When she was around 21 years old, TikToker Jessica (@jessicawollinsky87) met Julia. They have been friends for 18 years. So, it was a shock to Jessica when her friend of 18 years abandoned her kids to be with a man.
Julia has been in toxic on-and-off relationships ever since Jessica has known her. Julia also has two daughters. Most recently, Julia was in an abusive relationship.
She had moved to Las Vegas for him. After he hit her, she finally decided to leave and move back to Virginia, with the help of her mother and stepfather.
At the time, the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, and Julia’s mom didn’t want her to go to work and be in and out of the house because of her health condition. So, that’s where Jessica came in. She offered Julia and her kids a place to stay.
“That’s what they did,” said Jessica. “They came over, stayed with us, and I even got her a job at the restaurant where I was working. She started doing weird stuff: going outside, walking the dog in the rain, on the phone, on the phone, on the phone.”
Julia told her that she was on the phone with her former boss from Las Vegas. She had worked for a timeshare company there. She claimed that her former boss wanted to hire her back.
She would be writing new scripts for the employees, training people, and earning $80,000 to $100,000. Her old job would also provide housing.
She asked Jessica if her kids could stay in Virginia with her for about six months or until the end of the school year while she got established in Vegas.
She didn’t want to uproot the girls again. At that point, they had already attended 12 different schools. The oldest was in the eighth grade, and the youngest was in the fifth grade.
So, Jessica agreed to let the girls stay. However, Julia said that the job in Vegas wanted her to start in three days. She booked her flight, which she claimed the job paid for, and took her dog with her.
Jessica also thought it was odd that Julia was doing her hair and makeup for the flight and that she didn’t want to say goodbye to the girls.
She just assumed that Julia probably wanted to look presentable in case people from her job were there when she landed, and that she didn’t want the girls to get upset that she was leaving.
Julia said that she left food assistance cards and health insurance cards for the girls on top of the microwave, but Jessica only found an insurance card.
She called Julia until she finally answered the phone. Julia told her that she would mail the card. After that, communication from her was completely cut off.
Jessica didn’t hear from her for about four years. She had to track Julia down, and she started by calling Julia’s job. The lady on the on the phone told Jessica that their workplace did not provide housing for employees and that Julia was never asked to return to work.
Julia’s daughter then found the account information for the food assistance card. It turned out that Julia had used all the money on the card the very first day she arrived in Vegas.
They also found out that she had gotten married and was going on trips without a care in the world. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
“But here’s where it gets even crazier,” said Jessica. “The now-husband was in a road rage incident where he got into an altercation with a woman and beat her face in, and was actually wanted. So, they went on the run and came all the way back here to Virginia, and we had no idea they were even here. He was arrested here in Virginia.”
Furthermore, he was released from jail due to a clerical error. Jessica heard all about it on the news. Eventually, he was caught and sent back to jail in Vegas.
Julia stayed in Virginia and was living with his family. She never tried to check on her kids the whole time she was there.
After she abandoned her kids, Jessica had to go to court multiple times to fight for custody. She was finally granted custody in July and took them on a family vacation.
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By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
