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About Jamie

Jamie Michelle Fraley was born on March 5, 1986, to her mother, Kim. From early on, Jamie encountered challenges and difficulties. During her birth, complications arose that nearly resulted in both her and her mother’s deaths. Upon birth, Jamie was clinically dead, and doctors had to administer CPR and other lifesaving measures. Although she was successfully revived, her dramatic entrance into the world left her with health and developmental issues. These health issues were so severe that she was not expected to live past her first year.

However, Jamie fought, survived, and proved the experts wrong. She was determined to live her life on her own terms despite the challenges her health issues presented. Physically, she struggled to gain weight, and she maintained a petite, frail frame for most of her life.

But what she lacked in size, she made up for in personality. She was energetic, and she loved to crack jokes and make her friends and family laugh. She was an intelligent young woman who loved to read, and she had a big heart and enjoyed caring for others.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Her passion for spirituality and religion was apparent throughout her life, and most of her social interactions took place at her church. Even though she loved being with others, her health often prevented her from doing so, as she was frequently sick with various illnesses and ailments.

As she got older, her poor health got in the way of her independence, and she became increasingly dependent on her family. Her health issues were bad enough that she was unable to get her driver’s license or attend school regularly, and her increasing anxiety often made socializing difficult, frustrating, and overwhelming.

Further complicating matters was her bipolar diagnosis, which she received when she was 18. Her doctor prescribed several different medications to control her bipolar disorder and anxiety, and while they helped early on, she eventually discontinued them. According to her mother, Jamie didn’t think she needed them long-term.

Because of her poor physical and mental health, Jamie ultimately left high school early. When she was 18, she decided it would be best to continue living with her mother. It was a difficult reality to accept, as her friends were leaving home, going to college, and pursuing lives of their own. During this time, she developed depression and depended on her mother for almost everything.

However, Jamie later found her purpose. A family friend was struggling with drug addiction at the time, and she tried to help her in any way possible. In an attempt to learn better ways to help, Jamie attended meetings at her church with others experiencing drug addiction. Along the way, she developed a passion for helping those with drug addiction, and she decided to go to school to become a drug counselor. But to do so, she first had to get her life put together and demonstrate her independence.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Because of her diagnoses, she received social security checks, which were managed by a provider. To establish her independence, she moved into her own apartment, pursued her GED, and planned to enroll in community college. While in college, her life changed after meeting Ricky “JR” Simonds Jr. He came to her defense when he witnessed others bullying her. From there, they got to know each other and quickly became inseparable. Many defined it as a whirlwind romance, with Jamie and JR dating within days of meeting each other.

Within weeks, their relationship became serious, and within months, they discussed marriage. Even though everything was going well for the couple, there were some difficulties. For example, JR was several years older than Jamie, he had a history of drug abuse, and he was arrested for crimes like possession of stolen goods, drugs, and larceny. Her family wouldn’t learn the truth about JR’s past until much later, though.

The couple was dealt a harsh blow when JR was sentenced to 15 months in jail for larceny. Despite the long sentence, Jamie was devoted to him, and she was determined to wait for his release. However, her family felt she was rushing things and encouraged her to slow down. Jamie wasn’t having it, though, and she refused to take a step back. She began to write to him daily, and she kept a cell phone specifically for him. It soon became clear to her family that she wasn’t going to back down from her relationship.

As JR’s sentence progressed, Jamie began to spend more time with Ricky Simonds Sr., (JR’s father), who lived two doors away from her. Ricky Sr. was dating a woman named Kim Springer at the time. Like his son, he was also involved in drugs and had a criminal past, to the point where Jamie’s loved ones grew concerned. But unlike his son, he was arrested for murder, for which he only served six years. It would become one of many criminal charges on his rap sheet, which included ones like larceny, burglaries, and petty theft.

Despite his criminal activities, Jamie seemed to turn a blind eye to Ricky Sr. However, when he started to obsess over the young woman, it strained his relationship with Kim, to the point where the two broke up about six months before Jamie disappeared.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

After their split, Ricky Sr.’s obsession with Jamie reached a new level of intensity. He would make sexual-related comments towards her, as well as inappropriate advances. Even though her loved ones told her to stay away from him, she believed she could handle it and continued to spend time with him.

As 2008 began, Jamie was eagerly preparing for JR’s release, and the interactions between her and Ricky Sr. seemed to calm down. She wanted to get control of her finances (which were taken care of by a provider due to her disabilities), so she scheduled an appointment with the Social Security Administration.

