Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
The upcoming episode of Oxygen Cold Justice will revolve around the disappearance of Jannette Johnson, a 29-year-old mother of two. Titled “Silence,” the episode will be aired on the network on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET. The episode will heavily depend on Jannette’s daughter’s perspective to understand the loss and questions around her disappearance.
Per the Daily Journal, Jannette Johnson was reported missing on August 3, 1985. Her family reported her disappearance after they saw her pull into the rear of her residence and park her car there. The next day, the car was reportedly parked in front of the residence on the street. Her wallet and other personal belongings were reportedly still inside the vehicle while Johnson herself was missing, as per the authorities. The Kankakee police then announced that the investigation would continue.
In 2015, about 30 years after Jannette Johnson’s disappearance, her friends and family gathered to hold a balloon launch in her honor. According to the Daily Journal, Jannette’s mother, Mary Moore, expressed her hope that her daughter would return someday. Jannette’s children, Joretha Hampton and Jerry Wills Jr., were 11 and 13 when their mother disappeared. Apart from the formal investigation from authorities, the family said they had been searching for Jannette ever since she went missing.
“I don’t want to reopen old wounds. I guess I think of this as the beginning of the ending, letting go of the pain,” Joretha said about the kind of grief that her family has come to accept after her mother’s disappearance.
What happened to Jannette Johnson?
Oxygen reported in 2020 that Jannette Johnson’s remains were found in Pembroke township, about 20 miles southeast of Kankakee. They were found 35 years after Jannette disappeared. Following this, an investigation began into finding her killer years after she was presumed dead.
The remains were then identified based on DNA samples from family members. Jannette’s daughter, Joretha Hampton, also played an active part in finding and identifying the remains. The family members and other volunteers searched the Pembroke Township area to recover the remains.
Joretha Hampton was only 11 when her mother disappeared. She and her brother organized a private burial for Jannette in 2022 at Evergreen Cemetery in Chabanse. At the gathering, Hampton also expressed her strong will to find her mother, which led them so far, as well as her determination henceforth to find who killed her mother. After the remains were found, the case then turned into a homicide investigation, the Daily Journal reported.
“I’m walking back from this. I am not giving up. I still want to know why she was murdered and who murdered her,” Hampton also said at the burial, according to the Daily Journal.
The episode of Cold Justice, “Silenced,” will be aired on Oxygen on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET. According to Oxygen, Cold Justice has further tried to help Joretha on her quest for answers. Her story will reveal all that authorities and the family know about the disappearance and all the possible leads that were explored by them.
