12/03/2019
On November 28, 2019 deputies of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Golden Church of the Brethren located at 1758 Cane Creek Mountain Road in Bostic reference to a female found deceased inside the church. The investigation revealed the body had been placed there from another location and also the identity of the female was unknown.
Investigators of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office with the help of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and agents with the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles tried to identify the female through fingerprints and facial recognition without any success.
On Friday, November 29, 2019, investigators of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office released pictures of tattoos on the female and doing so the family of the female identified the female as Jessica Renee Blackwell.
On Saturday, November 30, 2019, investigators of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office started receiving information of a possible suspect of who may have placed the body in the church.
On Monday, December 2, 2019, investigators found the possible suspect and conducted an interview and also a search of his residence.
On Tuesday, December 3, 2019, after conferring with District Attorney Ted Bell, investigators with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office secured warrants on Jonathan Andrew Weeks, 44, of Rutherfordton for Breaking and Entering a Place of Worship and Conceal/ Fail Report Death. Weeks was placed in the Rutherford County Detention Center under a $10,000 secured bond.
The cause of death of Jessica Blackwell is still undetermined pending the results of the autopsy and toxicology results.
