Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Jennifer Kesse, 24, Disappears, Clothes Out for Work & Shower Damp. WHERE'S JENNIFER?

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Jennifer Kesse, 24, Disappears, Clothes Out for Work & Shower Damp. WHERE'S JENNIFER? · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young girl striking
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Speaker 1: out on her own, has this awesome condo in Florida,
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Speaker 1: an awesome job, an awesome boyfriend, gets ready to go
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Speaker 1: to work one morning. If you look at her apartment,
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Speaker 1: you can see where she's laid out several outfits, trying
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Speaker 1: to figure out what to wear. But then she's never
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Speaker 1: seen again. Jennifer, What happened to Jennifer Kessey with me today?
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Speaker 1: Her family joining in not only with the latest about
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Speaker 1: a phantom figure that may have kidnapped Jennifer, but a
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Speaker 1: full on book written about the aftermath of her disappearance.
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Speaker 1: I mean, Nancy Grace, this is crime Story. Thank you
1:01
Speaker 1: for being with us here at Fox Nation and series
1:03
Speaker 1: exem one eleven. First of all, take a listen to
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Speaker 1: our friends. At forty eight hours, twenty four year old
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Speaker 1: Jennifer seemed to have everything going for her. She had
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Speaker 1: bought a brand new condo in Orlando, she'd been promoted
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Speaker 1: at work, and there was a new man in her life.
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Speaker 1: She was intelligent, she was captivating, She had a sense
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Speaker 1: of humor. One of the first conversations we had ended
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Speaker 1: up being like five hours. Rob Allen a thirty two
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Speaker 1: year old Englishman, lived two and a half hours away
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Speaker 1: in Fort Lauderdale. The couple had been dating for a
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Speaker 1: year and saw each other every other weekend. So glad
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Speaker 1: that Rob Allen is speaking out. Because of course, everyone
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Speaker 1: immediately assumed her disappearance was connected to her boyfriend, but
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Speaker 1: it was not. But she fails to show up to
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Speaker 1: work that morning, Listen, Jennifer failed to show up for
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Speaker 1: a meeting at work. Her co workers at Westgate Resorts
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Speaker 1: couldn't reach her on her cell phone or at home,
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Speaker 1: so they called her parents. I got the phone call
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Speaker 1: from her employer that she had not shown up. Was
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Speaker 1: there a family emergency? I immediately panicked because Jen's cell
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Speaker 1: phone has never been turned off. Joyce called the manager
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Speaker 1: of Jen's apartment complex. He went to her unit. Jennifer
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Speaker 1: wasn't there, neither was her car. You know, interesting that
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Speaker 1: she's not picking up her phone, because as it is now,
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Speaker 1: who is ever very far away from their phone, much
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Speaker 1: less a young person like Jennifer. Kessy with me an
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Speaker 1: I'll star panel, but first I want to go to
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Speaker 1: Bill Gilmore, Jennifer's beloved uncle who has taken part in
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Speaker 1: all of the efforts to find Jennifer after she goes
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Speaker 1: missing that morning on her way to work. He's now
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Speaker 1: coming out with a book, Aftermath of Jennifer, Cassie's Abduction,
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Speaker 1: and Uncle's Aspiring Journey and other stories of hope. Bill.
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Speaker 1: Do you remember when he first heard that Jennifer was missing. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: I'll never forget it. My sister had been trying. My
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Speaker 1: wife and I and our family lived in Lake Mary,
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Speaker 1: so we were about forty minutes from where jen lived
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Speaker 1: down in Orlando, and so she started calling me right
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Speaker 1: off the bat in the morning, but I was in
3:22
Speaker 1: the air. I was traveling to New Jersey. We played
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Speaker 1: telephone tag and it wasn't until six o'clock that night
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Speaker 1: that I've learned, And of course we were just all stunned.
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Speaker 1: But at that point all we knew was she was missing.
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Speaker 1: She hadn't showed up for work. They by that time
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Speaker 1: they had arrived at the condo, and you know, it
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Speaker 1: was just in the early stages. I mean, everybody's hearts
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Speaker 1: were just palpainting. We just overwhelmed with what happened. And
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Speaker 1: there was never a point before that moment that Jennifer
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Speaker 1: had just flaked owun had disappeared for a weekend or
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Speaker 1: when I hear so this person just wanted space, wanted
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Speaker 1: to go out on her own. That was not Jennifer,
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Speaker 1: that's correct. I mean, Jennifer was one of these people
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Speaker 1: that so attentive and respectful. If she wasn't going to
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Speaker 1: be somewhere, she'd call let you know if she was
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Speaker 1: running late, even to the point in terms of security,
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Speaker 1: which is amazing that if she was leaving a mall
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Speaker 1: in the evening hours in dark, she would be on
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Speaker 1: the phone talking to somebody until she got into her
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Speaker 1: car and locked the door. That was you know that
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Speaker 1: she was very conscious of her surroundings. You know, that's
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Speaker 1: really interesting. You know, Bill Gilmore, and Jennifer's beloved uncle,
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Speaker 1: who has now after taking part in every aspect of
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Speaker 1: the search for Jennifer, actually written a book aftermath of
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Speaker 1: Jennifer Kessey's abduction. I didn't know that about Jennifer. I
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Speaker 1: didn't know that she was a safety, not like myself.
