Irene Jacobs

CRIMINAL
Name	Irene Jacobs
Gender	Female
Occupation	Substance abuse counselor
Pathology	Abductor Proxy Killer (once) Criminal Accomplice
Modus Operandi	Abduction and imprisonment Brainwashing
No. of Victims	1 killed by proxy 12 abducted 8 captives
Status	Incarcerated
Portrayed By	Meagen Fay
First Appearance	"The Bunker"

“	Do what you want with him!	”
	— Irene betrays Lawrence

Irene Jacobs is an abductor and one-time proxy killer who was the subordinate half of a two-person abduction team that appears in the Season Thirteen episode of Criminal Minds, "The Bunker".

Background

Much of Irene's personal history isn't explored in much detail, other than she lived in Culpeper, Virginia and worked as a substance abuse counselor at the New Dawn Outreach Center. At some point in her adult life, she became to believe that an apocalyptic event would inevitably occur and joined several internet chat rooms relating to the topic of such an event. This put her into contact with a man named Lawrence Coleman sometime during or prior to 2012 and they began communicating regularly. Lawrence managed a blog about preparing for the apocalypse and expressed extreme views similar to Irene's own. At some point, Irene learned that there was an abandoned underground bunker on the grounds of a property owned by her just outside of Culpeper. When she informed Lawrence of this, the two devised a plan to survive the event and repopulate society after it.

This plan included abducting pregnant teenage patients Irene treated at the outreach center whose children would serve as the citizens of this new society followed by high-functioning professional women that could cater to the basic needs of both the mothers and children. They set the plan in motion on October 16, 2012, by abducting sixteen-year-old drug addict Chrissy Miller and later that week, a runaway named Kylie Prichard. They then took Dr. Roberta Childs, an obstetrician that could care for the pregnant women while captive. Lawrence and Irene managed to brainwash them into accepting their beliefs as their own and, although Childs did attempt suicide twice while captive, both Chrissy and Kylie gave birth to healthy children who were also taught the group's ideology. Over the next five years, they went on to abduct six more women in total and successfully brainwash all of them.

The Bunker

At the start of the episode, Lawrence and Irene abduct Allie Leighton, a chef, as she leaves the restaurant where she works. The following morning, Allie wakes up in one of the bunker's bedrooms. Irene then enters the room with Dr. Childs to talk to Allie, but she hurls an alarm clock at them and tries to escape. However, Lawrence manages to seal Allie in a room before she can get away. Later, Irene and Childs approach Allie again while she is still trapped in the room and Irene begins to calmly introduce themselves to her, but a distraught Allie only asks questions about what is happening. Irene promises to explain everything to her soon, although asks for Allie's assurance that she will not use violence. Allie then asks for Irene's own assurance. Both agree to the condition and Irene unlocks the door before enthusiastically suggesting a tour of the bunker. During the tour, Irene comments on the facilities she likes and, in the dining room, she reveals that they know Allie is a professional chef. When she asks how they know, Irene only replies that it will all be explained in the "special video". This causes Allie to grab a pen from Childs' coat pocket and hold it to her neck, demanding to be released. An angered Irene warns Allie that there will be consequences to harming either of them "or the others". Allie then faints, but not before saying that she wants to go home and Irene replies "This is your home".

While she was unconscious, Dr. Childs examines Allie, but when she wakes up, she condemns the actions of Childs and Irene. Afterwards, Irene escorts Allie back to her room and again mentions the video. When Allie tries to resist, Irene sternly warns her to behave and she will not allow her to upset any of the other women. Then Lawrence triggers an alarm, alerting Irene that something has happened. She locks Allie in her room and rushes back to Lawrence's monitoring room. When she asks about what is going on, Lawrence only replies "We have to get rid of her". It is revealed that Allie's words to her gave Childs the resolve to attempt suicide again and, despite efforts to save her, she dies. The two then dispose of the body and abduct a pediatrician named Paige Burrell to replace her. Returning to the bunker, the two argue about Childs' death and Irene criticizes the way they disposed of her. However, Lawrence expresses only fury at the 'betrayal' and how Irene wrapping the body in a blanket was "more than she deserved". They briefly talk about the event they both think will occur before turning their attention to a camera watching Paige. Both Irene and Lawrence bring her on a tour of the bunker and when they get to the dining room, the latter asks Chrissy to gather the other women and children. They then introduce Paige to the other captives.

Later, Paige tells Irene that Allie is developing a fever and suffering from abdominal pain. When Irene comes to examine her, Allie holds a knife she stole from the kitchen to Irene's throat and tells her that she will help them get out of the bunker. She and Paige then take Irene hostage. As they walk through the corridors, Irene tells them that there is no way out before they encounter Lawrence. He and the women argue briefly before an alarm goes off, alerting them that intruders have entered the bunker. Irene tells Lawrence that he needs to get the rest of the group to the second level and he agrees, but then starts to walk away. Much to her dismay, when Irene pleads for his help, Lawrence tells the women "Do what you want with her" before he leaves. Moving further through the bunker, they find Reid and JJ, who have been sealed in a room by Lawrence. When they ask for the code to open the door, Irene meekly replies "Can't help you". Lawrence then appears in the adjacent room with the rest of the women and children. They watch as the agents appeal to Chrissy and the other women to realize that what they were told by Irene and Lawrence were untrue. Irene mirrors Lawrence's earlier betrayal, shouting "Do what you want with him!" and watches with satisfaction as Chrissy assaults him with a flashlight. She then surrenders the code to the sealed door and is arrested by JJ. Irene is last seen being escorted to a police car by Prentiss and Simmons.

