True Crime with Kendall Rae
A Person Close to Her Did the Unthinkable… the Tragic Case of AJ Hadsell
Thu, 20 Feb 2025
In 2015, 18-year-old AJ Hadsell was on Spring break during her freshman year at college when she went missing from her family home. Her body was found weeks later in a ditch; she had been poisoned with heroin. But it wasn’t until years later that there was a conviction in the case: AJ’s stepfather, Wesley. Check out my foundation, Higher Hope: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop This episode is sponsored by: Nutrafol - promo code: KENDALLRAE Earnin - When you download the EarnIn app type in True Crime with Kendall Rae under PODCAST when you sign up. Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - [email protected]
Chapter 1: What is the tragic case of AJ Hadsell?
Hello, everyone, and welcome to True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much, as always, for joining me this week. And if you are new, then welcome. Well, guys, I just got to say right off the bat that today's case has left me with a heart full of rage. Like, the more I... resources case the more I learned the more pissed off I became.
I actually found this case through one of you guys through my members only request form and I was surprised I had never heard of it but I was just completely shocked as I was going through the details of this one.
Today we're going to be going over the case of AJ Hadsell and this episode is going to go up quite close to the date that she disappeared actually so I thought it would be a good time to tell you about her story. And if you haven't already heard this case, I promise you, as you start hearing these details, you're going to feel just as angry as I am. I mean, every case makes me angry.
I've been kind of in a mood lately, so maybe that's why I'm even more angry than normal. But this one just really sent me over the edge. I was completely blown away. So I want to get into it. Before I do, though, I did want to mention that our Higher Hope Impact Report is now available on our website, higherhope.org. And that's for 2024, which we did launch the foundation in September.
So it was only four months worth, but I'm really proud of everything that we did. And we're being super transparent about where everything is.
every donation is going how every dollar is being spent and who it's supporting so you can see all of that at our website and i would love for you to take a look and if you are interested we would really appreciate any support that you can give us there's a way to donate on the website and you know whatever amount is helpful to us i know that a lot of people aren't in a place to donate and
That's totally fine. Just by supporting my content, you are enabling me to put more and more into the foundation and essentially help more people. But if you are able and interested in supporting our foundation, there is a way to donate. And we will be very, very grateful as we have some big plans for 2025, already some great grants in the works and projects.
And I'm excited to see what we do this year. So once again, thank you, guys. This would not be possible without you. But anyway, let's go ahead and dive into this case, guys, because... I've got a lot to say.
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Chapter 2: Who was AJ Hadsell and what was her family background?
So, Angelica Marie, or AJ as everyone called her, was born on August 9th, 1996 in Chesapeake, Virginia to her mother, Jennifer, and she would go on to have three younger half-sisters and one younger half-brother. Her biological father was never in the picture, and the first part of her young life, it was just her and her mom.
However, when AJ was two years old, her mom ended up meeting the man who would eventually become her stepfather, Zach Hoffer. And the story of how her mother met Zach is actually really interesting. Her and AJ were driving through Wyoming when suddenly their car blew a tire, skidded to the side of the road, and then did a flip.
Luckily, the car landed right side up, but Zach happened to be just driving by and witnessed the whole thing. So he pulled over and rushed over to help them. Luckily, nobody was hurt besides a small cut on AJ's wrist. And yeah, that is how they met. That is their origin story. I thought that was kind of cool, like pretty serendipitous.
But anyway, he and Jennifer hit it off and eventually they got married and had two daughters of their own. And despite the fact that he wasn't, you know, AJ's biological father, he was the only father figure she ever had. He called his three girls his cubs, and for a while, AJ didn't even know that he wasn't her biological father.
And ultimately, it didn't really matter because he loved her all the same. He says that she had this little tiger stuffed animal and that she always carried that around with her. If she wasn't carrying him, she was carrying her bear, Smokey. And he also says that AJ was just wise beyond her years. And on top of that, AJ was gentle. She was kind. She loved animals.
