Who Is Jessica Runions? Search For Missing Missouri Woman Yields Two Bodies, But Few Answers

Family and friends searching for a missing Missouri woman keep finding the bodies of other missing people. Jessica Runions, 21, disappeared in September after spending time with friends in south Kansas City. Two days later, her burned vehicle was found in a nearby wooded area.

Runions liked spending time outdoors and hiking, and her family has been searching for her in fields and woods near her home. Instead, they found two separate bodies belonging to other people during their weekend searches.

“We just look for secluded areas and areas that are not well-lit, our group of family and friends that search with us they give us ideas," her father, John Runions, told local media. “My cousin was in front of me. He said I think I found a body, and I said yeah you did find a body, we need to get back and call 911.”

The group found another body the week before. It was later identified as Brandon Herring, a young father who went missing in November. He was buried on Saturday, when John Runions' fiancé and her mom found a second body. That case is being investigated as a suspicious death, but the man has not been identified, according to media reports.

The discoveries have been unsettling for the search party.

“It’s a human being laying there just cast aside, it’s tough, a lot of people don’t sleep because of the things that we’ve found," John Runions said.

Jessica Runion was last seen leaving a party with Kylr Yust, a man described as a friend of her boyfriend. Yust, 27, faces charges of burning her vehicle but has not been officially linked to her disappearance or death.

Her father said he is happy his search has helped other families figure out what happened to their missing relatives.

“Two bodies two weeks in a row?” he said. “It’s unbelievable. ... We’re not going to stop looking until we find her. And if we find other people along the way, that’s good. Families deserve closure.”