She Vanished After Leaving For Work In 2006, And Now Her Case Is No Longer Cold
In 2006, Jennifer Kesse left for work and was never seen or heard from again. Nearly two decades later, her loved ones are still searching for her. She was 24 years old at the time she went missing.
Jennifer was born on May 20, 1981, in New Jersey but was raised in Tampa, Florida. In college, she studied finance and graduated with honors from the University of Central Florida in 2003.
She was hired to work as a finance manager at a timeshare company and had already bought her first home in Orlando, Florida. Her condo was the last place she was ever seen.
Jennifer went missing right around the time she returned home from a trip to Saint Croix with her boyfriend, Rob Allen.
The couple arrived back in Florida on January 22, 2006. Jennifer went to her condo, while Rob traveled back to his home in Fort Lauderdale, three hours away.
She went back to work on the 23rd. But the next morning, on January 24, Jennifer did not show up for work. Her coworkers thought it was strange that she hadn’t reached out to let anyone know about her absence, so they contacted her parents.
When her parents couldn’t get in touch with her, they knew something was wrong. They drove over to her place immediately and found that Jennifer was gone. Her car was not there, and it appeared that she had been getting ready for work.
According to Jennifer’s mother, there was a damp towel in the bathroom, clothes on the floor, and hair tools on the counter.
Her keys, cell phone, purse, and iPod were missing. Her parents notified the police right away, and an investigation was launched.
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On January 26, her car was discovered a mile down the road, the same day she went missing. It was abandoned outside another apartment complex. No forensic evidence was found inside the car, which authorities believed had been cleaned.
A security camera captured the car’s abandonment—the person behind the wheel got out of the car and walked away.
However, their face was covered, so it was hard to make out any details. Detectives determined that the person was a height between 5’3 and 5’5. The clothing they were wearing looked like it belonged to a painter or some type of worker.
For the past 19 years, a team of investigators and Jennifer’s family have searched tirelessly for any trace of her.
One of the most notable theories as to what happened to Jennifer is the involvement of a construction worker or maintenance employee from her condo complex.
Due to renovations at the time, construction workers were at the complex quite frequently. They were also allowed to live in vacant units.
Jennifer had even admitted to her parents that she felt uncomfortable around the workers. Several other women at the complex also reported inappropriate comments from some of the workers and feeling unsettled by them.
In the days after Jennifer’s disappearance, many of the workers vanished before police could talk to them. Those who did speak with authorities were unable to communicate well because of the language barrier.
So, the main theory is that a worker was involved. She may have been abducted while exiting her apartment and never seen it coming.
Jennifer’s case was recently announced to no longer be cold, as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has compiled a short list of persons of interest and has come across evidence that still needs to be tested. Her family continues to hold out hope that she will one day be found.
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