And when it came to being a big sister, she really adjusted quickly to that role and thrived as a big sister. I mean, even as a little kid, she knew how to be delicate with her younger siblings and also had no problem playing independently when one of them was needing attention from their parents.
Oh, and I loved this, and I feel like so many of us did this as kids, but when they got a little bit older, AJ would coordinate these little concerts with the two of them, and they would put on shows for their parents. And like I said, I'm sure that's a core memory that so many of us have, you know, doing these little shows or plays with our siblings or cousins.
And AJ was just very creative like that. She was also incredibly fearless.
zach started taking her climbing when she was only four years old and he'd help her as she climbed up the rocks but the older she got the less help she needed eventually she would just be zooming up these rocks and jumping off and didn't seem to think that really anything was scary another thing that she would do and i love this because i had a friend who always did this but she would climb up the side of the door frames and have one foot on either side to hold her there and
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Chapter 3: How did AJ Hadsell go missing?
Now, I just have to say, because I know people are going to point it out, that it seems from my research that people who live in Norfolk say it pretty differently. There are people who say Norfolk or some people say Norfolk, which that's how I, you know, immediately wanted to say it just by how it's spelled.
But I think for the most part, most of the coverage that I've seen, people are saying Norfolk. So I'm going to go with Norfolk. And I'm sorry if that is wrong in your mind. So anyway, they were living in Norfolk. But Wes, actually, on the other hand, was no longer living with them. Jennifer learned that he had started using drugs and she didn't want that around the children.
So she kicked him out of the house and he ended up staying in a hotel nearby, which means that AJ was actually home alone for most of March 2nd. She saw her mother and her siblings earlier that morning and they left around 7 a.m. for work and school. Wes did stop by briefly that morning right around 7 a.m.
to switch out his personal truck with his work van, but after that, she was all alone, and at first, everything seemed to be okay that day. That is until mid-afternoon, when Jennifer ends up reaching out to Wes over text and asked if he had heard from AJ, because apparently AJ had been sending her mother texts that didn't sound like her, They were coming across as very cryptic.
She was saying that she was out with friends and, quote, just needed space, but wasn't willing to tell her mom where she actually was. And so Wes started texting AJ, too, and he started getting similar responses. Just none of them sounded like AJ.
But the alarm bells really started going off for her mom when she returns home from work and she looks at the kitchen counter and she finds a note that was in AJ's handwriting. And it reads, Dear Madre, with everything that's going on, it's a lot to deal with. And that's it.
Now, we do know that there were some family things with Wes going on, and her freshman year of college was also a bit challenging, as it is for most freshmen. She and her boyfriend recently had broken up, and that was definitely really hard on her. But even with all of these things going on in her life, AJ was just not a leave a note type of person.
She would have called or texted, and she wouldn't have been so cryptic about it. And what's also strange is when her parents started reaching out to her friends to see if maybe any of them had heard from her or seen her, most of them had not heard from her either. They only got those strange messages here and there, and then eventually they just stopped coming in.
And so on March 3rd, Jennifer went ahead and reported AJ missing. So the following day, officers with the NPD went to their home to interview her family and just get a general understanding of when the last time AJ was seen, which for her mom was around 7 a.m. on the 2nd when she left with the girls. And for Wes, it was the same day, of course, but he had seen her at around 1230.
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Chapter 4: What were the initial suspicions and investigations?
Then one of AJ's little sisters ended up speaking to the police and she shared that when she came home from school on the 2nd, the front door was unlocked and there was half-folded laundry in the living room. And upon further inspection... they realized that her wallet with money still inside of it had been left on the couch, which obviously gave them immediate cause for concern.
It looked as if AJ was at home doing laundry and then something or someone interrupted her. And the reality is AJ was just not the type of person to run away. I mean, at least not according to her friends and family. Really, she was just a very well-behaved teenager. She didn't drink. She didn't do drugs or anything like that.
