RICHARD LEE FRANKS | A Car Pulled Up to the Curb, The Driver Got Out, Said Hello to the Kids, Picked Up 6-year-old OPAL JENNINGS, Hit Her in the Chest, Threw Her Into His Car and Drove Off | AGG KIDNAPPING | 1999/2000 | LWPP | 3 ALS

Richard Franks. Lot of 3 ALS. Pmks: (1) March 15, 2007, (2) April 19, 2007 and (3) May 25, 2007. SEALED. Contents unknown. Pristine.

Kidnap

Confused, her 4-year-old friend dashed to his house nearby to tell his mother. Opal’s cousin, nearly 3, ran to the grandparents’ house and wailed; “Opal gone bye-bye.” In the chaos that followed, relatives and police tried to get clues from the preschoolers, the only witnesses. But days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years without any trace of the blue-eyed girl who loved playing with Barbie dolls, riding her bicycle and going to kindergarten.

Nearly five years after her abduction, part of Opal’s skeletal remains were found in the woods about 10 miles from where she disappeared. Family and friends finally laid Opal to rest with a memorial service at Richard Hills Church of Christ. “It was hard not knowing,” said her mother, Leola Sanderford, shaking her head. “Now, we know she’s at peace.” Opal had moved in with her grandparents in Saginaw, a town of about 13,000 residents just northwest of Fort Worth, during the fall of 1998 while her mother stayed in North Dakota to work and save money to support Opal and her 2-year-old sister.

The bubbly Opal delved right in to kindergarten, making friends, coloring and learning to read. She printed her name with a purple marker on her wooden locker in the classroom; she later got in trouble for writing on a school pew but took it in stride. “She was just resilient and fit right in,” said Gioia Jones, Opal’s kindergarten teacher. “She just approached everything with a happy heart.”

On March 26, 1999, Opal was excited about going out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, but wanted to play outside first. The 4-year-old playmate told police that a man in a dark car snatched Opal, drove less than a block, turned around in a driveway and sped away in the other direction. It was about 5:30 pm. “She was just playing in the yard, doing what little kids are supposed to do,” said James Neale, a Saginaw police detective. “When you get these kinds of calls, they always turn up, but this one didn’t.” For months, investigators tracked down thousands of registered sex offenders in Saginaw and nearby cities, eliminating hundreds of possible suspects.

Richard Lee Franks’s (b. 1969; hereinafter referred to as “Ricky”) name didn't stand out at first. He had served time on a charge of indecency with a child in nearby Wise County and was living with his wife in Fort Worth. When an investigator tried to find him, he discovered Ricky’s half-brother lived down the street from Opal’s grandparents. Ricky was questioned and later arrested. He said he took Opal to a store but dropped her off safely after fending off the sexual advances of the 6-year-old. He later denied that he picked up Opal.

A hung jury caused a mistrial to result from his first trial in 2000, but three months later he was found guilty of aggravated kidnappingⁱ and given a life sentence. Authorities weren’t certain if they would charge him with murder in connection with Opal’s passing. Judy, who was charged with lying to a grand jury, entered a guilty plea to aggravated perjuryⁱⁱ.

For Opal’s family, Ricky’s conviction didn’t ease the hurt of not knowing where she was. Police believed Ricky killed her but couldn’t prove it. Her family feared she was dead but held out hope, appearing on television news programs over the years just to show her picture, one more time, just in case. “After all that time, we kind of knew (she died), but we were still hoping she’d come home alive,” said Audrey Sanderford, Opal’s great-aunt.

Rescue teams used horses and all-terrain vehicles to travel to locations Ricky claimed he frequently visited as they conducted numerous searches over the years, most recently in the spring of 2017. Opal's remains, however, were found by chance. On December 30, 2003, two horseback riders came across a piece of a small skull in some woods about 10 miles outside of Saginaw. According to the Medical Examiner's Report, she may have passed away from a crushing head injury. Following that, investigators searched the woods and discovered additional bone fragments, a toy, and Barbie tennis shoes, the same brand Opal was wearing when she vanished. Even though the discovery was sad, it was crucial for the family and the officers who searched for her, enabling them to move forward. ⁱⁱⁱ

Confession

... “I was afraid she was going to make a pass at me or get me to take her some where. She was wanting me to take her to the store. She wanted ... she went around the front of the car to get into the passenger side. I was afraid she wanted me to take her to have sex with her or something. I took her to the store. She got into the passenger side.The other two kids were outside playing. I told her I was going to bring her back so she could finish playing with the other two kids. I took her to the convenience store a block from the house. I sat in the car and she got something to drink. She bought a coke. Then she came back to the car she said thank you for bringing me up here, but I said I don't want to do it again. Opal tried to move over toward me ... I didn't know what she tried to do she tried to grab me between the legs ... she grabbed my dick he said, she wanted to you know, "Fuck me!", I told her "No!", she said, "Fuck me!", she tried to take her pants off. I told her no she asked me "Why?" and I said, "Because I don't do that!" She asked me "Why?" And I said, "Because you're too young and I could get in trouble for ...." She unzipped my pants, took my ... and had it in her hand ... she went down like she was going to go down on it. I pushed her back. I put my johnson back in my pants. She was sitting beside when she went to bend over. I pushed her back. I said I'm not going to have sex with somebody younger than I am. I told her that she needed to get out of the car. This happened on the way back after the store.”

His first parole date is scheduled for August 15, 2029.

VIDEO: Angie Housman (9yo) 1993 Amber Hagerman (9yo) 1996 Opal Jo Jennings (6yo) 1999 | https://youtu.be/oXjxmU9LX8E

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