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Speaker 1: And it's so interesting. My son went to a little
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Speaker 1: school party get together and my daughter Na got a
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Speaker 1: chance to be alone last night and we went to
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Speaker 1: one of our favorite places for vegetables. We came out.
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Speaker 1: The sun hadn't quite set yet. But we got in
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Speaker 1: the car and my daughter, who's just forty he said, Mom,
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Speaker 1: remember locked the door, glanced in the backseat, and then
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Speaker 1: locked the door immediately. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I did not know.
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Speaker 1: Jennifer was like that, tell me about that, because that really,
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Speaker 1: to me, is very probitive of how she was to
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Speaker 1: how she was kidnapped, right, And so that's why I
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Speaker 1: think that's what what was so concerning to us as
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Speaker 1: the family, I know, extremely frustrating my sister and brother
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Speaker 1: law at the time, was that they're trying to explain
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Speaker 1: to law enforcement that this is her character and it
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Speaker 1: wasn't just them. Her employer said the same thing. I mean,
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Speaker 1: numerous people were saying that, no, this is out of character,
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Speaker 1: but they wanted to focus on the narrative. It was
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Speaker 1: a young couple had a spat, she you know, just
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Speaker 1: kind of walked off on her own. Oh I hate that.
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Speaker 1: I hate that so much. Wait wait wait, wait, wait
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Speaker 1: wait wait is that true? Ray Kiputo, Ray Kaputo, everyone
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Speaker 1: invest to get every reporter out of Orlando, and professor
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Speaker 1: at Betane Cookman University, Ray Kaputo, I didn't realize that
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Speaker 1: that was their focus at the beginning, that she and
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Speaker 1: the boyfriend we just heard talking, Rob Allen, had had
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Speaker 1: an argument, so she just stomped off. Really, then, why
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Speaker 1: didn't she land all those clothes to go to work.
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Speaker 1: I mean, if you're going to stop off, why don't
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Speaker 1: you do it at seven o'clock in the morning for
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Speaker 1: Pete's sake? I mean, she was getting ready for work.
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Speaker 1: I didn't realize that was their focus at the beginning.
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Speaker 1: Ray Nancy like, that's the narrative that the couple had
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Speaker 1: a fight. But but here's the thing is that this
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Speaker 1: is a couple that just went on this tropical vacation
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Speaker 1: to Saint Croix. They were in a long term, a
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Speaker 1: long distance relationship, so they have this emotional rollercoaster high
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Speaker 1: being with all these friends in the beach and the sun.
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Speaker 1: You know, got some tom cruise guy flipping drinks, and
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Speaker 1: then Jennifer comes back and drives all the way to work.
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Speaker 1: You know. So they say it's a narrative of a
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Speaker 1: couple got in the flay. But Jennifer, which is in
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Speaker 1: a long distance relationship, so they had a bit of
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Speaker 1: a lover spat, you know, and that's not out of
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Speaker 1: the ordinary given their conditions. So they did have an argument.
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Speaker 1: They had what would rob called, you know, a minor disagreement,
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Speaker 1: you know, a spat between of spouses significant others. Okay,
7:19
Speaker 1: hold on, why Karen start joining me? Psychologists joining us
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Speaker 1: out of Manhattan today? You can find her at karen
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Speaker 1: start dot com. That's Karen with a se Karen after
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Speaker 1: a lot of vacation, which is wonderful. But then I
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Speaker 1: heard him say an island. Then you come back with
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Speaker 1: your passports and you're tired, and then you get to
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Speaker 1: the airport, and then you go through the whole coming
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Speaker 1: into the country drama with your passport, and then you
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Speaker 1: have to find your luggage, and then you have to
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Speaker 1: drag your luggage to the car, and then you split
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Speaker 1: up and he goes one way, she goes the other.
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Speaker 1: I can understand why you would have an argument. I
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Speaker 1: can't tell you how many times David and I have
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Speaker 1: had it out over the baggage. Claims. Okay, it's just
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Speaker 1: because we're tired, the children are hungry and so forth
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Speaker 1: and so on. I mean, it happens even after this
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Speaker 1: incredible vacation you may have had. So I'm not putting
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Speaker 1: a whole lot of stock in that. But really, Karen Start,
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Speaker 1: the reality is he was in this town, she was
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Speaker 1: in another town. His digital footprints shows he stayed in
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Speaker 1: his home and that she disappeared from her home two
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Speaker 1: hours away. Argument or no argument by how much stock
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Speaker 1: do you put in a post vacation fuss? Well, not
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Speaker 1: at all, especially because they live in two different places.
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Speaker 1: So here they've had this wonderful experience together and then
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Speaker 1: they have to separate, and they haven't been able to
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Speaker 1: be together the whole time. So Karen Start, when they
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Speaker 1: get home, she spends the night at his place, She
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Speaker 1: goes all the way home the next morning to work.
