Investigators continue searching for answers nearly 16 years after Jennifer Wix and her 2-year-old daughter, Adrianna vanished.   

“It’s messed with my mind as far as the passage of time,” mother and grandmother Kathy Nale said. “It seems like it was yesterday in a lot of ways.”   

August 16^th would have marked Wix’ 38^th birthday. Another day Nale didn’t get to spend with her daughter. Adrianna would have also been graduating high school this summer.   

“When you actually do the math or something kind of forces you to realize how long it’s been, it’s kind of shocking,” Nale said.  

Sixteen birthdays for Wix have now passed and no signs of her daughter or her granddaughter.  

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was brought in on the case back in 2013. 

“These kind of cases that involve a young child like Adrianna, that’s one of those cases that always first and foremost stand out in the investigators’ mind,” TBI Criminal Investigator, James Scarbro said.   

Wix was last seen in March of 2004. Her boyfriend, Joey Benton, was allegedly the last person to see her. Benton told detectives the night of March 25^th Wix asked him to take her to the grocery store in Cross Plains. Benton said he dropped the two off and saw them get into a white four-door car.  The next day Benton said Wix showed back up to his property, saying she needed time away and to get her belongings.  

However, deputies say they were never been able to confirm his statement, and Benton remains a person of interest.  

“It’s been a long time, there are a lot of unanswered questions out there,” Scarbro said. 

In the meantime, Nale clinches onto hope that someone knows what happened.   

“I just pray for answers and that whatever happened to them, whether they’re still on this earth or gone to heaven, all you can do is just pray that whatever happened that they have peace.”  

Kathy Nale, Mother and Grandmother

The heartbreak for this family continues. Just last month Nale said her husband passed away without ever knowing the truth.  

There is a $20,000 reward offered in this case. Anyone with information on this case is asked to call TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.  Callers remain anonymous and qualify for the reward.