Modus Operandi

Irene and Lawrence abducted women as part of their plan to repopulate society and thrive in a post-apocalyptic world in two different stages. The first stage consisted of abducting pregnant teenage girls whose children would serve as the citizens of this new society. This was followed by the abductions of professionals who would help them cater to the medical, dental, educational and nutritional needs of the other captives. More specifically, in abducting Roberta Childs and Paige Burrell, an obstetrician and a pediatrician respectively, they acquired professionals specializing in prenatal care and the care of young children. They targeted pregnant teenagers with histories of substance abuse, whom Irene met through her work as a substance abuse counselor. She would learn of their pregnancies in their counseling sessions and relay that information to Lawrence before abducting them. It is unknown how they selected the professional women they abducted. However, it is possible they targeted them through their social media accounts as each woman had an active online presence prior to their abductions. They would wait until the women were isolated in some way, such as in a parking garage leaving their workplace or, as was the case with Diane Pearl, alone in their homes. When abducting Allie Leighton, they also used a ruse to distract her. Irene would drive beside them while Lawrence would incapacitate them using chloroform and drag them into Irene's van. Because of Lawrence's obsession with the Doomsday Clock, he would wait until a particular moment before grabbing them. In each case, the victim was abducted at the time corresponding to the current setting of the clock.

After abducting the women, they would transport them back to the underground bunker on Irene's property and lock them in one of the bedrooms. After they regained consciousness and their resolve was weakened, Irene would play a key role in the indoctrination process by appearing to the victim, apparently as a sort of comforting figure, and give them a tour of the facility, which set an atmosphere similar to that of a mental institution. In the case of Allie Leighton, they apparently drugged her somehow. It is unknown if they did the same with the other captives, though this is unlikely. Afterwards, they would be shown a propaganda video prepared by Lawrence, featuring images of mass destruction ranging from tornadoes to nuclear blasts. In their vulnerable states, the women would have perceived Lawrence's words as the truth and either stay with them voluntarily or because they felt that they had no other options. The abducted mothers-to-be would then pass the same apocalyptic beliefs onto their children, who were born during their captivity.

Profile

No official profile of Irene herself was made by the BAU as they were more focused on Lawrence, who they initially believed was a single unsub operating alone. However, it was mentioned by Prentiss that wrapping Dr. Childs' body in a blanket suggests that the unsub cared about her comfort, even towards the end of her life, although she was not aware at the time that this aspect of the profile applied only to Irene and not Lawrence. When it became apparent that Lawrence did have an accomplice, they speculated that the second unsub may have been an early victim who became devoted to his cause or someone from his internet chat rooms as obsessed with the coming of the end of days as Lawrence.

Known Victims

Note: The dates denote when and where the victims were abducted.

• Virginia:
  • 2012:
    • October 16, Richmond: Chrissy Miller (a drug addict; abducted, held captive and brainwashed; was pregnant at the time of her abduction; was rescued in Culpeper, Virginia in 2017)
    • October 19, Richmond: Kylie Pritchard (a runaway; abducted, held captive and brainwashed; was also pregnant at the time of her abduction; was rescued in Culpeper, Virginia in 2017)
    • October 21, Richmond: Dr. Roberta Childs (an obstetrician; abducted from a parking garage, held captive and brainwashed; attempted suicide twice in her captivity, but failed; successfully committed suicide in 2017)
  • Unspecified dates between 2012 and 2017:
    • Four unnamed women (all abducted from unspecified locations, held captive and brainwashed; were presumably pregnant at the time of their abductions; all were rescued in Culpeper in 2017)
    • Culpeper: Their four unnamed children (all held captive from birth; all were rescued in 2017)
  • 2013:
    • April, Culpeper: Kylie's unnamed child (held captive from birth; was rescued in 2017)
    • May, Culpeper: Joe Miller (Chrissy's son; held captive from birth; was also rescued in 2017)
    • Unspecified date, Richmond: Diane Pearl (a schoolteacher; abducted from her home, held captive and brainwashed; was rescued in Culpeper in 2017)
  • Unspecified date in 2015: Elise Waterston (a dentist; abducted from her office, held captive and brainwashed; was rescued in Culpeper in 2017)
  • December 2016(?)-January 2017: Mia (surname unrevealed; abducted from an unspecified location, held captive and brainwashed; was pregnant at the time of her abduction; was rescued in Culpeper in 2017)
  • 2017:
    • Late July-to-early August, Culpeper: Mia's unnamed daughter (held captive from birth; was rescued on October 27)
    • Early September, unspecified location: Lacey (surname unrevealed; abducted, held captive and brainwashed; was pregnant at the time of her abduction; was rescued a month later in Culpeper)
    • October 25, Richmond: Allie Leighton (a chef; also abducted from a parking garage, held captive and apparently drugged; was rescued two days later in Culpeper)
    • October 26-27, Richmond: Dr. Paige Burrell (a pediatrician; abducted from a store parking lot, held captive; was rescued in Culpeper)

Appearances

• Season Thirteen
  • "The Bunker"