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Speaker 1: The following morning is when she goes missing. He is
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Speaker 1: still at his home. She is at her home a
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Speaker 1: couple of hours away. But Karen Start, the point I
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Speaker 1: was trying to make is that, well, you and Mark,
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Speaker 1: you're very very happy. You travel a lot. When you travel,
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Speaker 1: do you ever get into spats over silly things? I'll
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Speaker 1: tell you something, Nancy, there was a whole article about
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Speaker 1: couples that fight when they're traveling, And because you're in
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Speaker 1: a new place, it's difficult. You're not used to the surroundings,
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Speaker 1: and you wind up getting into those kind of spats,
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Speaker 1: and it really is dispatch over things that are nonsensical.
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Speaker 1: So whether they thought there during the trip or at
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Speaker 1: the end of the trip, it seems to me from
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Speaker 1: reading this information and watching it that the only reason
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Speaker 1: they were turning to him is because the first suspect
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Speaker 1: is always the boyfriend or the husband, no other reason,
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Speaker 1: you know. Joe Scott Morgan joining me, Professor Forensics, Jackson
10:08
Speaker 1: State University, an author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon.
10:12
Speaker 1: He's a star of a new hit series on iHeart
10:14
Speaker 1: Body Backs with Joe Scott Morgan. Joe Scott all the YadA,
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Speaker 1: YadA YadA about did they argue about the travel. It's
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Speaker 1: really irrelevant because the forensics show he was in one
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Speaker 1: town and she was in another town when she was kidnapped. Yeah. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: And you have to have a start starting point though,
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Speaker 1: with any investigation, and it always starts with those that
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Speaker 1: are in the intimate circle. And then once those individuals
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Speaker 1: are eliminated, and when you can actually verify that this subject,
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Speaker 1: this boyfriend, was in a completely different area geographically, then
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Speaker 1: he lessens, he lessens in importance on this continuum that
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Speaker 1: we have in investigations, and then you begin to focus
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Speaker 1: on the area where she was actually physically last seen,
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Speaker 1: in those environments that she's very familiar with crime stories
11:20
Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about a brand new
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Speaker 1: book that's coming out written by Jennifer Kessie's uncle, who
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Speaker 1: was there in the hours and days following her disappearance.
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Speaker 1: She seemingly had it all on u condo. She was
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Speaker 1: living him, wonderful jobs, she just got promoted, absolutely stunning, vibrant, happy,
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Speaker 1: just one of those really good people that emanate happiness,
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Speaker 1: nice to other people, a joy to be with. And
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Speaker 1: then suddenly it says she just drops off the face
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Speaker 1: of the earth. Take a listen to what her mom,
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Speaker 1: Joyce Kessie tells me. It's Cassie, what more can you
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Speaker 1: tell me about what time? If you know that she
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Speaker 1: would contact her boyfriend in the morning, jen typically left
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Speaker 1: work between seven thirty and eight in the morning, and
12:20
Speaker 1: it was her habit to call Rob when she got
12:23
Speaker 1: in her car, So as she got in her car
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Speaker 1: and was driving to work is when she would make
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Speaker 1: that good morning call. And as we know, Rob never
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Speaker 1: received that call. And brother loganis in as well. Take
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Speaker 1: a listen to our friends. At forty eight hours, I
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Speaker 1: was just like, oh my god, oh my god, this
12:45
Speaker 1: can't be happening. A mother called her crying. I was hysterical,
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Speaker 1: she said, Jens, Miss, I'm like, what are you talking about?
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Speaker 1: Who goes? She hasn't shut off for work. Jennifer's parents
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Speaker 1: and her brother Logan, raced the two hours from their
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Speaker 1: home in Bradington, Florida, to Jen's condo. You go inside,
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Speaker 1: what did you see? The clean apartment, shower was wet,
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Speaker 1: blow dryer out, and Jennifer's father tells nay more, listen, Drew, Cassie,
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Speaker 1: you get the news that Jennifer did not report to work.
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Speaker 1: You tell me that you immediately jump in the car
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Speaker 1: and drive our plus to get to her condo. Sure?
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Speaker 1: Will you approach the condo complex? Everything was normal to us.
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Speaker 1: We got up to the guard gate and we got
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Speaker 1: let in ue quite quickly. They really don't take a
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Speaker 1: lot of implement. Anyone who had a pass key who
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Speaker 1: lived there could come through on the right side. It
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Speaker 1: looked like she slept in her bed. She had two
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Speaker 1: or three outfits laid out on the bed, as if
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Speaker 1: she was choosing an outfit. To wear. She as was stated,
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Speaker 1: the bathroom looked like someone got ready to go to work.
