A Man Sends Texts Pretending a Missing Girl Is Still Alive

For ten days, text messages from a missing 19-year-old girl's phone told her family she was fine and traveling north. But the messages didn't sound like her, and within a year, investigators proved Jenny Nickel hadn't written them at all. What really happened to Jenny?

In this episode, we analyze the methodical, years-long effort to hold a man accountable for Jenny Nickel's disappearance from a small English market town, even without the one piece of evidence most murder trials depend on entirely. How did investigators prove a murder without a body?

Case: Jenny Nickel Disappearance
Date: June 30, 2005
Location: Richmond, North Yorkshire, England
Investigator: Detective Inspector Pete Martin
Missing Person: Jenny Nickel

- Jenny Nickel, 19, disappeared from Richmond, North Yorkshire, on June 30, 2005.
- Text messages from her phone claimed she was traveling north and needed space, but her family found the wording suspicious.
- Jenny's body has never been found, yet a man was held accountable for her disappearance.
- Investigators uncovered hidden campsites and a trail of text messages sent from cities far to the north.
- Evidence later emerged that Jenny had been in contact for years with David Hodgson, a married man in his forties, since she was fourteen.

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