And if she was ever struggling with something, she was the type to open up to someone and try and seek help or support from someone in her life. And so ultimately, between these strange texts and the note and the condition of the living room, these officers off the bat just sensed that there was something seriously wrong. So of course, they began building a list of suspects and...
No surprise here, but one of the first suspects on their list was Josh, her ex-boyfriend. However, despite police noting that he was acting a little bit strange about the whole thing, they said that he just didn't seem like he had much of a motive. And plus, he, I mean, from his point of view, explained to police that their breakup was mutual.
And even if that isn't true, he did have a very strong alibi. Now, they didn't completely write him off at this point. They just sort of moved him to the side, especially because someone else had caught their attention, which requires a bit of a backstory. So AJ was the kind of person who had more guy friends than girlfriends.
And one of her really close friends growing up was this guy named Corey French. The two of them actually dated pretty briefly, and then it just ended up being one of those situations where they both realized were better off as friends. So, you know, no term oil there. And when she first went missing, he was one of many people who jumped right into action to help try and locate her.
He helped make flyers, searched through fields, and overall seemed genuinely concerned about finding her. And then on March 5th, while he was walking home from work, he just so happened to stumble across the first big piece of evidence in this case, and that was a piece... of AJ's credit card. But when he called police to tell them about this, they were, of course, a little suspicious.
They were skeptical. And I totally understand why they felt that way. I mean, ex-boyfriend finds a little piece of missing girl's credit card, the first big piece of evidence. It seems like a crazy coincidence. But... That's how he said it happened.
And when he spoke to law enforcement, he explained that he and AJ were still friends, but it had actually been months since the two of them had seen each other in person. I guess he had reached out to her when she was home from break and they had talked about, you know, seeing one another, but... They just never ended up hanging out.
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Chapter 5: Why was Corey French suspected in AJ's disappearance?
There was actually a number of times where he would organize a group of volunteers to help him search based off of these tips that he was getting, but none of them ever panned out. There was a time early on when a neighbor reported seeing AJ driving with purpose. was their quote, towards her house on the 2nd. And then they saw a white four-door car following a minute behind her.
And according to Wes, another neighbor saw that same car in their family's driveway. And Wes proposed that this was someone that AJ was having problems with and that she had been texting her friends and her cousin saying that there was this guy who wouldn't leave her alone. And Wes even went as far as saying that she was scared of this person.
Now, we don't know who this person was and really nothing about whoever this was came up when I was doing research. So that's really all I have on that. But it definitely seemed to pique Wes's interest, though, as part of his investigation. Oh, and part of his investigation also happened to include intimidating possible suspects, which brings me back to Corey French.
After investigators released him from questioning, Wes was pissed, and so he decided to take matters into his own hands. And he wanted people to know that he thought Corey was guilty of AJ's disappearance, and of course he wanted Corey to know that as well. So, after they let him go, Wes drove over there, he parked outside of his house, and he just blared an air horn throughout the entire night.
And not only that, he ends up ordering a pizza in AJ's name and he writes on the box, I know you did it. And then he had it delivered to Corey's house, which at the time, a lot of people felt like it crossed a line. But some didn't feel that way to a lot of these people. I think they saw a man who was so desperate, so distraught, so grief stricken that he was willing to do whatever he had to do.
to get answers and to get AJ back. And even if that meant harassing somebody, he was going to do it. He would tell anyone that would listen that Corey was responsible for AJ going missing. And he even accused law enforcement of not being as dedicated to finding her as he was, which wasn't actually the case.
State and federal authorities were called in to assist in the search, and everyone was doing their best to try and locate her. Even the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was brought in to help. But here's the thing. For as suspicious as Corey was to investigators, they didn't zero in on him entirely. It didn't matter how vocal Wes was being.
They were going to conduct a thorough investigation before making any kind of arrest. And of course, that meant looking into other suspects. including AJ's first stepdad, Zach, who we've already talked about. And they learned that the relationship between Zach and Jennifer was strained after all the custody stuff, so they ended up bringing him in for questioning.
