“Stand By Your Man” singer Tammy Wynette had an incredibly tumultuous personal life fraught with
several bad marriages and periods of substance abuse. Her knack for abusing prescription drugs
ended up being what killed her in 1998, and many speculate that Tammy used drugs to escape
from her various abusive relationships. At her death, Tammy had been married to her fifth
husband George Richey for two decades. Though their marriage lasted a long time,
it was only because Tammy was afraid to leave! Near the beginning of their marriage, Tammy was
supposedly kidnapped. After her death, it was revealed by her daughter that the kidnapping
was actually staged to cover up an equally vile crime that had occurred within Tammy’s own home!
Join Facts Verse as the truth about Tammy Wynette’s kidnapping has finally been revealed.
Tammy Wynette had an incredibly tumultuous and storied personal life, and one of the
strangest incidents from the “Stand By Your Man” singer’s biography remains the alleged
1978 kidnapping that found the star beaten and bruised nearly 100 miles away from her home.
Authorities were baffled for numerous reasons when Tammy reported the crime, and no culprit was ever
found. However, after her death two decades later, one of Tammy’s daughters came out with the truth
about the alleged kidnapping that had proved a mystery for the singer’s fans for so many decades.
The incident occurred in October of 1978, and Tammy had married fifth and final husband
George Richey in July of that same year. Tammy's marriage to George Richey had come not very long
after her disastrous marriage to another George, with that being the third husband George Jones.
Tammy's relationship with George Jones had been both a business one and a personal one,
with the two singing together in addition to being married. George Richey was also a singer,
and Tammy’s marriage to him mirrored her marriage to George
Jones in that the two ended up working together professionally in addition to tying the knot.
Tammy Wynette and George Jones’ marriage hadn’t been very successful,
and their careers had taken a notable downward trajectory by the time they decided to get
divorced. The two divorced in 1975, and George Richey was actively pursuing a relationship
with Tammy near the end of her and George Jones' marriage. However, Tammy decided to marry someone
else after divorcing George Jones, with that being her fourth husband Michael Tomlin.
This marriage lasted for less than a year, after which point it was only a short time before George
Richey inevitably wore down Tammy’s hesitancy to tie the knot with him. George Richey had
promised her that he was going to help revive her career after a period of waning success,
and he did end up doing so… though not without a price!
When Tammy reported the alleged 1978 abduction that occurred mere months after her having tied
the knot with George Richey, she claimed that she had left her car door unlocked while going into a
supermarket and that a man had snuck into the car when she was inside of the store. She then
claimed that, when she got back into the car, the man stuck a gun to her head from the backseat and
told her to drive. Tammy ended up nearly 100 miles away, and claimed that the man beat her as she
was driving. The physical abuse that the alleged kidnapper had inflicted upon the country singer
was fairly severe, and the police questioned why the alleged perpetrator had been so aggressive.
Tammy showed up at the house of a woman named Junette Young after the alleged kidnapper had
supposedly abandoned her and taken off with her car. Junette could see that the country
singer was pretty badly injured and went on to get her a wet rag to clean her wounds.
In addition to the nonsensical severity of the
beatings that had supposedly been inflicted on Tammy while she was driving, Nashville police
were also confused about why the alleged kidnapper had chosen not to steal any money from the wealthy
star. Not only did she have $40 in cash on her at the time of the supposed crime, but she
also had several credit cards. Tammy also claimed that she hadn’t seen the face of
the perpetrator and had a hard time giving any physical description to the police whatsoever.
Tammy’s alleged kidnapping baffled authorities,
and the crime remains officially unsolved to this day. However, after Tammy’s death two
decades later in 1998, one of her daughters came out with a story that explained the mysterious
kidnapping, and it was even more tragic than the one the singer had given! If you’re enjoying this
video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel
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In 2000, just a few years after Tammy Wynette's death,
one of her daughters released a book that claimed to solve the mystery of the supposed
1978 abduction that had been making the singer's fans scratch their heads for nearly two decades.