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Speaker 1: The rest of the condo was just perfect data honestly
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Speaker 1: looked like a maid came through, right down to a
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Speaker 1: full setting, four p setting table setting on her dining
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Speaker 1: room table too. High profile lawyer Matthew Mangino, former district attorney,
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Speaker 1: former Parole board member and author of The Executioner's Toll. Matthew,
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Speaker 1: thank you for being with us. Several things. Number One, first,
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Speaker 1: suspects always the boyfriend. He's ruled out. Number Two, the
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Speaker 1: pristine nature of the condo when the family goes in
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Speaker 1: tells me nothing happened in that condo and that that's
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Speaker 1: not where the struggle occurred. Upstairs, you can see the
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Speaker 1: shower is still damp from when she took a shower
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Speaker 1: that morning. In a case like that, as a district attorney,
14:49
Speaker 1: what do you do next? Well, Nancy, you know, it's
14:52
Speaker 1: an unfortunate reality that when police or district attorney law
14:59
Speaker 1: enforcement here's about a missing person, there's always a bit
15:04
Speaker 1: of skepticism. They don't act immediately. They want to know,
15:08
Speaker 1: you know what the circumstances where. I think that's why
15:12
Speaker 1: the spat with the boyfriend may have been important to
15:15
Speaker 1: them because they think maybe this is just someone who's
15:19
Speaker 1: upset and you know, went off to reflect and they'll
15:23
Speaker 1: be back. But that's unfortunate because that time immediately after
15:28
Speaker 1: a person goes missing is so important and so crucial
15:31
Speaker 1: to try to get as much evidence as you can
15:34
Speaker 1: in terms of canvassing. What did people see, you know,
15:37
Speaker 1: what did they see her in her car? Did they
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Speaker 1: see her car move? You know, you know it didn't
15:42
Speaker 1: happen in that room or in that apartment because it's
15:46
Speaker 1: not in disarray, so you know it happened immediately if
15:50
Speaker 1: something did happen outside of that apartment. So talking to
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Speaker 1: neighbors and other people with me, Bill Gilmore and Jennifer's
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Speaker 1: uncle and author Aftermath of Jennifer Kess These Abduction coming out. Bill,
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Speaker 1: tell me about those hours and what you were learning
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Speaker 1: about her condo and her disappearance. Well, I mean I
16:11
Speaker 1: arrived there the next morning because I was up in
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Speaker 1: New Jersey, so I was able to find went directly
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Speaker 1: from the airport to the condo, and obviously family and
16:20
Speaker 1: friends who were gathering we were all trying to make
16:22
Speaker 1: sense of it and begin to plan just for the
16:25
Speaker 1: missing persons, right, you know, get posters made and started
16:29
Speaker 1: hitting corners and knocking on doors and that type of thing.
16:32
Speaker 1: But yeah, as Drew and Logan and Joyce of all said,
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Speaker 1: I mean, this was just that condo was like any
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Speaker 1: of ours. In the morning, somebody came by and we
16:40
Speaker 1: were in every on our way out the door, you know,
16:42
Speaker 1: looking at outfits or whatever. Just would be just a
16:45
Speaker 1: normal environment. So the gentleman that just spoke is one
16:49
Speaker 1: hundred percent correct. I mean, nothing happened in the condo.
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Speaker 1: So it was somewhere between the door which he left
16:53
Speaker 1: that door and went to the car. And of course,
16:56
Speaker 1: the way that the condos were all under conversion from
16:59
Speaker 1: a apartments to the condo units, there weren't I don't
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Speaker 1: think but a couple of people that were in her building.
17:05
Speaker 1: These were open breezeways to the staircases on either side.
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Speaker 1: So I mean somebody could be easily in that area
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Speaker 1: and you wouldn't necessarily know it. I'm trying to imagine
17:16
Speaker 1: those moments when you get there, when you touched down
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Speaker 1: in Orlando and you get to the condo, what was
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Speaker 1: the same. Oh well, I mean my heart was racing
17:26
Speaker 1: I think like everybody else was, We're just sitting there
17:28
Speaker 1: trying to make sense out of what had just happened,
17:30
Speaker 1: and then what do we do? So we obviously just
17:33
Speaker 1: you just begin to do the things that just makes
17:35
Speaker 1: sense and try to get awareness. Drew has done a
17:38
Speaker 1: massable drive, as you well know, and making sure that
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Speaker 1: Jennifer's story remains in the public eye because someone out
17:45
Speaker 1: there knows something, and it's just a matter of ultimately
17:49
Speaker 1: having those people come forward. But the emotion that for
17:51
Speaker 1: all of us was just we just have to do
17:53
Speaker 1: whatever we could. And that was for two days. So
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Speaker 1: from Tuesday, all day Wednesday until the morning of third
18:00
Speaker 1: we were we just thought she was missing, so we're
18:03
Speaker 1: looking for her car. I'm trying to imagine the tension
18:06
Speaker 1: in the air, and the mom and the dad and
18:09
Speaker 1: you just doing whatever you could think of, making flyers,
18:14
Speaker 1: putting up posters, going door to door, all with the
18:18
Speaker 1: cloud hanging over you that the cars were insisting she
18:21
Speaker 1: had had a spat over nothing with her boyfriend and stopped.
18:25
Speaker 1: Oh no, working with that misconception arching over the investigation
18:34
Speaker 1: didn't help a thing. But as you said, suddenly the
18:36
Speaker 1: car is found. Take a listen to our friend at CBS.
