Two and a half years ago, Jennifer Santanello’s (@abeautifuldisaster101) daughter, Layla Santanello, went missing in Kingsport, Tennessee.
She has posted a video on TikTok every day since Layla’s disappearance to spread awareness in hopes that someone will know where she is.
“On top of the horror of this endless grief I’m experiencing and the not knowing, and every parent’s worst nightmare, and all the things, this entire situation has taken a huge toll on our family financially,” Jennifer said.
“We are almost a year behind on our mortgage, and it happened slowly over time.”
She is also trying to earn money on social media platforms to help dig her family out of this hole. They have been living in their house for five years. Jennifer has two sons, a niece, and a granddaughter who live there. Her granddaughter, Nova Grace, is Layla’s child.
At the time of Layla’s disappearance, she was 20 years old, four feet and 10 inches tall, and weighed about 135 pounds. She has brown eyes and blonde hair.
She also has multiple tattoos, including Roman numerals on her collarbone and a tattoo of her daughter’s name on her left shoulder.
She was last seen in a field behind the Americourt Hotel. She was barefoot and wearing a white tank top and black leggings. Witnesses report that she looked disheveled and was behaving erratically.
After running into the field, she walked off toward the woods, which are in the opposite direction from the hotel. There is no footage of her returning to the hotel, but that doesn’t mean she never went back.
“Instinct tells me that she didn’t stay in that area for long, and instinct tells me because she had spent the last three days on the move constantly…as though she were trying to keep away from something or someone,” said Jennifer.
Layla was reported missing on June 27, 2023. Months after Layla’s disappearance, her 21-year-old boyfriend, Michael David Thompson, was booked into jail for allegedly sending threatening requests for money to her family over Cash App. Their relationship was described as toxic and codependent.
Michael told the police that Layla was staying at a friend’s house and asked him for a ride at 4 a.m. However, she wasn’t there when he showed up. That was the same night she was seen at the Americourt Hotel.
Two weeks into her disappearance, some Cash App requests were sent from her account. One of them said, “We have Layla. She owes a drug debt, and if she doesn’t pay, you’ll find her chopped up into pieces.”
Her family sent the money over. As of 2025, Michael was in jail on charges of financial exploitation, identity theft, and credit card fraud. Authorities have not linked him to Layla’s disappearance.
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By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
