which, according to some of the people who worked and went to Tangles, might have been the case. When police speak with witnesses who knew both Jennifer and Jolene, they said there was actually some tension between the two of them. That everyone who worked at the salon was friendly and close, but Jennifer never opened up to any of them. She mostly shut them out. Like I said, she was standoffish, she was cagey.

• 28:54Payton Moreland?

  And Jolene was apparently suspicious and pushy about this. She told one coworker that Jennifer was, quote, "not the person that she says she is." She also hinted that she was going to look more into her background. And friends of Jolene's said, "When she gets an idea about something, she is like a dog with a bone. She's not going to give up till she gets answers." So this whole theory of like, maybe she learned something she didn't was because of just this past gossip that had been going on. When police spoke to the employees at the salon Jennifer had worked at before Tangles, again, they're now trying to unravel Jennifer's life. The people there say the same thing.

• 29:36Payton Moreland?

  Jennifer's behavior was strange, she was cagey, and she also had these fits of rage. When she got fired from that last salon, she threw her keys at her boss, left around 3:00 PM, got into her car, and then sat there until the salon closed at 9:00 PM.

• 29:56Payton Moreland?

  Her former boss was so sketched out about this, the fact that Jennifer just wouldn't leave. She actually thought Jennifer was waiting to follow her home. So there's just all these bizarre little details that are starting to add up to detectives, which is why they decide there's one place they need to search for clues. And that's at the salon where Jennifer and Jolene were working alone that Saturday, May 12th, the day Jolene was last seen or heard from. Now, when police had first scanned the salon, they didn't find much, but now they're back and they're looking and they find something in the break room.

• 30:38Payton Moreland?

  Along the bottom of the sink is what appears to be diluted blood. And so detectives call their forensic unit out there. And when they come in and spray the place with luminol, the honestly entire salon lights up. There's blood on the walls, the cabinets, in the sink drain, on a sign and display stand, around a vacuum cleaner, on the floor, which was clearly like wiped up using a mop. And while I said there was no surveillance cameras inside the salon, there was one pointing at a dumpster near the salon. So sure enough, when police pull that footage, they see Jennifer on the evening of May 12th, throwing out a white trash bag

• 31:22Payton Moreland?

  that they assume to be Jennifer's belongings or even her body. So they haven't even gone to Jennifer yet. They're trying to really get answers to this case and they're doing a good job so far. So like, why question the way they're investigating? They're trying to do it with, before even having to question her. They decide to end up searching landfills in Georgia, hoping to find this trash that was thrown out by Jennifer. And while reports say they found a few items of interest, there's no sign of Jolene's body. Detectives do however, discover that Jennifer actually had a storage locker that she rented. And when they search it, they find a pair of boots, a sock and a pair of scissors,

• 32:07Payton Moreland?

  all with blood on them. And they also discover a fingernail in this storage unit.

• 32:15Payton Moreland?

  And they later confirm this fingernail belongs to Jolene. So obviously, at this point, police feel pretty confident that they know who did this. The only thing is, they can't find Jennifer. Luckily, they do have a correct phone number for her. It was the one she'd given to the salon. So they start by trying to track down her cellphone. And they also do put a BOLO out for her and her black Kia Soul. And in the meantime, they scan every rest stop, beach, and campsite in the area with a bathroom, thinking maybe she's hiding away somewhere that has access to those facilities. And then on Wednesday, May 16th, police get an updated alert

• 32:59Payton Moreland?

  that her phone pinged an area about 75 miles south of the salon near St. August. So detectives and two FBI agents head out to this rest area. And sure enough, they find a Kia Soul parked between two giant trucks. So I mean, this manhunt, they now have basically found the car. So they carefully approach it, and there's Jennifer lying down inside. When they finally get her out of her car and get her talking, she insists she has no idea where Jolene is. She has nothing to do with her disappearance. But obviously, police, like I said, have done a bunch of investigating before even talking to her. So they know this isn't true.

• 33:41Payton Moreland?

  And also, Jolene's face tells a different story because she has claw marks all over her face and Band-Aids trying to cover them up. She's also got scratches all over her hands, arms, and thighs, as well as a chunk of hair missing from her head. I mean, everything about this screams, this woman was in a really bad fight. But her excuses, she was riding a bike and crashed headfirst into a tree.

• 34:12Garrett Moreland?

  Kind of crazy. Sometimes it's really who you least expect.

• 34:16Payton Moreland?

  Yeah. Especially considering she had this like 911 call domestic violence situation before, like a couple of days before this. That's so like that would be your number one. Everyone would be like one plus one equals two. And now we're at the coworker.

• 34:32Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it's not. That's crazy.

• 34:35Payton Moreland?

  Now, obviously, none of this really matters. Police already have a warrant for her arrest. One for grand theft auto for taking Jolene's vehicle because they know for a hundred percent surety, she's the one who left it in the parking lot.

• 34:49Garrett Moreland?