18:40
Speaker 1: Two days after Jennifer went missing, her car was found
18:44
Speaker 1: in an apartment complex parking lot about a mile away
18:47
Speaker 1: from where she lived. But there was no sign of
18:50
Speaker 1: Jennifer and no conclusive DNA. But this surveillance video showed
18:55
Speaker 1: a person parking her car at noon on the day
18:58
Speaker 1: she disappeared being hit with a ton of bricks. The
19:01
Speaker 1: phantom figure then walked away in the direction of Jennifer's complex.
19:06
Speaker 1: The person was so casual, Like to Bill Gilmore, this
19:10
Speaker 1: is Jennifer's uncle, an author of an upcoming book, Aftermath
19:14
Speaker 1: of Jennifer Kessey's Abduction. Bill, tell me about that video. Yeah,
19:18
Speaker 1: that was the luckiest person in the world. And of course,
19:22
Speaker 1: the technology at the time when those videos of valence
19:24
Speaker 1: cameras or graining, but they were every other second clips,
19:29
Speaker 1: so there was a fence that that person walked by,
19:32
Speaker 1: and every other frame there was a fence post that
19:35
Speaker 1: was partially blocking their image. Now, for most of us,
19:40
Speaker 1: if you actually knew that person, there was enough that
19:42
Speaker 1: you would identify them. But obviously we didn't know who
19:45
Speaker 1: that person is, and so we've all we've said many times,
19:48
Speaker 1: there's two people that are missing because we have never
19:51
Speaker 1: have come across any information having to do with that
19:53
Speaker 1: person nor Jennifer. So two people, the person of interest
19:57
Speaker 1: in that video and Jennifer did this phantom figure kidnap
20:04
Speaker 1: an all American girl, Jennifer Kessie Straight back out to
20:08
Speaker 1: Ray Kaputo, investigative reporter joining us out of Orlando. Ray again,
20:13
Speaker 1: thank you for being with us. Tell me about that
20:15
Speaker 1: parking lot and what we know about this so called
20:18
Speaker 1: phantom figure and also her car. This guy parked her car.
20:23
Speaker 1: Are there no Prince, no DNA, nothing none. Nancy, her
20:27
Speaker 1: car was found not too far from her own apartment complex,
20:31
Speaker 1: but it was on American of Boulevard. Now, she lived
20:34
Speaker 1: right by this great mall, a lot of tourists coming
20:36
Speaker 1: and going, but right down the street the neighborhood gets sketchy.
20:40
Speaker 1: So this car is pulled into this parking werenot where
20:43
Speaker 1: I've heard they found numerous stolen cars. It's a higher
20:47
Speaker 1: crime area. The person in the car sat there for
20:50
Speaker 1: approximately thirty two seconds before getting out, and police presumed
20:55
Speaker 1: that he may have wiped down the car. Got rid
20:57
Speaker 1: of evidence because they found really nothing. They a fiber
21:00
Speaker 1: and a small fiber of evidence, No, Prince, I mean,
21:05
Speaker 1: Whoeber committed this crime. Whoeber was in that car, perhaps
21:09
Speaker 1: knew what they were doing because they watched no evidence.
21:11
Speaker 1: You know. Amazingly, the surrealist video took a photo every
21:16
Speaker 1: three seconds, catching this so called phantom figure, and every
21:21
Speaker 1: three seconds, each time the person's face was obstructed by
21:26
Speaker 1: a recurring fence post. There is a wrought iron fence
21:30
Speaker 1: with thin steaks going up, and then every let's just
21:36
Speaker 1: say ten or fifteen wrought iron steaks is a post.
21:43
Speaker 1: And every time the video surrels took a picture, the
21:46
Speaker 1: person's face was obstructed by that recurring post. Jennifer's father
21:52
Speaker 1: tells me more listen from that spot drew from her
21:57
Speaker 1: condo to where the car was found. I want to
22:00
Speaker 1: talk about the area where the car was found. Was
22:02
Speaker 1: it part at any kind of a business where there
22:05
Speaker 1: could be surveillance video and in that mile stretch. Florida
22:09
Speaker 1: is notorious for all of its tolls, tolls everywhere you go.
22:15
Speaker 1: You gotta have that easy pass at Sunshine Pass, So
22:18
Speaker 1: were there any tolls? Were there any red lights that
22:22
Speaker 1: may have had a red light camera between oh and
22:26
Speaker 1: the gate? Was there a camera at the gate. What
22:30
Speaker 1: do we know about that one mile stretch drew Cassie
22:33
Speaker 1: between Jennifer's condominium, her brand new condominium, and where her
22:37
Speaker 1: black Malibu was found. What we know at this time is,
22:42
Speaker 1: at first there was no cameras. Unfortunately, new cameras went
22:46
Speaker 1: up in Jennifer's complex two weeks after she was taken.
22:49
Speaker 1: We also know that two weeks prior to Jennifer taking
22:53
Speaker 1: the entire security force was let go at the complex
22:57
Speaker 1: and new security was taken on because USO to change
23:00
Speaker 1: from a rental to an ownership situation. The miles stretched
23:05
Speaker 1: in between. There were no cameras in between the one
23:10
Speaker 1: point two miles except four at the complex where Jennifer's
23:15
Speaker 1: car was dropped. Now, we do have in our possession
23:18
Speaker 1: sixty seven hours of film that law enforcement was able
23:22
Speaker 1: to obtain from anywhere in any place they thought viable.
