TBI: New searches, tips in 20-year-old disappearance of Tennessee mom, toddler

It's been more than 20 years since a Robertson County mother and her two-year-old daughter disappeared without a trace, and investigators confirmed this week they are conducting new searches in a case thought to have long gone cold.

Jennifer Wix was 22 years old when she and her daughter, Adrianna, were reported missing by family members on March 27, 2004.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Robertson County Sheriff's Office are pursuing new leads and tips as they come in, and that has included new searches, a TBI public information officer said this week.

It was not immediately clear which areas have been searched or if anything has been uncovered as a result of those searches.

More:Hendersonville mother hopes for resolution after police reclassify Wix case as homicide

"Investigators also continue to review and revisit information that has already been gathered," TBI officials said in a statement Wednesday.

At the time of her disappearance, Jennifer Wix's mother, Kathy Nale, told authorities she last spoke with her daughter three days earlier, when Jennifer Wix called upset about an argument she'd had with her live-in boyfriend, William Joseph “Joey” Benton.

Investigators questioned the then 23-year-old Benton at that time. He initially told them that Jennifer Wix had left with a friend he didn't know on March 25, 2004, according to prior reporting in The Tennessean.

The story later changed.

In his last statement to authorities, Benton said he took Jennifer Wix and her daughter to a grocery store in Cross Plains at her request. He left them at a local gas station and watched them get into a white four-door car, the statement said.

Benton also told investigators that Jennifer Wix had returned to his property the next day to collect her belongings, but none of his information has ever been corroborated, officials have said in prior interviews.

More:Wix case reclassified as homicide

More: Murder suspected in Wix case

Several searches of the Benton property have taken place over the years, including draining and searching a pond there, and Benton has not been ruled out as a suspect, according to prior interviews with law enforcement.

In December 2013, the Robertson County Sheriff's Office reclassified the Wix case from missing persons to a homicide investigation.

Messages seeking comment from the Robertson County Sheriff's Office were unreturned as of press time for this story.

If anyone has information about the disappearance of Jennifer and Adrianna Wix, contact the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office, or TBI, at 1-800-TBI-FIND, or through [email protected].

Katie Nixon can be reached at [email protected].