CROSS PLAINS, Tenn. (WTVF) — This week marks 19 years since Jennifer Wix and her daughter Adrianna were last seen in Robertson County, and while the anniversary is emotional for family members, they still have hope answers will come.
"What goes through my mind is it is unbelievable I still don’t have answers to what happened to Jennifer and Adrianna," said Kathy Nale, Jennifer's mother and Adrianna's grandmother.
The Robertson County Sheriff’s Office says Jennifer Wix, 21, and her daughter, Adrianna Wix, 2, were last seen on March 25, 2004. They were both living with Jennifer's boyfriend, Joey Benton, and his parents on their property in the Owens Chapel Community in Robertson County.
Throughout the years, the property has been searched several times, but no signs of Jennifer and Adrianna were found.
In 2004, Benton offered different accounts of the last time he saw Jennifer and Adrianna. In a press release from 2013, the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office said, “Despite countless hours of investigation and numerous interviews over the past nine years by Robertson County deputies and other law enforcement agencies, Benton’s assertions of taking Jennifer and Adrianna to the grocery store, the Exxon and then seeing Jennifer on the following day were never independently corroborated.”
The last person known to have spoken to Jennifer was her father, Michael, who, phone records confirm, talked with her at approximately 11 a.m. on March 25, 2004.
Jennifer and Adrianna were officially reported missing by Jennifer’s mother on March 27, 2004.
In 2013, the case was reclassified as a homicide. Both the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continue to follow up on every new lead that comes in.
“Any new information that comes forward, it may be a small piece to the puzzle, but that is our job to put that puzzle together,” said James Scarbro, Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the TBI. Scarbro has investigated the case since 2013.
Scarbro encouraged anyone who has information about Jennifer and Adrianna’s disappearance to reach out to them. He said even a small detail could be the key to solving the cold case.
“Sometimes there may be someone out there that has information they don’t realize it's important, and it could be very important in a 19-year-old case,” said Scarbro.
Throughout the years, Jennifer and Adrianna’s family has done everything they can to keep their loved ones in the spotlight. They’ve hosted bike rides, balloon releases, and put up a billboard with information about the case on Interstate 65.
For the last year and a half, Jennifer's sister Casey Robinson has taken the lead on staying on top of the investigation. She has compiled old newspaper articles, photos, and maps of the county at the time of the disappearance, and worked to build relationships with law enforcement. She said progress has been slow, but steady.
"There’s just this one small piece we are missing that will eventually break the case wide open," said Robinson.
Both Robinson and Nale believe years of hard work and persistence will pay off, and one day they will finally get closure.
"I don’t believe they are alive, but I believe they deserve justice, and they deserve to be laid to rest with dignity," said Nale. "That is my prayer."
If you have any information about Jennifer and Adrianna’s disappearance, call 1-800-TBI-FIND or the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office at 615-384-7971. You can also submit a tip on the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office website or Sheriff’s app. There is a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case.
