Aspiring Teacher Went to Inform Boyfriend She Was Pregnant. But He kept a Secret, and She Was Never Seen Again

Aspiring Teacher Went to Inform Boyfriend She Was Pregnant. But He kept a Secret, and She Was Never Seen Again

It’s been nearly 20 years since Jessica O’Grady was last seen or heard from, but authorities say in a new interview with PEOPLE they’re still determined to keep looking for the aspiring teacher who vanished the night she planned to tell a man that she was pregnant with their child.

“Although this case is solved, we are still searching for the remains of Jessica O’Grady,” Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson confirmed in a recent interview with PEOPLE. “We are hopeful that we will continue to receive tips and leads from the public about information that they may be aware of to give the family closure and recover Jessica’s remains.”

PEOPLE is looking back on the 2006 case as it’s gained newfound attention on social media nearly two decades later. Here’s what happened.

The Night Jessica Went Missing

O’Grady, a 19-year-old restaurant worker, went missing late on the night of May 10, 2006, while driving to see a coworker with whom she had recently started a romantic relationship.

In a 2019 interview, then-Omaha Police Detective Eric Nordby stated that the teenager was on her way to inform her coworker, Christopher Edwards, that she was pregnant with his baby.

According to court records, O’Grady texted her longtime friend Keri Peterson moments before she vanished: “No shenanigans for Jessica,” she wrote, and Peterson told a Nebraska courtroom during Edwards’ 2007 trial that it was a coded message indicating she was not planning to have sex that night.

Nordby stated in a 2019 interview with the US Army’s website that he interviewed Edwards shortly after O’Grady’s disappearance, initially believing the missing woman’s boyfriend was cooperating. However, he began to suspiciously deflect questions and make false statements about their interactions that night.

“He claimed that he and O’Grady decided not to meet on the night of May 10,” Nordby told reporters. “He said she did not come to his house. On May 11th, he texted her to find out why she did not come over.

However, phone records showed that O’Grady’s last phone call was an outgoing call to Edwards late on May 10, and that Edwards did not text O’Grady the next day, as he claimed to police.

Then Nordby assisted in leading a search of Edwards’ home, where bloodstained towels were discovered tucked away in trash bags in the garage, as well as traces of blood all over his bedroom that appeared to have been attempted to be cleaned away.

Edwards Had Been Involved with Another Woman

According to records from the Nebraska Supreme Court, investigators later discovered Edwards was involved in another serious relationship. According to the court, Edwards met Michelle Wilkin in 2005 and got her pregnant in January 2006, about four months before O’Grady went missing on the night she planned to tell him she was also expecting a child.

Wilkin asked Edwards why he was being investigated for O’Grady’s disappearance, and he admitted to sleeping with her. According to state Supreme Court records, Wilkin testified at his trial that Edwards told her that he had heard [O’Grady] was pregnant. “But Wilkin said Edwards told her that after Wilkin and Edwards had discussed marriage, he had met with O’Grady at his house to tell O’Grady that he and O’Grady would no longer be involved.”

According to local station KMTV, Edwards was convicted of O’Grady’s murder a year later and sentenced to 100 years in prison. However, Edwards refused to cooperate with investigators, who have yet to locate O’Grady’s body nearly two decades later.

The Search for O’Grady’s Body Continues

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Sheriff Hanson stated that investigators “do have a strong suspicion about where Jessica’s remains are, however based on a multitude of factors in that area, they are virtually inaccessible if they are in the location that we suspect.”

“We are hopeful that as time goes on, so will the quality of ground and concrete penetrating radar, that technology will improve as well, so that we can hopefully confirm or deny our suspicions once and for all,” the sheriff added, mentioning that the location where investigators believe O’Grady’s remains are “is physically inaccessible for a multitude of reasons.”

“It would require some very specific and highly technological presence of ground and concrete penetrating radar,” according to the sheriff. “Now, we are hopeful that technology will exist and if it does already exist, we would love to have any private entities that would be willing to approach the sheriff’s office and offer their services.”

The sheriff claims that nearly 20 years later, Edwards has exhausted all possible appeals to his prison sentence. According to Hanson, the convicted murderer has still shown no interest in cooperating with investigators to locate O’Grady’s remains.

“Obviously if Christopher Edwards would be willing to help give the family that closure, we would be happy to take his testimony on that so that we could do so,” Hanson told the audience.

According to the sheriff, investigators have reason to believe that others besides Edwards may know where O’Grady’s remains are. “There is always reason to believe that,” the sheriff said, adding that his office continues to “receive anonymous or known tips” and hopes to hear more.

“That would be very helpful,” Hanson added. “So, the public should be confident that they are safe approaching the sheriff’s office to assist in bringing the O’Grady family closure. They can call our tip line, 402-444-6000, or Omaha Crime Stoppers.

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