New Orleans Authorities Just Can’t Put Their Finger on How Cam Performer Viv Died

Only in New Orleans is the spouse — the creepy weapons instructor spouse — not the prime suspect. When the last place the victim was seen was at home with the spouse. And the family found the body a few blocks from the home. And the spouse is reportedly now camming with another woman.

The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office is unable to determine the cause or manner of death for Jessica Easterly Durning, a cam performer who worked under the name “Viv” with her husband, “Lance”.

Durning’s body was found in a state of decomposition on the edge of City Park in the Lakeview area last summer, more than a week after she had been reported missing.

Coroner’s spokesman Jason Melancon said the office performed an autopsy and toxicology tests on Durning, and according to its report, the pathologist who performed the autopsy found evidence that Durning suffered a nose injury as well as “a small linear fracture” in her jaw around the time she died.

But the pathologist didn’t address how those wounds may have been caused, the four-page autopsy report, signed Jan. 8, showed.

Additionally, a toxicology examination revealed the presence of various substances, including medications. But records don’t single out any as being a driving factor in Durning’s death.

New Orleans Authorities Just Can't Put Their Finger on How Cam Performer Viv Died
The edge of City Park, seen from Orleans Ave and Kenilworth St

Cause and Manner of Death

As discussed in our coverage of the strange and awful death of adult film star Violet Rain, ‘Cause of Death’ denotes the specific injury or disease that lead to the death, ‘Manner of Death’ represents the determination of how the injury or disease led to death: whether a person died naturally or as a result of a homicide, suicide or accident.

Melancon said the Coroner’s Office ultimately classified both the cause and manner of Durning’s death as undetermined.

This classification is relatively rare, as it is the job of the Medical Examiner/Coroner to determine how the decedent died.

Nola.com reports:

Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich, who didn’t work on Durning’s case, said it is not uncommon for forensic investigators to classify some deaths as undetermined in cases where there is little or conflicting evidence.

He said coroners “have the right and obligation” to change such a determination if new information presents itself that would point to a specific cause and manner of death over other classifications “with a high degree of probability.”

“However, if not, this could stay as undetermined forever,” Cvitanovich said.

Look at all that passion

Not mentioned at all in the latest press report is Durning’s spouse/camming partner Lance. In fact, he is largely absent from most media reports. However, a 2019 interview with Viv and Lance by YNOTcam.com yields some details of their lives.

“We’ve been camming for about three months but have been in the adult industry for about four years. We first started on Pornhub as a fun outlet for our exhibitionism… We posted a video to see what would happen, and it took off!”

And so, Viv and Lance, a couple who works on Chaturbate, burst onto the cammunity scene.

Viv has two Master’s degrees, one of which is in psychology. Lance is former military, with fifteen years of service, and is now a weapons instructor.

. . .

Outside of work, what are y’all most passionate about?

Viv and Lance: We are pretty passionate about a few things. Lance loves instructing and building custom weapons. Viv acts, doing background work in many of the television shows and movies filmed here in New Orleans.

Durning’s friends and family have also said on record that Lance was abusive to her.

A missing person

According to Lance, Durning was last seen at their home in the 6000 block of General Haig Street, in southeast Lakeview, at approximately 1pm on Aug 14. At that time, according to Lance, they laid down for a nap.

He claimed his daughter came home sometime after 3:00pm and woke him, and that was when found her gone.

Poof.

Here is a Facebook appeal from Jessica’s friend, who initiated a NOPD welfare check:

Jessica called me Monday [Aug. 12] begging me to come get her. She was exhausted and afraid and wouldn’t give me details but said she would tell me everything when I got there. I agreed to help her leave Tuesday [Aug. 13] morning but never got a call back. Wednesday [Aug. 14] evening, I started receiving messages from her Facebook account but from her husband, not her. He said she’s missing and left her wallet (ID and money), phone, keys and car behind.

