Crime & Safety
Timeline: The Farrey Baby's Death Investigation, Manhunt
This timeline is pieced together from media reports of the disappearance of the Farrey family, their discovery and the arrests of former St. Charles residents Jeffrey and Jenna Farrey.
Credit: Mark Lambie / El Paso Times
What follows is a breakdown, aggregated from media reports, of the events and activities in the disappearance of Jeffrey and Jenna Farrey, both formerly of St. Charles, Ill., and their two small children from their home in West El Paso, Texas, to their subsequent discovery and arrest in Michigan, the discovery of their infant son’s body in the New Mexico desert, and Jeffrey Farrey’s extradition to Texas.
Friday, Nov. 15, 2013
Jeffrey Farrey, 22, a soldier based at Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army base straddling the border of Texas and New Mexico at El Paso, Texas, fails to show up for duty. After attempts to reach him by phone and by text messages fail, the Army sends a squad to the Farrey home on the 7300 block of Cerro Negro Drive in West El Paso.
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When no one comes to the door after the squad arrives, the Farrey’s landlord lets them in. What they found inside alarms them enough to call police, who arrive at 2:23 p.m. and launch an intensive search for the couple and their two sons, 17-month-old Blake and 5-month-old Jackson. The family’s car and their dog also are missing.
— ABC-7 in El Paso, Texas
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While authorities will not say what it was that alarmed the soldiers, the landlord tells an El Paso TV station it was a letter. Authorities acknowledge the letter but decline to disclose its contents, saying doing so would jeopardize both the case and the safety of the family.
— KFOX14 TV, El Paso
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013
As authorities continue their search for the family of four, their landlord reveals shocking details about the letter Jeffrey and Jenna Farrey reportedly left behind.
The landlord tells KDBC14 that he plans to sell the home he rented to the couple because he does not expects they will return.
Octavio Hidalgo tells the El Paso TV station the letter was a suicide note. “The note said that they were having financial problems and will take their lives, and that their bodies will be found soon,” Hidalgo tells KDBC14.
Hidalgo tells the TV station that he saw the suicide note while with investigators, and he says the Farreys left the home a shambles when they left. Hidalgo also says there were no beds in the home for the children.
“What I have seen inside that house is inhumane, and that's what hurts me the most,” he told the TV station. “I don't care about the rent. It hurts me to see that the children were living in such bad conditions.”
— KDBC14, El Paso
Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013
Police in El Paso, Texas, issue a release stating that Jeffrey and Jenna Farrey and their 17-month-old son Blake were found that morning in a motel in the continental United States and taken into custody. Jackson is not with them.
The Child Protective Services Office in Escanaba takes custody of 17-month-old Blake Farrey.
Subsequent media reports reveal that the surviving family members were found at the Eagle’s Nest Motel in Escanaba, Mich., a city of about 12,600 on the state’s Upper Peninsula. The motel is approximately 681 miles away from the family’s El Paso home.
A prosecutor in Escanaba says that Jeffrey Farrey is charged with being absent without leave.
— Escanaba, Mich. Daily Press
Monday, Nov. 18, 2013
In the morning, Texas authorities issue a fugitive warrant for Jenna Farrey. She is arrested in Escanaba on the Texas warrant for violating her her probation on a 2012 case in Texas for abandoning a child with intent to return. After pleading guilty in January 2013, she was sentenced to five years of probation, whose terms prohibit her from leaving El Paso County, Texas, and require her to abide by curfew and inform her probation officer of her residence. The couple are held in the Delta County Correctional Facility in Escanaba.
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013
In Escanaba, Jeffrey Farrey is released into the custody of military authorities on the absent without leave warrant.
El Paso police resume their search of the Farrey family home, seeking clues about the location of missing Jackson Farrey. Authorities arrive at the home at 11 a.m. and remain there until well into the evening. The landlord tells the El Paso Times police expect to be there for a couple of days.
Meantime, police also are searching the desert in northeast El Paso. Reports surface Tuesday evening that an infant’s body has been found. Police initially refuse to confirm those reports.
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013
Jenna Farrey appears in court in Escanaba, where she waives extradition back to Texas. She is expected to be returned to El Paso in a matter of a few days.
After the hearing, Jenna questions her court-appointed attorney about what will happen to her car and her belongings. Authorities say they are being held as evidence.
Authorities in El Paso announce they have found the body of missing 5-month-old Jackson Farrey buried in the desert in Orogrande, N.M. The remains are not positively identified, but authorities are confident they are the remains of Jackson Farrey. New Mexico medical investigators will determine the identity and cause of death of the remains.
Authorities return Jeffrey Farrey to El Paso, Texas, where he is arrested on a charge of injury to a child by omission. He makes an initial appearance in court, and his bail is set at $1.5 million. He is held on suicide watch in the El Paso County Jail.
Friday, Nov. 22, 2013
The attorney in El Paso for Jenna Farrey say plans are in place to extradite their client to Texas.
Meantime, the attorney for Jeffrey Farrey describes Jenna as manipulative and says his client is as much a victim as 5-month-old Jackson Farrey. “He has lost his son but it wasn’t by his hand,” attorney Joe Spencer said.
And in contradiction to earlier reports that Jenna Farrey would be returned to El Paso by the end of the week, an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said it usually takes 10 working days to bring back suspects from other states to El Paso.
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