Pregnant Woman Killed While Delivering Papers

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Jenna was 8 months pregnant when she was found dead behind a gas station.

22-year-old Jennifer Kathleen Nielsen, known as Jenna by close friends, wanted a new life.  She had recently moved to the Raleigh, North Carolina area from Salt Lake City for a fresh start with her family.  Jenna, her husband, Tim, and their two young sons settled in Fuquay-Varina, and soon Jenna's father, stepmother and two brothers joined.

They lived there less than a year, and soon, Jenna became pregnant with her and Tim's third boy.  Needing a little extra cash, Jenna picked up a job delivering newspapers for USA Today.  It was a job that had her driving by herself to various businesses in the early hours of the morning. 

Two Murders: A Woman And Her Unborn Baby

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Police processing the crime scene.

Around 5:00 a.m. the morning of June 14, when Jenna would have been on her route, a 911 call came in to the Raleigh Police Department.  The caller was another newspaper carrier, and he reported seeing a Honda Civic left seemingly abandoned at the AmeriKing Food Mart on Lake Wheeler Road.  He said the interior light was on, the door was open, and newspapers were scattered on the ground.  The scene was strange enough for the man to call police.

Officers went to the scene and didn't find anything unusual, until they walked to the back of the store.  There, they found Jenna's body.  She had been stabbed in the neck, and they discovered her half naked near the gas station's dumpster.

Police say because of the time of day, they have little to go on.  But they do know at least one man they'd like to find to interview.  They've released a composite sketch of a man they say was at the crime scene in the pre-dawn hours the morning Jenna was killed.  Police say he is in his late teens or early 20s.  He is about 5'3", about 120 lbs.  The man has black hair that was pulled back into a long ponytail.  He was wearing a dark-colored sleeveless shirt and baggy blue jeans shorts.  Police say he may know something that could help the investigation.

The Composite Sketch

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Jess Green, pictured on the right, bares a striking resemblance to the Raleigh composite sketch in Jenna's case, pictured left.

When we first aired Jenna's case, a lot of tipsters called about a rape suspect in Mississippi.  Police in Ocean Springs, Miss. say their small town was gripped in panic for several days, when an attacker they knew as the "Baby-Face Rapist" sexually assaulted two women near the local Wal-Mart.  They called him the "Baby-Face Rapist" because of the young, feminine features his victims described.  Features like the composite sketch of the man Raleigh police are looking for questioning in the murder of Jenna Nielsen.

Soon after the Wal-Mart attacks, Ocean Springs police arrested 20 year-old Jess Green.  Cops say Green confessed to the attacks in Mississippi.  Those attacks took place two weeks after Jenna's murder.

When the Raleigh composite was shown on our show, people familiar with Green's crimes called immediately.  Detectives at our hotline got in touch with police in Ocean Springs, and learned Green had in fact been in North Carolina when Jenna was murdered.  The puzzle pieces seemed to fit, except for the fact that the physical descriptions were off between the Raleigh composite and Green.  The man in the Raleigh composite is said to be 5'3", while Green stands about 6'0". 

Still, because of the remarkable resemblance between Green and the Raleigh composite, plus the fact that Green was attacking women and had been in North Carolina around the time of Jenna's murder, investigators considered this a high priority lead.

We traveled with police to Mississippi to interview Green.  Green was adamant about the fact that he had nothing to do with Jenna's murder, and Raleigh cops believe he will be eliminated as a suspect.  Regardless, detectives on Jenna's case say it's just one step closer to finding the real killer, and they are very grateful for every single tip they receive.

Words From Jenna's Father

"...she was the nicest person...she was one of those people that was fun to be around.  Jenna was lovely and full of life, she was always happy.  That's one thing I can say about that girl, she was never down.  Jenna was a happy mom, she loved her boys.  That's why she was working at night, so she could be with her boys during the day..."