Six Suspects in Vermont Kidnapping Case Remain in Custody

Six suspects charged in a January kidnapping originating in Claremont, N.H., were all still in custody as of April 6, according to a status conference at Windsor County District Court in White River Junction.

The hearing centered partly on Jessenialyz Jones, 18, the youngest of the six defendants. Jones had been transported from Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington to appear in court that Monday. She asked the judge to move her out of isolation and into a general population unit, a request that reflects a persistent tension inside the Vermont Department of Corrections over how it handles younger inmates.

Jones pleaded not guilty on Jan. 26 to six felony counts. Four of those charges were kidnapping counts, two were assault counts. The kidnapping charges covered two victims and included allegations involving bodily injury, fear, and ransom. The assault charges included aggravated assault and aggravated assault with a weapon.

Police say Jones wasn’t a peripheral figure. According to the affidavit, the primary victim identified Jones as the person who burned her with a hot blade, waterboarded her with hydrogen peroxide, and struck her repeatedly across what police describe as a roughly three-week ordeal.

The case started on Jan. 1, 2026, when the victim went to Claremont to meet Nicole Palardy, 36, to buy cocaine. Instead, police say the group drove her to Springfield, Vermont, against her will and held her captive in a basement at 950 Randall Hill Road. Her captors accused her of stealing $8,000 from them. They reached out to people on Facebook, including her ex-boyfriend, demanding repayment. That ex-boyfriend contacted police.

On Jan. 25, Springfield Police tracked a phone ping to the Randall Hill Road address and ordered everyone out. Five arrests happened that day. A sixth came the following week.

A second victim was also held at the address for a shorter period. Police say the group suspected she had some connection to the missing money.

All six defendants have pleaded not guilty. White River Junction is roughly 45 minutes south of Hanover along I-91. The Springfield address where police say the kidnapping took place sits about 20 miles north of the courthouse on Route 11.

Windsor County Deputy State’s Attorney Emily Zukauskas appeared at the April 6 conference. “The public defenders representing the defendants are considering coordinating their filing deadlines,” Zukauskas said, a move that would make sense given that evidence and witnesses likely cut across all six cases.

VTDigger first reported on the April 6 proceedings. All six defendants don’t have trial dates set yet, and it’s unclear how long coordination between the public defenders might take. The next steps at Windsor County District Court will depend on whether those filing deadlines get aligned.

Jones, born in 2007 or 2008 based on her age, remains the youngest person facing charges in the case. Her isolation at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington was tied to that age. The court didn’t immediately rule on her housing request from the Monday appearance.