In the fall of 2011, a heart-wrenching story unfolded in Glendale, Arizona, with the disappearance of five-year-old Jhessye Shockley. On October 11, her mother, Jerice Hunter, contacted authorities to report that her daughter had wandered away from their apartment while she was out running an errand. Hunter told police she had left Jhessye at home with her older siblings and returned to find the front door open and the little girl gone.
An extensive search was immediately launched, including an Amber Alert, as the community and law enforcement rallied to find the missing child, who was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and pink sandals.
As the investigation deepened, a much darker and more disturbing picture of Jhessye's life began to emerge. Suspicion quickly fell upon Jerice Hunter, who had a prior history of child abuse in California. Investigators learned that Jhessye had not attended her kindergarten class for several weeks before she was reported missing. The most harrowing details came from one of Jhessye's older sisters, who told investigators that their mother had been keeping Jhessye in a closet, depriving her of food and water. The sibling described seeing her little sister with cuts, bruises, and black eyes. This testimony led to Hunter's arrest for felony child abuse just six weeks after Jhessye's disappearance.
Although Jhessye's body was never found, authorities became convinced she had been killed days or even weeks before the 911 call was made. Believing her remains had been placed in a trash bin in Tempe, investigators conducted a painstaking, months-long search of the Butterfield Station Landfill, sifting through thousands of tons of garbage, but the search yielded nothing. In September 2012, Jerice Hunter was charged with first-degree murder and child abuse. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence of Hunter's history of abuse and the testimony of her children. In April 2015, a jury found Jerice Hunter guilty of both first-degree murder and child abuse. She was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder, with an additional 20 years for child abuse. The case remains a tragic story of a young life lost, a family torn apart by abuse, and a community left to mourn a little girl whose body has never been recovered.Last Seen: Oct 11, 2011
