PORTLAND, OR – After Meighan Cordie was found dead over a year ago, her father is suing his former wife and Meighan’s mom for wrongful death and negligence.
In August 2018, Meighan Cordie left a wedding with her mother Jennifer Jaeger and her 3-year-old daughter. They were on their way home from a rural area in Yamhill county. They had just left a friend’s wedding held at Heiser Farms on Grand Island.
Apparently, they had both drank and danced at the reception and Meighan didn’t want to drive due to her past DUIs. When the mother and daughter got in the car, they started fighting. Then, Jennifer Jaeger assured the police that her daughter jumped out of the car while she was driving.
“I stopped right after she jumped out, because I wasn’t moving,” she told the police. But she said it was very dark outside and she couldn’t see anything. “I am just calling her name and looking out the window and trying to hear her,” said Weathers. “I drove back and forth, probably for about half an hour.”
However, she said she wasn’t able to find her. So, the next morning, she called the authorities to report her missing.
“We were at a wedding and she was upset and got out of the car and I haven’t heard from her since,” she told the non-emergency line for police. “I’ve checked the hospitals and I’ve checked the jails and she’s not in either one of those.”
About a week later, three joggers found a dead body close to an embarkment. It was Meighan’s. But her body was about 9 miles away from where her mother had reported last seeing her. Besides, she was barefoot and had no signs of having walked through a forest.
After examining the Meighan’s body, things didn’t add up to the authorities. The events recalled by Jaeger didn’t fit what the clues were saying. They also discovered Meighan’s hair inside her mother’s car, which made the authorities aware of the probable physical fight between the two women.
Jaeger took a polygraph test, which results turned out to be inconclusive. Later, she admitted to taking muscle relaxers the night before the test. Nonetheless, the death was ruled accidental. And police declared that the 27-year-old was killed instantly. Most likely due to blunt force trauma.
Meighan’s 3-year-old-daughter was also interrogated. She said the speed the car was going when her mother jumped was way faster than that Jaeger had previously declared.
Now, Cordie’s father is not so sure of his former wife’s innocence. And he is seeking justice on behalf of his daughter. This led him to file a $500,000 lawsuit against Jaeger.
According to the suit, Cordie accuses Jaeger of withholding vital information about the incident. He also believes she misled the police in the area where Meighan left the car. Besides, he thinks she failed to stop or even slow down, while drunk driving when her daughter jumped out of the car. This, for him, is a clear example of negligence and wrongful death.
Another complaint made by Cordie is related to the remains of his daughter, which Jaeger refused to release from the funeral home. He is recurring to court to get an order to be able to get Meigan’s ashes.
The couple has been divorced since 2005.
Although Jaeger hasn’t faced charges for her role in Meighan’s death, she did get a DUI sentence. She served a short time in jail.
