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Weatherford High School student JaRay Wilson, 16, went missing in October 2012. She was last seen busy texting someone in the surveillance footage of a convenience store. People from the community, Weatherford police officials, and her family members came together to search for her, but to no avail.
It took 14 months and an astonishing confession to locate JaRay's remains buried in a shallow grave in a rural field in December 2013. The confession came from Cody Godfrey, who implicated Tucker Ryan McGee, claiming that he shot the victim before leading police to the remains. Cody, Tucker, and a third accomplice, Caleb McLemore, were charged with the murder.
An all-new episode of #TextMeWhenYouGetHome on Lifetime will delve into JaRay Wilson's complex murder investigation. The episode will detail the happenings in the months after the 16-year-old disappeared up until her skeletal remains were found. The episode will air on the channel on Monday, August 14, 2023, at 8 pm ET.
The official synopsis of the episode states:
"JaRay Wilson texted her mother just minutes before she vanished, and the teen's friends, family and community searched for answers for over a year; someone from JaRay's inner circle later surfaced with shocking details."
Police used cell phone records to trace JaRay Wilson's final moments before she went missing
According to It's Crime O Clock Somewhere, 16-year-old JaRay Wilson resided with her parents in Oklahoma. She was last heard from around 5 pm on the evening of October 14, 2012. JaRay was reported missing the following day by her parents, who told police officers that she had left home a week before because they had grounded her. However, she stayed in constant touch with them.
The outlet reported that police initially thought the headstrong teenager ran away but soon issued an Amber Alert and started investigating her disappearance. Cell phone records showed she was last active around 7 pm on the day she went missing.
According to The Cinemaholic, JaRay was last seen in the surveillance footage of a convenience store that same evening and had been texting on her phone. Her phone records showed that she was in contact with multiple people at the time.
The report states police traced these phone records and spoke to JaRay's friends to find that she was dropped off at a gas station sometime in the afternoon from where another friend picked her up. This person claimed they drove to a friend's house, but she left to hang out with Cody Godfrey and Tucker McGee.
When interviewed, Cody and Tucker claimed they drove around for a few hours before dropping JaRay off at the University Apartments around 7 pm. Their account seemed to match the missing girl's phone records. A few other failed leads followed.
A confession led police to JaRay Wilson's remains buried in a shallow grave in a rural Oklahoma field
After a year had passed and JaRay Wilson remained missing, police decided to interview Cody Godfrey and Tucker McGee again since they were possibly the last people to have seen her. They maintained their version of the events and claimed to know nothing about her whereabouts.
Fourteen months after the investigation commenced, Cody made a staggering confession about what happened to JaRay after he received a text from the 16-year-old to pick her up. Cody claimed Tucker showed him a gun and asked how they could kill JaRay.
Cody admitted to smoking synthetic marijuana with Tucker before picking up JaRay and driving to a deserted, rural area. There they talked for a few hours before Tucker shot the girl for talking too much about her problems, as per The Cinemaholic.
In his confession, Cody mentioned how JaRay didn't see it coming because she had been texting on her phone. Tucker reportedly shot her a second time when she was still alive and moaning. The two then concealed her body and drove back to Weatherford, where they disposed of her belongings in a dumpster.
The following day, Cody and Tucker drove to the scene in Caleb McLemore's car after school. They buried JaRay's body in a shallow grave in a rural Custer County field about two miles north of Weatherford Tucker. Tucker also broke her phone and dumped what remained of it in a nearby creek.
Cody then led police to the victim's remains. A subsequent autopsy confirmed that she died of two gunshot wounds to the skull. The murder weapon was identified as a .22 caliber pistol. Later, Caleb also confessed, and his version of the events matched what Cody had told authorities.
What happened to the three suspects involved in JaRay Wilson's murder?
Cody Godfrey pleaded guilty to being an accessory and got no prison time as part of his plea deal. Caleb McLemore also pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and served two years in prison. He was also given 15 years of probation.
Tucker McGee was charged with first-degree murder in JaRay Wilson's murder and pleaded not guilty. His case went to trial in February 2015. Prosecutors initially sought the death penalty but later settled for a life sentence without the possibility of parole after his conviction.
Since Tucker was a minor, his sentence was appealed, and he was eventually sentenced to life in prison with parole after 38 years in June 2018.
Learn more about JaRay Wilson's murder case on Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYouGetHome this Monday.