23:27
Speaker 1: And unfortunately the big box like Walgreens, CVS, the gas station,
23:32
Speaker 1: their cameras only made it as far as their parking lots,
23:36
Speaker 1: didn't even make it to like the sidewalks. So it's
23:40
Speaker 1: unfortunately anything that we have outside The only viable film
23:45
Speaker 1: that we have is what you see on Jennifer's website
23:48
Speaker 1: and what have you of a person parking her car,
23:52
Speaker 1: sitting in at thirty two seconds, wiping it down, getting out,
23:55
Speaker 1: walking away, never looking back. Okay, I'm bringing in the
23:57
Speaker 1: big guns. Joseph Scott Morgan joined me, professor forensics and
24:01
Speaker 1: death investigator. Just got extra really hard for me to believe.
24:04
Speaker 1: This guy did not leave any plants, did not leave
24:07
Speaker 1: any DNA, nothing behind in that car. Yeah, it is.
24:11
Speaker 1: And when you take a look at the image of
24:14
Speaker 1: him walking by these fence posts, you know, and you
24:19
Speaker 1: begin to look at how he's dressed. It's not like
24:22
Speaker 1: he's got on long sleeves. He's you know, we're talking
24:24
Speaker 1: about Florida obviously, but he's got on what appeared to
24:27
Speaker 1: be maybe white pants, low quarter shoes. They're not work boots.
24:32
Speaker 1: He's got on a short sleeved shirt, which means that
24:35
Speaker 1: you've got bare skin running up to almost the elbow
24:38
Speaker 1: where you've got the potential for transfer of evidence in
24:41
Speaker 1: the form of maybe perhaps touch DNA or sweat or
24:45
Speaker 1: hair something like that that could transferred. He's not wearing gloves,
24:49
Speaker 1: and this is something else. It's kind of interesting about
24:52
Speaker 1: the image that you see as he's walking by his hair.
24:57
Speaker 1: It appears it looks as though you can see the
25:00
Speaker 1: back of his head. It looks as though he's either
25:02
Speaker 1: got like a bowl cut or his hair is pulled
25:05
Speaker 1: up in like what would be a man bun. It's
25:08
Speaker 1: kind of bulging out on the rear, so you think that,
25:11
Speaker 1: you know, we're not talking about a bald guy here.
25:13
Speaker 1: To me, it looks shaved up on the side from
25:15
Speaker 1: the neck up above the ear, right behind the ear,
25:19
Speaker 1: and then it comes out like you're saying in a bag.
25:23
Speaker 1: You know, it does. Another issue regarding the car and
25:28
Speaker 1: the surveillance video, we get more information aside from those
25:34
Speaker 1: two leads. Take a listen to our friend Peter van Zant.
25:37
Speaker 1: The person could not be identified because the surveillance video
25:41
Speaker 1: captured a photo every three seconds, and each time the
25:45
Speaker 1: figure's face was obstructed by a fence post. That Kessie's
25:49
Speaker 1: recruited private investigator Michael Tretta to help them conduct their
25:53
Speaker 1: own investigation. Tretta learned from speaking with people who lived
25:58
Speaker 1: in Jennifer's complex that construction workers were living in an
26:02
Speaker 1: empty apartment just across from Jennifer. Okay, straight out to
26:07
Speaker 1: Jennifer's uncle joining us, Bill Gilmore, who has just completed
26:12
Speaker 1: an upcoming book aftermath of Jennifer Cassie's abduction. It took
26:18
Speaker 1: the family having to hire a private investigator to find
26:22
Speaker 1: out construction workers were basically camping out in an empty
26:26
Speaker 1: apartment straight across from Jennifer Cassie. Have you ever heard
26:31
Speaker 1: the phrase we covet that which we see? Yes, I
26:34
Speaker 1: mean that. The interesting thing was that we were on
26:37
Speaker 1: that property for days and weeks, and we saw all
26:41
Speaker 1: kinds of things, and we would bring into the law enforcement,
26:43
Speaker 1: to the management, and everybody denied everything. They always claimed
26:48
Speaker 1: that these folks weren't living on property, but it was
26:50
Speaker 1: clearly obvious that they were. So Unfortunately, you know, at
26:54
Speaker 1: every turn people just shut down and obviously considering potential
26:58
Speaker 1: liability issues. We can understand why, but it doesn't help
27:01
Speaker 1: when you're looking to find somebody and that your loved one.
27:05
Speaker 1: It's amazing to me to Matthew Mangino joining us high profile,
27:08
Speaker 1: a lawyer that did the condo community, the apartment community
27:15
Speaker 1: not know that. I think several of these were illegal immigrants.
27:20
Speaker 1: Undocumented immigrants. We're living in an empty apartment directly across
27:27
Speaker 1: from Jennifer Cassey well, that's that's really troubling that you
27:31
Speaker 1: would have these possibly undocumented workers living in an apartment
27:39
Speaker 1: in a complex where you know other people are paying
27:42
Speaker 1: rent and are expecting a certain level of safety and security,
27:46
Speaker 1: and you know, we don't know how many people are
27:49
Speaker 1: living in there, We don't know the identities of these people.