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• 34:54Payton Moreland?

  We love Skims and I'm so excited. I get to talk to you about their loungewear and pajamas. If you follow me on Instagram, I just posted, but I did get one of their sleep sets. That's like a deep burgundy color. So cute, so rich, so soft. And then I also got a fleece set that's like this chocolate brown. So freaking cute. I love a good matching set and I love Skims. Again, the sleep set I got is the soft lounge sleep set. I always get asked like what exactly it is. Um, so yes, the soft lounge sleep set.

• 35:37Payton Moreland?

  It has the perfect weight, the perfect stretch. The fabric will not irritate your skin. Honestly, I recommend Skims to everyone due to just the quality and the comfort that it brings. So go check out their cotton fleece sets or their sleep sets right now.

• 35:55Garrett Moreland?

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• 36:08Payton Moreland?

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• 36:52Payton Moreland?

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• 37:37Payton Moreland?

  So Jennifer is arrested and taken to their station for questioning. But what's strange is her behavior, like she doesn't really seem stressed. During the interrogation, she's calm, she's cool, she's collected. And then just a few minutes in, she drops a bomb on detectives. Okay, so they bring her in, they're like, hey, we know you had something to do with this. What's going on? And she says, well, To start, my name isn't actually Jennifer Cybert.

• 38:04Garrett Moreland?

  Get out of here.

• 38:05Payton Moreland?

  She says, quote, "I'm ready to go back to being myself, Kimberly Lee Hessler." And from there, she starts telling them these stories.

• 38:19Garrett Moreland?

  Oh my gosh.

• 38:20Payton Moreland?

  She claims her ex-boyfriend is wanted by the FBI because he robbed banks and she used to be a topless dancer, that she used to be married, she has a son, but she's been running from her life for the past 20, 25 years, trying to leave all of that behind. And meanwhile, police are looking into this like off camera to see if any of this is true. And they do find that this woman has been using 18 different aliases. She has lived in 30 different cities across 14 states for the last bit of her life. Many of the ID cards for those aliases have been found inside her Kia. Like she kept them.

• 39:01Garrett Moreland?

  That's insane.

• 39:02Payton Moreland?

  So who is Jennifer Cybert then? Turns out Kimberly had stolen the identity of a 13-year-old girl who was killed in a car crash and buried in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Kimberly was originally from. So she's like, ah, this girl died in a car crash in my hometown.

• 39:18Garrett Moreland?

  Name?

• 39:18Payton Moreland?

  Ah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take her identity. But obviously, they're not even there to unravel Jennifer or Kimberly's twisted past and why she's even doing this. They're there to confirm that she murdered Joleen Cummings. But when that becomes the topic of conversation around hour two of the interrogation, Kimberly's demeanor changes. Like she's opened up being like, this is my life. I'm not even who I say I am. Then they're like, hey, what about, what about Jolene? And she's like, nope, I'm refusing to talk. I need a lawyer. Now, at the moment, they have her in custody for grand theft auto charges, but if she's not gonna confess to murder, they're gonna need as much evidence as they can

• 40:01Payton Moreland?

  to indict her on those charges because unfortunately, the one thing they don't have is a body. So detectives keep digging. And that includes now looking into Kimberly. Now, remember Kimberly and Jennifer are the same person. I'm gonna call her Kimberly because that's her real name. They look into Kimberly's computer and phone history and what they find is less than 10 days before Jolene went missing on May 4th. Kimberly had made some incriminating searches 10 days before the disappearance. She Googled on her phone, how to tie a tourniquet.

• 40:37Garrett Moreland?

  Bro, they find out people that just Google this stuff on their phone.

• 40:42Payton Moreland?

  She also searched for how to inject someone with something. Also coworker guilty of murder, missing person body not found.

• 40:50Garrett Moreland?

  You know, pretty soon what's going to happen instead is people are going to start taking chat GPTs.

• 40:55Payton Moreland?

  Oh, it's gonna come out.

• 40:56Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it's gonna happen.

• 40:57Payton Moreland?

  It's going to.

• 40:58Garrett Moreland?

  It's gonna happen.

• 40:59Payton Moreland?

  And it's not just gonna be like in a sense of murder, it's gonna also be to like prove where their head was at the time. Like it's gonna be almost used as a personal journal, I think.

• 41:11Garrett Moreland?

  I could see that 100%.

• 41:12Payton Moreland?

  Like at trial where they're gonna be like, well, we can like prove where their like frame of mind was because look at their, look at their conversations with chat.

• 41:21Garrett Moreland?

  I wonder the legalities behind that, like what's going to?

• 41:25Payton Moreland?

  I know, right?

• 41:26Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it'll be interesting.

• 41:27Payton Moreland?

  Yeah. So the searches just get worse. After this, they escalate to how long does it take for a body to decay? And how to dismember a body? Now, if you're the dumber one suspect for a murder and these are the search, how to dismember a body is your, on your, on your computer. And then after Jolene went missing, she searched for Jolene's name 457 times in two days.

