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To Protect and Serve: The Horrific Murder of Jenifer McCrady
On September 19, 1996, Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Jack McCrady called 911 to report his thirty-year-old wife Jenifer missing, though he displayed no sense of urgency. Three hours later, he phoned again to cancel his request for assistance, stating that he had looked around their home and discovered that she had taken most of her belongings, along with $3000 in cash. According to him, the only things she had left behind were her wedding rings. Though he had failed to mention it at the time, she had also neglected to take the sons she had loved more than life itself.
Two days passed with no word from Jenifer. Acting under the assumption that she wasn’t coming back, McCrady had attempted to file a missing person report with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Marietta, Ohio. Since the McCrady’s resided in the small town of Belpre, he was advised to contact his local city police.
With five years of service under his belt, McCrady was acquainted with nearly every other officer in the area’s tight-knit law enforcement circles. Upon learning that Jenifer, who was known and well-liked by her husband’s colleagues, was missing, everyone vowed to…