I advised she wasn’t with me and that I was sending the police to the house. This idea was not met with enthusiasm. I’ve called N.O.P.D. every day since then.

Durning was reported missing to New Orleans police on Aug. 14.

A body clad in black shoes, black shorts and a black tank top was found on Aug. 22 at the corner of Orleans Ave and Kenilworth St, about four blocks away from her home, police said.

Durning’s sister, Audra Gutierrez, along with other relatives who were searching her neighborhood, found her body, which was decomposing, and then reported it to police.

Police said it wasn’t until Nov. 12 that they received information from the Coroner’s Office which definitively identified the body as Durning’s.

“This thing would not have taken this long as it has had she not laid in the New Orleans sun for a week and a half before her body was found,” said Durning’s stepfather Rick Schmitt, of Summerdale, Alabama. “That’s what made the autopsy to difficult… The fact that she was there, everything points to she was dumped there; she did not die there.”

In December, Lance Anderson launched an online fundraiser to gather $3500 for a memorial service, and publicized it on the couple’s social media accounts. In exchange for donations from her fan base, he offered pics and videos of Viv.

Durning’s sister has said, the Lance “has only contacted my parents once! And that was about a month after she went missing!”

“She was tired of that *** and realized she deserved better! That’s why she was leaving…she was going to start over!”

Gustavo Turner reported that on January 8, “XBIZ received several tips from the camming community that Easterly was a cam performer known as Viv. That same day, the Viv and Lance Twitter account was suddenly deleted.”

Timing

This case doesn’t exactly have the most rock solid timeline. If our boy Lance is not telling the truth, then Viv (Durning) could have ‘disappeared’ / been killed as early as Aug 12. That’s a significant head start if one needs to hide or dispose of a body.

Nola.com’s report concludes:

Durning’s family has said in various forums that the lack of answers since has been difficult, and they fear someone may have at least moved her body from another place to the spot where it was found.

Durning’s stepfather, Rick Schmitt, said Tuesday that his family spoke with New Orleans police homicide detectives after her death had been classified as undetermined. Schmitt said the investigators assured his family that the investigation remained open and active.

“They (said they) are still dealing with some leads and are making some progress,” Schmitt said.

Sometimes, the answer is right under your nose.

548111cookie-checkNew Orleans Authorities Just Can’t Put Their Finger on How Cam Performer Viv Died

New Orleans Authorities Just Can’t Put Their Finger on How Cam Performer Viv Died

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One Response

  1. I was a Chaturbate Moderator and tipper, I personally knew Vivian from email and phone calls, and she was a very nice woman. Lance was obsessed with many girls on CB and even commented on my pics in my passworded account. I had spoken to her in May, before she disappeared and we were planning to meet in August in Arkansas at my brothers.

    Well, that never happened, of course, and again, I contacted the detectives to give my insight into this and numbers I had for her and to whom on CB might know something. Again, this is a sad case.

    What is interesting is the family member who found the body knew right where to go. Strange. Again, Lance was not in the military, it was all a LIE or cover up for his CONTROLLING, OBSESSIVE ways, whenever she was on phone he was listening demanding it on speaker phone, and he was a looser. His home he lives in was a relative and he lived off his parents, and had nothing.

    He used Vivian to lure her into his sick thing with sex and Camgirls on Chaturbate. After the death – he actually went to a couple who cammed and wanted their TOKENS or TIPS for that day for a FUNERAL DRIVE for VIVIAN, which was all BS because her body was in the morgue. It still us.

    They can’t find the KILLE R? Lance killed Vivian and everyone who knew her knows this. She wanted to get away from him, she was not happy with him, and he was very controlling.

    So, if anyone can share more to someone, please do. No one just disappears without their walled/keys and such and ends up in a place 5 blocks from home. Where were the freaking dogs to sniff this out?

    Sounds like someone paid someone off in that town.

    Shame.

    VIVIAN – your in my thoughts – TEMOGRADY
    LANCE – I hope you rot in hell

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