SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. (WTVF) — Robertson County authorities carried out a search warrant on a property that's known to be connected to a woman and toddler missing for the last two decades.
The heavy police presence was at a property on Owens Chapel Road belonging to Joe Benton. That information was confirmed by both property records and the family of Jennifer Wix. It's been 20 years since Wix and her toddler, Adrianna, disappeared.
Hear from our reporter, Nikki Hauser, who was on the ground while police searched the property, in the player above.
The duo vanished on March 25, 2004, making it 20 years since they were last seen. Recently, new detectives were assigned to the case.
Our reporting for the 20th year of their missing person case: It's now been 20 years since this mom, toddler went missing in Tennessee
Jennifer’s boyfriend at the time was Joey Benton, who told police he dropped them off at the gas station and watched them leave in a white car. Police have never been able to confirm his story.
NewsChannel 5 has been following the story since 2004. We interviewed Benton wondering where they were. After that, we followed the family out as they searched for answers. Years later, the case was reclassified as a homicide, but no arrests were made.
"Twenty years ago today, we reported them missing," the family said in a statement to NewsChannel 5. "Law enforcement have never been on that property to conduct a warranted search. That house has the answers we need. And we’re hoping this is the day we get them."
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has confirmed they are helping with the situation. To assist, the ATF and highway patrol were called in too.
"The sheriff’s office with the assistance of the TBI is executing a search warrant at a residence on Owens Chapel Road in relation to an active investigation," authorities said with the Robertson County Sheriff's Office. "No further information is available at this time."
A viewer sent us this video from her phone of the police outside of the house.
Joseph 'Joe' Benton had just been in trouble for a couple probation violations and domestic violence. According to an arrest report, he's accused of assaulting his wife. Then, law enforcement converged on the property while he sits in jail.
On Thursday, law enforcement said they had nothing else to add which leaves family and the community still searching for answers.
"We were already anxious about the day, tense, emotions come up with that, so I’ve already been posting on socials about it and trying to get their story out there, and so something big for them for their 20 year anniversary,” said Jennifer's sister Casey Robinson. "I hope that whatever warrant they have is something they can use to work towards finding answers for my sister and my niece."
After the story aired, Joey Benton called NewsChannel 5's Alexandra Koehn. He said the search warrant has nothing to do with the Wix case. He noted their family had to leave the property temporarily due to something dangerous on the property. In addition, Benton noted that they did allow groups on the property to conduct searches years ago. This is still developing.
Alexandra Koehn and Nikki Hauser contributed to this report.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