Unfortunately, Jamie would disappear before this meeting took place and before JR’s release.

Disappearance

On April 8th, Jamie experienced stomach pain. At first, she thought it was something she ate, so she tried to carry on with her day as much as possible. However, when the pain worsened after several hours, she called her provider to get a ride to the hospital. At some point, the provider took her to the hospital, where the doctors examined her, diagnosed her with a stomach flu, and gave her some medicine. Her provider then took her home, and she got into bed, hoping that her symptoms would go away soon.

But as the hours ticked by, her pain got even worse, to the point where she wondered if there was something more serious going on. However, she wasn’t able to take the medicine, as she was unable to drop off the prescription. Kim Springer (Ricky Sr’s girlfriend) dropped off her dog for Jamie to care for that morning, per their usual arrangement. When Kim picked the dog up in the afternoon, she noted Jamie’s condition and dropped off the prescription at the pharmacy. It was never picked up.

By that evening, her pain worsened to the point where she decided to go to the emergency room. She called Ricky Sr. for a ride, and he took her to the hospital. She entered alone, checked in, and filled out the forms. At that point, she was advised that the wait would be three hours.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

She didn’t want to stay in the hospital while sick, so she called Ricky Sr. to pick her back up. He didn’t answer, but she contacted a neighbor, who agreed to bring her home. Witnesses reported that by the time she returned to her apartment, it was around midnight.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Jamie Fraley, please contact the Gaston County Police Department at 704-866-3320.

Around the same time, her mom called her to check in. Jamie explained that she had chills and had been vomiting. Her mom offered to pick her up, take her home, and care for her, but she declined. Her mom lived an hour away, and she didn’t want to be late for her meeting with the Social Security Administration (which was the next day). She believed she would feel better in the morning. Because of this, Jamie’s mom relented and told her to get some sleep. This would be the last time she would ever speak to Jamie.

After that, Jamie made several phone calls and emailed friends and family members. At approximately 1:30 AM on April 9th, Jamie called a friend and as they were talking, she explained that her symptoms had worsened to the point where she needed to return to the hospital, and she was waiting for someone to pick her up. Although she never named the person picking her up, she ended the call by saying something about being picked up by a truck and saying “he’s here.”

Unfortunately, Jamie never made it to the hospital.

The next morning, no one in her family had heard from her, but this was not unusual, as she didn’t always maintain consistent communication with them. At the time, it was assumed that she was feeling better and was getting caught up after being sick.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

However, her provider showed up at her apartment to pick her up for her appointment with the Social Security Administration, but no one answered the door. After 15-20 minutes of knocking, waiting, and calling on the phone, they assumed Jamie wasn’t there and left. Her mom didn’t find out about it until two days later on April 11, when the provider called her and explained the situation.

Her mother, upset that it had taken so long for her to be notified, called Jamie repeatedly, but she couldn’t contact her. Because of her daughter’s mental health history and recent illness, she thought that Jamie might have been at home but incapacitated, unable to answer the door or phone. That prompted her to contact the authorities and report her daughter as missing.

Investigation

After accepting the missing persons report, an officer was sent to Jamie’s apartment to conduct a welfare check. Upon entering the apartment, the officer noted her absence, and there were no signs of forced entry, leading them to believe that she had left the apartment willingly.

Although the authorities weren’t concerned, her mom strongly disagreed. She argued that Jamie had been ill, and she was unlikely to drop off the radar. The only place she might’ve gone to was the hospital, but they had no records of her being admitted.

In the end, her mom decided to investigate the apartment with a couple of family members for support. Upon their examination, they found Jamie’s purse, her favorite shoes (with the laces missing), and keys, items she was unlikely to leave behind. They also found dried vomit in her bedroom, indicating that she had been sick and had been gone for a long time.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

As more signs appeared that something was amiss, her mom contacted the police and requested that they come to the apartment so that she could show them everything. They agreed to do an additional walkthrough, but they still determined that foul play had not taken place. They further added that Jamie was an adult, she had the right to disappear if she wished, and she would likely reappear within a few days.

At that point, her mom and other family members began to call Jamie’s cell phone. At first, the calls went to voicemail until an unknown man picked up. The man worked for a local cable company and was repairing lines when he heard ringing. After following the sound, he found her cell phone in the middle of the road, about three miles from her apartment.