27:51
Speaker 1: This is all, you know, dangerous to bring people who
27:56
Speaker 1: you do, who you don't know, who you can't identify,
28:00
Speaker 1: to live or sleep in an unused apartment in the complex.
28:05
Speaker 1: I certainly don't think that the residents there would would
28:09
Speaker 1: want that or appreciate that. In fact, you know, Jennifer
28:13
Speaker 1: had moved into this complex because she thought it was
28:15
Speaker 1: safe because it was a gated community, and now all
28:20
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you know, possibly undocumented workers or living
28:25
Speaker 1: in an apartment across the hall, and there's a problem
28:27
Speaker 1: with that. I don't care where they're from, but I
28:30
Speaker 1: care what their history is. And Bill Gilmore, Jennifer's uncle.
28:34
Speaker 1: When you have people basically squatting in an apartment and
28:38
Speaker 1: they're undocumented, I don't know if they've got a ripe
28:41
Speaker 1: conviction back home from wherever they came. I don't know
28:44
Speaker 1: if they've got a mansel or conviction or Sawdomy conviction.
28:48
Speaker 1: I don't know, and I sure as heck don't want
28:51
Speaker 1: them living across from one of my children. There's them
28:54
Speaker 1: no way to trace them, we don't have their social
28:57
Speaker 1: security or they're just seen, never a way to find
29:01
Speaker 1: out who they are to question them about Jennifer's disappearance.
29:06
Speaker 1: And isn't it true, Bill Gilmore, that Jennifer had actually
29:10
Speaker 1: told her family she was uneasy, unhappy, nervous, felt intimidated
29:17
Speaker 1: that all these guys were living right across from her. Well,
29:22
Speaker 1: in terms of whether they were immediately across or not,
29:24
Speaker 1: that I don't know, but I do know that the
29:26
Speaker 1: workers that were coming into do a variety of maintenance
29:30
Speaker 1: work and so forth. There was that leering, and she
29:33
Speaker 1: was very concerned about the feeling that they were constantly
29:36
Speaker 1: watching her. And she had called out, you know, to
29:39
Speaker 1: my brother in law, I drew a few times on
29:41
Speaker 1: that he obviously called management. So everybody was aware that
29:46
Speaker 1: this was going on, and we then learned that there
29:48
Speaker 1: were other females that lived in the complex that that
29:51
Speaker 1: claimed the same thing. They felt the same way that
29:53
Speaker 1: they were being blocked at and stared at and just
29:57
Speaker 1: made to feel uncomfortable. You know how many times just
30:01
Speaker 1: got Morgan Death investigator, have you handled a case? Many
30:06
Speaker 1: that we have covered, And I'm thinking back many that
30:10
Speaker 1: I investigated and prosecuted where the murder victims said, for instance,
30:15
Speaker 1: if anything happens to me, he did it. It's almost
30:19
Speaker 1: as if they have some kind of premonition. Here we
30:21
Speaker 1: have Jennifer Kessey, this gorgeous young girl just starting out
30:26
Speaker 1: in her life, telling her family and friends that the
30:29
Speaker 1: workers there were making her feel very nervous and uneasy.
30:36
Speaker 1: They were actually squatting, according to reports in the apartment complex. Yeah,
30:41
Speaker 1: and you know you think about you think about this
30:46
Speaker 1: as well. Many times workers like this will be very transient.
30:50
Speaker 1: So if you've got a transient population where they're going
30:53
Speaker 1: on to the next job site, for instance, you know
30:56
Speaker 1: that work is done. And as Bill had mentioned just
30:59
Speaker 1: a moment ago, there were a variety of things that
31:01
Speaker 1: may have been being done around that area relative to
31:05
Speaker 1: two types of construction. So you've got different trades. You know,
31:09
Speaker 1: maybe you've got people that are doing ceramic, maybe you've
31:11
Speaker 1: got people that are doing hanging, I don't know, sheet
31:14
Speaker 1: rock or whatever, and those groups kind of come and
31:17
Speaker 1: go I think my big question with this, and since
31:20
Speaker 1: these workers have constantly come up, We've been covering this
31:23
Speaker 1: for a long time now, did they go to the
31:27
Speaker 1: people that are actually doing the contracting, you know, those individuals,
31:32
Speaker 1: and really put their feet to the fire about who
31:35
Speaker 1: they were bringing in to do these works, this work,
31:39
Speaker 1: who were their points of contact along the way. They're
31:42
Speaker 1: not going to cooperate, Bill Gilmore, not that just Goot
31:45
Speaker 1: Morgan is wrong. He's right, but there isn't no way
31:49
Speaker 1: that apartment complex or condo complex, whatever you're gonna call it,
31:53
Speaker 1: is ever going to admit yeah, we knew undocumented workers,
31:57
Speaker 1: workers were squatting there. They're never going to say that.
