Jeannie Quinn homicide unsolved five years after disappearance from Levelland

HOCKLEY COUNTY, Texas (KCBD) - It will be five years since Jeannie Quinn was found dead in Abilene on April 17 and there’s still only a person of interest named in her case, 61-year-old Ricky Don Henderson.

“It’s sad,” John R. Quinn, Jeannie’s Uncle, told KCBD. “Her birthday just passed. She would have been 25 in December. When you think, five years, where would she be today if this didn’t happen? She had a whole life ahead of her.”

Jeannie disappeared out of Levelland in April of 2018. Two days after her disappearance, she was found in what the medical examiner called a “staged hanging” in a field in Abilene. She was last seen with Henderson.

Henderson was eventually arrested in Taylor County in 2019, but on drug charges from an offense there and in Hockley County. He’s now serving time for those offenses in the TDCJ’s Smith Unit in Lamesa.

In 2021, a Hockley County grand jury indicted him for the 1993 murder of his wife, Stephane Meeks Henderson. He’s currently awaiting trial. According to court records, he had a pre-trial hearing on February 9.

“Even though he’s in jail and he’s also awaiting trial on a different homicide, there’s no accountability for what happened to Jeannie,” Quinn said. “There needs to be closure on what happened to Jeannie. That’s basically what we’re looking for, is closure, not for him just to be in jail. We want him in jail for what he did to Jeannie. Accountability is what we’re looking for.”

The Abilene Police Department released a statement to KCBD, which was the same it provided in 2022.

“The Abilene Police Department has followed up on many leads in this investigation and has continually worked with the family of Mrs. Quinn. The person of interest in this case, 60-year-old Ricky Don Henderson, is presently in prison on two unrelated drug cases. Currently, the department does not have enough evidence to file this case with the District Attorney’s Office. If anyone has information regarding this case, we urge you to contact the Abilene Police Department’s non-emergency number at 325-673-8331 or Abilene Crime Stoppers at 325-676-8477 (676-TIPS).”

“It’s nothing to be afraid of,” Quinn said. “People should come forward. It could be anonymous. If they have something solid, help out.”

Quinn, who lives in New Jersey, told KCBD the last few years have been more difficult as there have been no developments in the case. Jeannie’s grandmother also passed away.

“She wasn’t around to see the closure, but we just keep going,” Quinn said. “We don’t forget. I visit [Jeannie] at the cemetery every week. She is with her father and she’s with her grandma.”

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