Investigators quickly looked into this lead and took the phone into evidence, hoping to find additional clues. The phone itself was scuffed up, and it’s believed that either Jamie or her attacker threw it out of a moving vehicle.

After that, the authorities began to consider that foul play could’ve been involved in Jamie’s disappearance. They quickly worked to establish a timeline, but they couldn’t trace her movements after midnight on April 9th, and none of the witnesses reported anything out of the ordinary.

Everyone the authorities spoke to was cooperative, except Ricky Sr. Although he was described as “cold” and “manipulative,” he agreed to go to the station with the authorities for an interview.

The more they learned about Ricky Sr., the more concerned the authorities became. His obsessive nature and harassment of Jamie quickly became evident, as did his criminal record. For the authorities and Jamie’s mom, Ricky Sr. quickly became suspicious.

On Monday, April 14, the authorities launched a search near where her phone was discovered. In addition to manpower, search dogs were utilized to try and track Jamie’s scent. It would be the first in a series of searches that would cover the area where her phone was found, the land near her apartment, and nearby bodies of water. Despite diligent efforts, none of these searches located Jamie or discovered new evidence or leads.

While the search was being conducted, the authorities uncovered evidence on Jamie’s cell phone. Although there weren’t any viable prints, they discovered some interesting things:

1. Jamie’s last confirmed phone call took place at 1:30 AM on April 9.
2. Several calls were made from Jamie’s phone around 4:30 AM, although it appeared as though she or someone else had redialed numbers from recent calls. Because of this, the authorities don’t believe these calls were connected to her disappearance.
3. Her phone received an incoming call around 5:00 AM, although it’s unknown who the caller was.

During the investigation and searches, Jamie’s mom fought hard to get her daughter’s story publicity. She also had the opportunity to speak to Ricky Sr., who denied that he had picked her up that night. Although he claimed he was innocent, he made some suspicious statements. For example, he allegedly told her mom that someone might have abducted Jamie, but they weren’t ready to let her go. Statements like these made many wonder what Ricky Sr. knew about her disappearance.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Suspicions intensified when the police received a tip about a suspicious bag of trash located roughly 2.5 miles from Jamie’s apartment and 1.5 miles from where her phone was found. Upon further examination, it was discovered that it belonged to Ricky Sr.

With their suspicions increasing by the day, the authorities decided to formally interview Ricky Sr. Although he was cooperative, he disclosed very little. When asked about the trash, he claimed he was driving in the area when he got a flat tire. The bag of trash was on top of the spare tire, so he removed it to get the tire, replaced the flat, and forgot to pick it back up, leaving it behind. Why he was in the area has never been clarified, as the trash was in a more remote location. He also refused to take a polygraph test.

Based on the information provided in the interview, the authorities were granted a warrant to track Ricky Sr.’s location and activities, enabling them to make note of any suspicious behaviors. At that point, he was their most likely culprit, and they thought that following him would reveal additional clues and evidence. It wasn’t until JR’s release that police began to grasp the depth of his violent, dangerous nature.

As they tracked him, they noticed that he would go to Kim Springer’s home and other areas she frequented. Because of this, they talked to her, explained what had been going on, and warned her about how dangerous Ricky Sr. was. She explained that he had violent tendencies, and the authorities recommended she get a restraining order against him. She ended up filing a restraining order on May 9, a month after her disappearance.

Later Developments

As time wore on, the leads began to dry up, searches were called off, and officers and resources were diverted to other cases. Many began to lose hope that Jamie would ever be found.

However, things would change on June 7. Kim had been driving her car when she noticed a strange smell that grew worse as time passed. Despite her efforts, she was unable to locate and irradicate the smell.

In a last-ditch attempt to resolve the issue, she opened the trunk, thinking that one of her groceries had fallen out and begun to rot. To her horror, she didn’t find groceries. She found the decomposing body of Ricky Sr. She immediately called the police, who removed him from the trunk. Upon his removal, they noticed several items, including a knife. His autopsy later revealed drugs and alcohol in his system, and it concluded that his cause of death was hyperthermia.

Although his motives can only be speculated, it’s believed that he unlocked her car and climbed into her trunk, waiting for an opportunity to harm or even kill her. They also believe the alcohol and drugs caused him to get locked in the trunk, which caused him to overheat and be unable to escape. Witnesses would later come forward and claim that Ricky Sr. said he wanted to give her the “surprise of her life.”

His death was a blow to the investigation, as he was the main person of interest. It was widely believed that he knew more about Jamie’s disappearance, but that information was now unattainable.

