She Vanished With Her Young Daughters After Leaving Their Apartment To Do Laundry: Her Car Was Later Found Abandoned With All Personal Belongings Removed, And The Search For The Trio Continues
On May 12, 2000, Jennifer Lancaster, a mother of two from Topeka, Kansas, mysteriously vanished with both of her young daughters in tow, and the search for the trio continues over two decades later.
While growing up in the southeast Highland Park region of Topeka, Jennifer reportedly became acquainted with the “wrong crowd” and found herself in some trouble at school. At that point, she transferred to Topeka West High School and earned her diploma in 1998.
Then, on March 22, 1999, Jennifer welcomed her daughter Sidney into the world when she was just 19 years old. Her second daughter, Monique, was later born on April 5, 2000.
As she raised her two daughters, Jennifer worked two jobs– one at a local bar known as Remington’s and another at a club called Baby Doll’s. She also lived at Misty Glen Apartments and Townhomes with her mom, Vicki, and her sister, Jessica. There, Jennifer and her two daughters dwelled in the basement.
On the night of May 12, 2000, nothing appeared out of the ordinary to Jennifer’s family, either. She and her daughters had attended a family dinner with Merlin and Opal Otteson, her grandparents, in southeast Topeka.
“Everything seemed fine,” Jennifer’s mom, Vicki, recalled.
But, around 8:00 p.m., Jennifer and her daughters arrived back at their apartment, and Jennifer told Vicki that she was going to wash her baby’s clothes. At the same time, Jennifer had been holding a clear trash bag containing both baby garments and quilts.
Vicki didn’t understand why Jennifer was going to get the clothes laundered since their apartment actually had a washer and dryer in the unit. Regardless, Jennifer left anyway with her daughters– 1-year-old Sidney and 5-week-old Monique– and they were never seen again.
At first, Vicki wasn’t immediately concerned when Jennifer and her daughters didn’t arrive back home that evening and simply assumed that Jennifer had gone to see her boyfriend. But her worries only grew as time passed, and the following day– May 13, 2000– Vicki contacted the Topeka Police Department to file missing persons reports for Jennifer, Sidney, and Monique.
New Africa – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
The very next day, May 14, 2000, Jennifer’s vehicle– a 1994 Jeep Cherokee– was then found abandoned at an apartment complex located at 3032 S. E. Swygart. None of her personal belongings or her daughter’s car seats were located inside. Instead, it reportedly appeared as though the entire car had been cleared out.
As more details came to light, Vicki also started to wonder if Jennifer had planned to leave and intended for no one to find out about her whereabouts.
For instance, after Jennifer disappeared, her mother realized that much more of Jennifer’s personal belongings were missing from the house, aside from just the baby clothes and quilts. Vicki even came to think that her daughter had been moving items out of the house in secret for a long time prior to vanishing.
Before her disappearance, Jennifer’s cell phone had also been a part of her mother’s cell plan. Yet, when Vicki checked her phone records, she realized that Jennifer hadn’t placed any calls throughout the week leading up to her disappearance. Plus, on the day Jennifer vanished, her cell was actually left at home.
Now, Jennifer did have her driver’s license when she disappeared. But she didn’t take any credit cards, and her paycheck had been left at Remington’s, the bar where she worked out.
This puzzled Detective Terry Harris of the Topeka Police Department, who began investigating Jennifer’s and her daughters’ disappearances. He noted that since she was an adult, she was legally allowed to leave.
“She’s of legal age, and she’s done nothing illegal,” Vicki underscored.
So, Vicki realizes that her daughter may have simply left to start fresh. Regardless, that possibility has been very hard to come to terms with– especially since Jennifer has not reached out to any loved ones whatsoever.
During the investigation, Detective Harris did reach out to Sidney’s father, who was also a resident of Topeka. However, he reportedly had not been in contact with Jennifer, either.
Jennifer’s boyfriend and friends were interviewed by authorities as well, but no connections to her disappearance were uncovered.
Some leads did surface in this strange case over the years, yet none ever brought the case any closer to being closed. Detective Harris has since retired, so Detective Heather Stults-Lindsay is now the lead investigator on the case.
Both Sidney and Monique have since been listed on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) website, along with age progression photos showing what the girls may look like today.
Vicki is also still holding onto hope that she will one day be reunited with her daughter and granddaughters.
According to Vicki, Jennifer was a very “kind” person who didn’t hesitate to help others in need. And while Jennifer might have had her fair share of struggles, Vicki believes that her daughter was not a bad person.
At the time of her disappearance, Jennifer was five foot five and weighed 100 pounds. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tattoo of the phrase “low rider” on her upper left arm in black and green.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Topeka Criminal Investigation Bureau at (785) 368-9400.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
More About:True Crime