MISSING IN MISSISSIPPI: Jessica Stacks, Union County

UNION COUNTY — On New Year’s Day 2021, 29-year-old Jessica Stacks vanished under circumstances that remain murky nearly five years later. Against all logic and despite extensive searches, shifting accounts, and ongoing community concern, no trace of the Union County mother has ever been found.

According to early statements from her boyfriend, Jerry Baggett, the pair visited a friend’s home in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2021, to borrow a small boat. The craft reportedly had no motor or oars, and Baggett claimed he planned to steer it using a shovel. Stacks allegedly left her phone at the friend’s house so they could call for a ride later.

Surveillance video from around 5:30 a.m. shows Baggett and a woman in his truck at a gas station, with the boat hitched behind them. Baggett said the woman seen on camera was Stacks. He told investigators that the two launched the boat from a bridge on County Road 46 into the swollen Little Tallahatchie River.

Baggett’s account states that the boat began taking on water about two miles downstream. He said they pulled onto a sandbar to empty the boat, but an argument followed. As Baggett climbed back into the boat, he said it drifted away, leaving Stacks on the sandbar. He claimed she began walking toward Highway 30 and that he later returned but could not find her.

When Stacks was reported missing, Union County deputies and search teams canvassed the area along the riverbank and nearby roads. They located a coat, gloves, a boot with the top cut off, and footprints, but no sign of Stacks herself.

In 2023, Baggett publicly contradicted his initial statements. He told a reporter he had not actually seen Stacks since several days before her disappearance. He also claimed neither of them could swim and therefore would not have been on the river in a boat. Baggett said he was working the day she was reported missing.

Despite the conflicting versions of events, no arrests have been made. Authorities have not named any suspects, and Stacks’ case remains open.

Stacks, a mother and daughter with deep ties in the community, has not contacted friends or family since she vanished. Investigators continue to ask for the public’s help.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Jessica Stacks is urged to contact the Union County Sheriff’s Department at (662) 534-1943.

Her loved ones, and a community still searching for answers, continue to hope for closure in a case that has grown colder with each passing year.