Since Ricky Sr.’s death, the case has remained at a standstill. Despite additional leads and searches over the years, she has never been found, and the authorities have been unable to make any progress in her case. It’s widely believed that she’s in an area near her apartment, but they haven’t been able to find her. Jamie Michelle Fraley remains missing as of this writing.

My Thoughts

The disappearance of Jamie Fraley is a frustrating and heartbreaking case. A young woman became sick with flu-like symptoms and vomiting, so she had someone take her to the emergency room. No one knows who took her there, and as of this writing, their identity remains unknown. From there, Ricky Sr. raises suspicion with Jamie’s loved ones and the authorities, but through a bizarre turn of events, he dies before he can reveal the full extent of his knowledge. Since then, no one knows what happened to Jamie or where she is now.

As I was researching this case, it reminded me of the case of Lily Aramburo, which I covered earlier this year. Both women supposedly left their apartments under mysterious circumstances, and we have a general idea of who’s responsible, but we don’t know for sure. And unless we get more information, both cases will likely continue to go unsolved.

When people investigate this case, they generally believe one of three theories:

1. Jamie left her apartment voluntarily.
2. Jamie was taken by a stranger.
3. Ricky Sr. took Jamie and possibly hurt or killed her.

Let’s look into these theories.

First, we have the theory that Jamie left her apartment voluntarily. They point out that she had been sick, which could’ve negatively affected her mental illnesses, specifically her bipolar disorder. This could’ve caused her to become disoriented, leave her apartment, and wander off.

But for many, this theory is the weakest. Yes, she had mental health disorders, but they had been stable for a while. During her illness, she was physically weak and throwing up. Many find it hard to believe she would’ve left her apartment in such a state, never mind wandering far enough away that no one has ever found her. Even if she had left, she was so weak at that point that she probably would’ve collapsed/passed out not far from her apartment. Considering that no one has found her or any evidence of her, I believe we can safely set this theory aside.

Next, we have the theory that Jamie was taken by a stranger. We know she was on the phone with a friend, waiting for an unidentified individual to pick her up and take her back to the emergency room. All that she said was “he’s here.” She didn’t give any additional information beyond that, and to this day, we still don’t have any idea who this person was. That led some to believe that it was a stranger.

Given Jamie’s anxiety, I struggle to believe she would’ve accepted a ride from a stranger. She had to have known the person in some capacity. The only problem is this: if she was picked up by a friend or family member, why haven’t they come forward after all these years? If they cared enough to give her a ride, they would likely care enough to come forward to the police. Not only that, but the police have never identified this person. Maybe they’re good at keeping secrets, maybe they died or went to jail afterward. It’s anyone’s guess, but because we have so little evidence, we can’t rule this theory in or out.

Our last theory is that Ricky Sr. was responsible for Jamie’s disappearance. At first glance, this makes sense. He had a criminal record and spent time in prison, and he had a history of endangering women. Not only that, but many people noted his obsessiveness towards Jamie, and he later died in the trunk of Kim Springer’s car, supposedly to harm her. Not only that, but he made suspicious, disturbing comments to Jamie’s family and the authorities. On paper, he seems like the perfect suspect.

The only problem is we don’t have any proof of his involvement, just circumstantial evidence. And even if he did it, he died soon after her disappearance, taking any information he had to the grave. The police believe Jamie is still near her apartment complex, but unless they receive more information, there’s only so much they can do.

This case is one of the most solvable cases I’ve covered on True Crime Musings. And yet, the answers remain just out of reach. If this case is ever going to be solved, it’s going to take someone coming forward with the right information. If you know anything, no matter how small, please call the authorities. Her family and friends have been waiting long enough. It’s time to bring her home.

***

Recommended Read

Mental health struggles touch so many lives — including the lives of victims’ families.
“You Are Not Alone” by Dr. Ken Duckworth is an empowering guide from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), filled with expert advice and real stories from people who’ve been there.

If you or someone you love is navigating mental health challenges, this book offers hope, understanding, and practical help.

Order your copy through Bookshop.org here — your purchase supports independent bookstores and helps support my true crime research. Thank you for your support!

***

If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Jamie Fraley, there isn’t a lot of information, unfortunately. Several podcasts and YouTube channels have covered her disappearance, but there’s little news coverage. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• Thought Catalog
• YouTube: Danelle Hallan: What Happened to Jamie Fraley?
• Trace Evidence Podcast

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.