• 41:52Garrett Moreland?

  Oh my gosh.

• 41:54Payton Moreland?

  Obviously waiting to, she wants to be involved. She wants to know where the investigation is at. Are they on to her? Like, has she been found?

• 42:02Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 42:03Payton Moreland?

  Including search terms like quote, Joleen Cummings, no body, no crime.

• 42:09Payton Moreland?

  There it is in writing on May 5th, a week before the murder. They also found Kimberly bought large zip ties from a boating supply store. And around the same time, a bunch of trash bags, an electric knife, and a bottle of ammonia from a Walmart. Now, as police like discover this, it's becoming abundantly clear that this wasn't just like a fight at the salon that day. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision. This murder was carefully orchestrated and intentional. So despite not having a body, the state attorney's office feels like they have more than enough to move forward with charges. And finally, on September 7th, 2018,

• 42:51Payton Moreland?

  almost five months after Jolene's death, Kimberly Kessler is charged with first degree murder.

• 42:58Garrett Moreland?

  Um, just an announcement to hop in here. Daisy is really sick. We're not sure what's going on. So Peyton is going to finish the rest of this case. Keep listening. Um, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with Daisy because something is not right. Thanks, everybody.

• 43:15Payton Moreland?

  Poor girl just not feel good. I don't think. I think she has a tummy ache. Um, okay, so they move forward with the charges on September 7th, 2018. She is charged with first degree murder. In 2019, DNA analysis confirms the blood on Kimberly's boots and sock and the blood in the salon were a match for Joleen Cummings. But the question's still on everyone's mind is why? Kimberly never really gave a motive herself, which only left police and prosecutors with one viable theory. Jolene was getting dangerously close to uncovering Jennifer slash Kimberly's true identity.

• 43:58Payton Moreland?

  It was clear the two didn't get along. They would yell at each other. And when Jolene started talking about unraveling Kimberly's secrets, exposing her for who she truly was. I guess that was enough to set Kimberly off. But it didn't explain why she would go to such great lengths to hide that past. Especially when she confessed to police who she was almost right away. Then again, maybe there doesn't need to be much more than that. Because what Kimberly did while she was in custody, made everyone believe she was living with a pretty serious mental health condition. In July of 2019, a judge even declared that Kimberly was too mentally incompetent to stand trial. She was being sent to a Florida state hospital for treatment.

• 44:42Payton Moreland?

  This was based on the evaluations of doctors who had seen her behavior while she had been incarcerated. And it had been pretty disturbing. For example, at one point, Kimberly dropped from 170 pounds down to 80 pounds in jail while she was on a hunger strike. Another time, she ripped her clothes off, she got completely naked, she started smearing feces on herself, throwing it at the guards, she accused jail officials of trying to poison her, she was later put on suicide watch. It was then that her attorneys were like, we don't even know if this woman can cooperate in her own defense. However, months later, there's another trial to redetermine her competency.

• 45:25Payton Moreland?

  After she's been in the hospital, a psychologist tells the court that Kimberly is quote strategic and intelligent. Claimed it was totally possible for someone to have a mental health disorder and still be competent to stand trial. This time, the judge agrees. Kimberly was actually more than able to understand the charges she was facing and the crimes she committed. So much so, she was able to manipulate the people around her into thinking otherwise. So the trial goes forward. Though ultimately Kimberly had to watch the proceedings from a remote video link. This was after she came into the courtroom previously strapped to a chair, yelling that the public defender was Jolene's cousin, she was being treated unfairly.

• 46:08Payton Moreland?

  By the way, this is not like he had no relation to Jolene. So that December 2021, jury selection was over, Kimberly's trial began. But I mean, with all of the evidence stacked against her, deliberating only took an hour. The jury found Kimberly Kessler guilty of first degree murder and grand theft auto for taking Jolene's car. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

• 46:34Payton Moreland?

  And then Jolene's family is left to pick up the pieces of that loss, including her ex-husband Jason, who was forced to move after facing such media scrutiny in the case. He and his sons relocated, looking for a fresh start. Jason has said that even though they were going through their own issues at the time, he still misses and loves Jolene, that she taught him how to be a better dad. The family often visits the bench dedicated to Jolene in Buchanan Park in Hilliard, near her home. Without her remains, it's one of the few places they have to feel close to her. Obviously, the hope is that one day this will change. You know, when they can find Jolene, they can lay her to rest.

• 47:19Payton Moreland?

  That way, they can have what every family deserves, a place that holds all of her, a place to grieve, a place to maintain that meaningful connection. But unless Kimberly Kessler is ready to say what actually happened that day with Jolene, we might not ever see that reality. And that is the case of Joleen Cummings. I'm sorry Garrett had to dip out, but thank you guys so much for listening to today's episode, and I will see you with another one. I love it and he hates it. Goodbye.

• 48:01Speaker 00

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