Lauren "Lulu" Cree-Jenkins, a 28-year-old Black / African American woman, was reported missing from the Wheeling, West Virginia area on August 3, 2018, along with her boyfriend, Trevor Vossen. At the time of her disappearance, Cree-Jenkins was five months pregnant. The couple's story took a grim turn when, about two weeks later, dismembered and burned human remains were discovered by a logging crew along a rural road in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
The remains were later identified through dental records as those of Cree-Jenkins and Vossen. Investigators believed the couple had been lured to a house in Wheeling, where they were murdered and dismembered before their remains were transported to Raleigh County and set on fire.
The investigation into the brutal slayings continued for years. In June 2021, law enforcement officials held a press conference to urge the public to come forward with any information that might help solve the case. This public plea, coupled with the fact that a person of interest, Gerald Wayne Jako Jr., was already incarcerated on unrelated charges, was intended to encourage witnesses who may have been afraid of retaliation to speak with investigators. Following the press conference, police received crucial tips that led to significant breaks in the case.
In September 2021, Gerald Wayne Jako Jr., 36, and his girlfriend, Dana Marie Bowman, 33, were indicted by an Ohio County grand jury on three counts of murder for the deaths of Cree-Jenkins, Vossen, and their unborn child, as well as two counts of concealing a deceased human body. Another man, Brendon Barbour, 34, was arrested in July 2021 and charged with two counts of concealing a deceased human body and two counts of aiding a felon, accused of helping to dismember the victims' bodies. According to court records, witnesses told police that Barbour had gone to a residence on Wood Street in Wheeling to deliver drugs and ended up assisting in the dismemberment of the bodies.
Just before his trial was set to begin in September 2023, Gerald Jako pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in a plea deal that dropped the murder charge related to the unborn child and the charges of concealing a body. Jako admitted to killing the couple out of revenge. In January 2024, he was sentenced to two concurrent life prison terms for the murders. This sentence was in addition to a 100-year sentence he was already serving for a 2018 armed robbery. During his sentencing, Jako offered an apology to the families of his victims. Dana Bowman was also arrested in connection with the murders and was set to be a witness in Jako's trial.
