Death of New Orleans porn actress a mystery

On August 12, 2019, 43-year-old Jessica Easterly Durning frantically called a friend to pick her up, saying she felt afraid to stay in her home. “She didn’t go into specifics, only that she needed to leave,” the friend recalled. “But it was a 2-hour drive from my place, and I didn’t have anyone to pick up my kids from school. I planned to pick her up the next morning, then I got a text, canceling.”

Two days later, Jessica’s husband messaged the friend using Jessica’s Facebook account, saying his wife had vanished and prompting the friend to phone the New Orleans Police Department.

Two weeks later, New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson released the following to the news media:

“NOPD is seeking to locate an adult female reported to be missing. The reporting person said he last observed Jessica Easterly Durning, born August 17, 1976, at their residence on August 14, 2019, in the 6000 block of General Haig Street. When he woke that afternoon at 3:30, the reporting person discovered Jessica was not at the residence and has not been seen or heard from since.”

The notice provided contact information for the Third District detectives working the case. Oddly, the report avoided identifying the “reporting person” as Jessica’s husband, Justin Durning, possibly due to how the couple paid their bills. Both led double lives as Internet pornography stars, Viv and Lance Anderson.

On August 22, two days after NOPD released the notice, Jessica’s sisters, Amanda and Audra, arrived in New Orleans with their cousin, Doug. Before meeting with detectives, Doug suggested checking the Lakeview neighborhood near Jessica’s home to consider how they might organize a search party. Two blocks from Jessica’s apartment, near Kenilworth and Orleans, riding with car windows down, they noticed a foul smell. Stopping at City Park, they found Jessica’s body lying in the grass, decaying in the sun.

On September 1, Alabama police swabbed Jessica’s mother for DNA to help the coroner identify the body in New Orleans. The following day, Justin phoned Jessica’s parents for the first time since her disappearance.

In October, NOPD reported losing the mother’s DNA before it reached the coroner’s office. Soon after, they collected new DNA and confirmed Jessica’s identity on November 8, 2019.

Just before Christmas that year, Justin created a fundraising social media account requesting help funding Jessica’s funeral. As Lance, he created a second fundraising account requesting help funding Viv’s funeral, writing, “If you donate, you will receive exclusive pics, videos, lingerie, and even shoes.”

On January 24, 2020, Jessica’s stepfather, Rick Schmitt, and her sister, Audra, returned to New Orleans for an update from NOPD. Detectives told them the “cold case” was not active, but the coroner’s report one week later said Jessica suffered a fractured nose, broken jaw, broken rib, and a broken C4 vertebra, commonly referred to as a broken neck. The coroner listed Jessica’s cause of death as “undetermined.”

The Orleans Parish Coroner’s office released a statement saying, “Advance changes of decomposition can make determining cause and manner of death difficult as it did in this case. Limited decomposition toxicology testing of liver tissue did test positive for Methamphetamine and Bupropion. It is unclear if these results reflect recent intake, but a drug-related death cannot be ruled out.”

A New Orleans Police Department representative told reporters that week that the investigation into Jessica Durning’s death remained open and active. However, the family still asked the Louisiana State Police and the District Attorney’s Office to join the investigation, offering to share information on Jessica’s activities in the weeks and months leading up to Jessica’s death.

On March 15, a couple in Jessica’s Lakeview neighborhood found her identification card and blanket, 15 yards from the location where Jessica’s family discovered her body seven months earlier. Six months later, an NOPD detective followed up with the couple to retrieve the ID and blanket.

On April 14, Audra filed a formal complaint with the Public Integrity Bureau against the NOPD for “Failing to Properly Investigate the death of Jessica Easterly Durning.” Four months later, on August 6, 2020, the Public Integrity Bureau notified Audra that an audit of the police investigation was underway.

On October 20, Crime Scene Investigators collected samples from a futon left in front of Justin Durning’s home for trash pickup.

On February 2, 2021, after 530 days, the coroner in New Orleans released Jessica’s body to relatives, and the family held a Celebration of Life gathering the following week.

In May of this year, New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams, responding to a 27,000-signature petition, agreed to re-examine the case of Jessica Easterly Durning.

If you have any information on Jessica’s disappearance and subsequent death, please contact the New Orleans Police Department. They need help.