Missing Uber Rider Jeanine Blankenship Found Dead a Week After Trip

Missing Uber Rider Jeanine Blankenship Found Dead a Week After Trip
Jeanine Blankenship was last seen using an ride share service in Olive Branch, Miss., on April 2, 2019. (Jeanine Blankenship/Facebook)
Richard Szabo
4/10/2019
Updated:
4/10/2019

The body of a Mississippi woman has been found more than a week after she was last seen using a ride share service.

The Olive Branch Police Department confirmed on April 10 it had found Jeanine Blankenship deceased in Olive Branch, near Depot Street and Old Highway 78.

The woman was last seen taking a one-way Uber ride on April 2 to the Old Town area where she bought a bottle of vodka.

Cox’s Package Store Manager Gloria Wommack confirmed she remembered seeing the female shopper buy a bottle of vodka and asked if she was okay after noticing Blankenship’s face was injured.

“She was in bad shape, so I asked her if she needed any help. She told me, ‘no,’” Wommack told WREG. “I told her that she didn’t look good. She said, ‘but I’m going to be okay. I just fell and hurt myself in my living room.’”

The manager believes the Uber driver left without knowing Blankenship’s cell phone and apartment keys were still in the car.

“She went outside and she disappeared,” Wommack said. “We don’t know where she went, and who picked her up.”

The driver in question discovered the items and later turned them in to Blankenship’s apartment leasing office.

The department has not yet revealed possible causes of death, but Blankenship’s former husband revealed the woman faced her own challenges.

“Jeanine is struggling with alcoholism,” Andy Blankenship said.

On Blankenship’s social media account she described some of her difficulties just days before she went missing.

“I totally messed up today. I met my ex to discuss terms of my daughter moving out. Was a nervous wreck,” she said in a Facebook post dated March 28. “Now it’s all said and done. I just woke up, I missed my meeting. What century is this?”

The woman’s friends posted tributes to her on social media.

“RIP, I pray they find out what happened,” Heather Drury said. “Prayers to your family.”

“So sad,” Candy Russell said.

Police are still investigating the case. Anyone with any information is asked to phone the Olive Branch Police Department at 662 895 4111.

Uber Driver Arrested for Burglary

A ride-share driver was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing a house in Sacramento shortly after dropping a customer off at the airport.
Jackie Gordon Wilson, 38, was working as an Uber driver when he dropped customers off at the airport on April 4, according to police.

San Mateo Police Department officials said Wilson returned to the customer’s residence on Rand Street in San Mateo about an hour after driving the unidentified homeowner to catch a flight.

“The Rand Street Ring security camera showed Wilson attempting to burglarize the very home of his rider’s an hour after dropping them off at the airport,” police said in a statement.

Footage from the security camera shows a man alleged to be Wilson lurking at the front door of the home, seeming to put gloves on.

Police said an alarm scared Wilson off and so instead he broke into a nearby house.

Wilson was later arrested and faces multiple charges.

Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Richard Szabo is an award-winning journalist with more than 12 years' experience in news writing at mainstream and niche media organizations. He has a specialty in business, tourism, hospitality, and healthcare reporting.
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