Why George Jones Came up in Some Discussions About Tammy Wynette’s Violent Kidnapping
Once known as country music royalty, George Jones and Tammy Wynette‘s marriage didn’t last through the ups and downs of his drinking. And years after they split, Wynette said she was kidnapped at gunpoint. So, some came to the conclusion Jones must have been behind it.
What did Wynette say happened during the “terrifying” ordeal? Plus, why did some people believe Jones might have had something to do with it? And what did those close to them think?
Tammy Wynette’s 1978 kidnapping story was ‘very puzzling’ to investigators
Wynette was at a shopping mall in 1978 when she was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint. She told PEOPLE she felt a “poke” at her side as she entered her vehicle. “All I could see was a brown glove, a lot of hair on his arm, and two inches of [a] gun barrel,” she shared.
The queen of country music heartbreak said the assailant wore a mask, ordered her to drive 80 miles through the Tennessee country, then beat her viciously before leaving her on the side of the road where a fan found her.
Afterward, Wynette’s cheekbone was fractured, and she was photographed with a badly bruised face. She said she had burn marks from where he’d wrung pantyhose around her neck and called it “the most terrifying experience of [her] life.”
Nashville detectives called the crime “very puzzling” because Wynette had cash and credit cards that remained with her. The assailant was never caught.
Some people thought George Jones had something to do with Tammy Wynette’s kidnapping
Some observers thought Jones had something to do with the violent ordeal because he’d been married to Wynette previously. Theirs was the third marriage for each of them, but they divorced in 1975 due to his excessive drinking. They were said to have been on and off for a while following the split.
Jones was known to drive hours back to his old home where Wynette lived and go around the driveway just to let her know he was thinking of her. Some thought this could have translated into something more possessive after she moved on. She also claimed he chased her through their home with a loaded rifle once in their marriage, which he denied.
Wynette dated Burt Reynolds for a while, then she married her fourth husband — but only briefly. In July 1978, she married her fifth husband George Richey, to whom she remained married until her 1998 death.
She was kidnapped in October 1978, but she was threatened and harassed for months before it happened. Some thought Jones might have been jealous enough to stage such a terrifying ordeal. But others, including those close to Wynette, had a different theory.
Some people thought Tammy Wynette made up her kidnapping story, including her daughters
After Wynette died, one of her four daughters claimed that the “Stand by Your Man” singer told her the kidnapping story was a lie. According to Jackie Daly, Richey was abusive, and the couple concocted the tale to cover up his violence.
Wynette’s only daughter with Jones believed what her sister told her to be true and said it was “ridiculous” to think her dad could have been involved. Georgette Jones wrote in her memoir The Three of Us: Growing Up With Tammy and George that she believed it was all part of Richey’s abuse (per Country Living).
Georgette Jones claimed Wynette’s last husband “tried very hard to separate mom from her family and friends so he could be the only person she could turn to. I think she felt like she had no choice and it was too difficult to fight.”
Notably, ongoing disagreements led to Richey being interred in and then removed from Wynette’s crypt after he died in 2010. Before his death, he denied allegations of abuse by Wynette’s daughters, including insinuations he played a role in her death at 55.
How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