According to the daughter, whose name is Jackie Daly, her mother was, in fact,
lying about the kidnapping, but it wasn’t for a reason that anyone could have predicted!
When Tammy’s alleged 1978 kidnapping started making the news, the authorities weren’t the only
ones skeptical of the singer’s claims. Many fans and onlookers felt that something didn’t add up
about her story, and there were many theories developed as to why she would have faked such a
thing. Some theories suggested that the singer had simply done it for attention, given that she was
no longer the celebrity that she once was. Others suggested that the oft-unfaithful Tammy had made
the story up to cover up an affair that she was having on her then-new husband, George Richey.
According to daughter Jackie Daly, her mother did make up the story of the 1978 kidnapping to
cover something up, and the thing that she was covering up did involve George
Richey. However, the thing she was covering up wasn’t an affair, and George Richey was certainly
no victim! Instead, Jackie has claimed that her mother made the story up in order to cover up
abuse that had been inflicted upon her mother by George Richey during a domestic dispute.
There are many things about Jackie’s story that add up. For one thing,
though Tammy and George Richey’s marriage ended up lasting for two decades,
it was never a very pleasant one. Even if George Richey didn’t inflict the damage
on his wife that had supposedly been inflicted by the alleged kidnapper,
he still did plenty of other messed up things to her, beginning before the two even tied the knot.
Another thing that makes sense about Jackie’s story is that it explains the serious nature of
the physical injuries that Tammy received during the supposed kidnapping. Previously, authorities
had been left perplexed by the physical injuries that had supposedly been inflicted on Tammy while
she was operating her vehicle and cooperating with what the alleged kidnapper had wanted her to do.
Though Tammy Wynette had passed away by the time daughter Jackie Daly came
forward with the supposedly true story of the alleged 1978 kidnapping, George Richey
was still alive! Understandably, he had some issues with Jackie’s account. George Richey
claims that he was innocent, saying that the notion that he would have ever abused
Tammy as being ridiculous. However, their marriage was never the happiest.
Jackie Daly claims she learned the truth about the supposed kidnapping by eavesdropping on her
mother's conversations around the time of the incident. According to Jackie,
she and her new stepfather had gotten into an argument, and George Richey had proceeded to beat
Tammy to a pulp! When Tammy threatened to go to the authorities with the truth of what happened,
George Richey blackmailed her with undisclosed personal information, claiming that he would
write a tell-all book about her and destroy her career. If this account is correct,
it was then George Richey himself who plotted the kidnapping, and likely George Richey, who was the
one who actually drove Tammy nearly 100 miles away from their home in Nashville, Tennessee.
Whether Jackie Daly’s story of spousal abuse is true or not, Tammy Wynette ended up staying
with her fifth husband George Richey for two decades after the alleged incident. However,
the marriage was never a bright spot for the singer, and many believe that the
relationship eventually led to her death from a prescription drug overdose. Although George did
help Tammy get her career back on track over the course of the 1980s and into the 1990s,
he likely did more damage to the singer’s personal life than this boost was worth.
Although Tammy was never happy during her fifth marriage, she apparently bottled all of the
pain up inside and only let those closest to her know how badly she was hurting. Close, personal
friends claim that the singer was in an incredibly distressed state in the months
leading up to her 1998 death, though they had a hard time putting their finger on exactly why.
Many claimed that the singer's marriage to George Richey was more of a business
arrangement than a loving relationship brought forth from love and mutual respect, and
it appears as if this might have genuinely been the case.
While George Richey was alive when Tammy Wynette's daughter made the claims that he had abused her
mother, he later passed away in 2010. Now it's time to hear from you: do you think that Tammy
Wynette was really kidnapped in 1978 like she claimed, or do you think that she made the whole
story up in order to hide something even more sinister that was going on at home? As always,
like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if
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