And they knew it was a bit of a stretch, but they wanted to make sure that he didn't do something to AJ as some kind of retaliation. But just like Josh, he was nowhere near the house when it's believed that AJ went missing. They also said that he seemed truly devastated over AJ's disappearance, like just beyond distraught. And he even offered up his own DNA.
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Chapter 6: What role did Wesley Hadsell play in the investigation?
But since he has a felony record, which I have not yet mentioned, he didn't want to report it out of fear of being arrested for breaking and entering. So basically, he asked Andre to make up an excuse to go over to the house and uncover it himself. And when it came to the clothing on the side of the road, that was also Wes's doing.
He told Andre that he got an anonymous call about the clothing, and since he had helped Wes during the other searches, he went this time too. Andre also shared with investigators that Wes was driving super erratically. and then suddenly claimed to see the clothes on the side of the road.
So now investigators are seeing that it wasn't like Andre had just stumbled across either of these things, that both instances had a connection to Wes. And so after hearing this, the dots really started to connect.
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From the beginning, Wes had been inserting himself into the investigation, and he was doing whatever he could to steer them in the direction of Corey. But was he only doing that to take the heat off of himself? Investigators wanted to find out, so they started looking deeper into him, and that's when they discovered his criminal record.
To just name a few, he has several burglary and forgery charges, as well as charges for strangulation, rape, and kidnapping his estranged wife. Now, obviously, that is terrifying, highly disturbing, but it, of course, didn't prove that he did anything to AJ. It proves that he's a giant piece of shit, but not that he's a killer.
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Chapter 7: What led investigators to suspect Wesley Hadsell?
After they reviewed data from his GPS device, they found one location that didn't seem to match the rest, and it was from March 4th. The device had been turned off on the 2nd, and there was very little data from the 3rd, but the next day, it showed that West drove to an abandoned house more than 45 miles southwest of where AJ lived.
Investigators described that day as super misty and gray with just kind of an eerie feeling. And when they arrived at the house, the lead detective on the case ended up being the one to find her. He had spotted this drainage ditch just behind the house and someone had placed a piece of plywood on top of it. And so he just barely stuck his foot underneath and sort of lifted up with his toe.
And right there, he found AJ's body lying face down in the mud. She was wearing the same outfit Wes had described. And this is very upsetting to say, but her pants had been pulled down, which does suggest a sexual assault took place. And it took a day, but on April 10th, her remains were officially identified.
Now, despite the decomposition, they could see that she had severe bruising to her chest and her face. But given how long it had been, they were unfortunately unable to determine if a sexual assault took place. And in the end, it was determined that her cause of death was acute heroin poisoning.
They say it was three times the lethal limit, which that alone, right off the bat, was an indication that AJ did not do this to herself. which I think already is pretty obvious. I mean, AJ had no history of drug use whatsoever, and there was no evidence pointing to her being responsible. On the other hand, there was plenty of evidence pointing to Wesley, but they still couldn't arrest him yet.
They needed more evidence, which eventually they did get. And based on a hunch, they just decided to go ahead and pull surveillance footage from a 7-Eleven that was close to AJ's house. And the thought there was that maybe they could see Wes's work truck coming through the area on the day that AJ went missing. And surprise, surprise, they sure did.
Around 12.16 p.m., his white Chevy Astrovan could be seen driving in the direction towards the family's home, which, as a reminder, he no longer lived at. which doesn't match up with his story about him meeting her at a gas station, which of course we already knew was bullshit because they pulled the security footage from the gas station and neither of them were ever there.
Then at 1.27 p.m., his van is seen again driving in the opposite direction away from the house and investigators believe that AJ was inside. Their theory at that point was that Wes had some type of sick sexual interest in his stepdaughter and that when he went over to the house to act on it, she denied him.
Not only that, they think she tried to fight him off, which is when he abducted her and drove off in his van. And they don't know when or where he killed her, but they believe that he was the one to poison her with the drug.
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