32:01
Speaker 1: And that was one of the biggest frustrations is that
32:03
Speaker 1: the things were so obvious. I mean, like, as the
32:06
Speaker 1: other gentleman just said, there's panel vans all over the place,
32:09
Speaker 1: and so you know, your mind immediately moves to the
32:12
Speaker 1: fact that think if a panel van happened to be
32:15
Speaker 1: parked right next to her car and she's coming out
32:17
Speaker 1: of her complex and get ready where her back turned
32:20
Speaker 1: opened up her own car, if the panel door was opened,
32:23
Speaker 1: and again, this is going on every day, so you're
32:26
Speaker 1: not necessarily paying attention to it because you're you're expecting
32:28
Speaker 1: to see workers there, but they could have easily been
32:31
Speaker 1: pulled into the van. And that was what concerned us
32:33
Speaker 1: in the very beginning, is why weren't those people and
32:36
Speaker 1: the contractors being looked at crime stories With Nancy Grace.
32:57
Speaker 1: Jennifer's father, Drew tells me that Jennifer said, there are
33:04
Speaker 1: a lot of workers here, and whenever I walk to
33:08
Speaker 1: my car, they stop what they're doing and they just
33:12
Speaker 1: look and stare at me. Walk into my car right there.
33:16
Speaker 1: To Karen's stark, she's basically telling us from beyond the
33:23
Speaker 1: grave what happened to her. That's right, Nancy, She's definitely
33:27
Speaker 1: afraid of these men. And I wanted to add that
33:32
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure somebody else also complained. Did that? Then? Yes,
33:36
Speaker 1: six other women, and they had keys. And I think
33:40
Speaker 1: that one of them even had been working in Jennifer's
33:44
Speaker 1: apartment or was familiar with it. What about that, Bill Gilmore,
33:47
Speaker 1: Is that true one of them I was working in
33:50
Speaker 1: her apartment? Well, they had I mean, obviously the folks
33:52
Speaker 1: that are associated with the ownership, the people are doing
33:56
Speaker 1: maintenance had keys to get in and out. Of the unit,
33:58
Speaker 1: so they could be doing the maintenance work, you know
34:00
Speaker 1: the punch list items that have been reported to them. Now,
34:03
Speaker 1: typically they would give you advanced notice, but I think
34:05
Speaker 1: there was an opportunity or two where they came when
34:08
Speaker 1: she was still there unexpected, or stay when she was
34:12
Speaker 1: in the condo. She was certainly made to feel uncomfortable
34:15
Speaker 1: as well. Now, according to another woman that lived there
34:18
Speaker 1: named Colleen, and we're not revealing her last name, she said,
34:22
Speaker 1: and I quote, when I would come home from work,
34:25
Speaker 1: there would be a large group of men outside drinking,
34:29
Speaker 1: and whenever I would have to walk past them, there
34:32
Speaker 1: would be comments or uncomfortable steers. It wasn't a great feeling.
34:37
Speaker 1: I didn't like it. So we know that other women
34:41
Speaker 1: were going through the same thing. Another phenomena. Bill Gilmour
34:47
Speaker 1: is joining me. This is Jennifer's uncle who has just
34:50
Speaker 1: completed a book about to come out aftermath of Jennifer,
34:53
Speaker 1: Cassie's abduction and Uncle's inspiring journey and other stories of hope. Bill,
34:59
Speaker 1: I have sound and I'm not happy to report this
35:02
Speaker 1: that very often criminals will act when they're in a
35:09
Speaker 1: group and do things they would never do on their own.
35:13
Speaker 1: You get a group of these undocumented construction workers. They're squatting,
35:18
Speaker 1: they're they're drinking, they're watching her back and forth, leering
35:23
Speaker 1: insane comments. Two of them may attack Jennifer together, when
35:31
Speaker 1: if they had been on their own, that would never
35:33
Speaker 1: have happened. And I can imagine that that would be true. Again,
35:38
Speaker 1: it's there's so much of this story that it's disturbing,
35:41
Speaker 1: and here we are, almost seventeen years later, still talking
35:44
Speaker 1: about it without really much in the way of answers,
35:47
Speaker 1: And a lot of this should have been addressed in
35:49
Speaker 1: those early days and weeks. Tell me what led you
35:52
Speaker 1: to write your book bill Well number one. Immediately following that,
35:58
Speaker 1: I took stock in my own life and I began
36:01
Speaker 1: to realize that my life was an absolute mess. And
36:03
Speaker 1: it's funny how they say that pain is God's megaphone.
36:07
Speaker 1: It's true, and in this particular case, Jennifer's abduction just
36:11
Speaker 1: brought me to my knees to begin to really reflect
36:13
Speaker 1: on the things that were most important in my life.
36:16
Speaker 1: And as I shared in the in the Fox News Racle,
36:19
Speaker 1: literally I prayed for God to take my life because
36:22
Speaker 1: I said I had made a mess of it. But
36:24
Speaker 1: Jennifer deserved her life. She deserved to have the life
36:27
Speaker 1: that she had planned, and as you had said earlier,
36:30
Speaker 1: she had everything moving in the right direction. And so
36:35
Speaker 1: soon after that, you know, I just began a journey
36:38
Speaker 1: of life transformation. And then during COVID, of course, as
36:42
Speaker 1: we were all sheltering in place and shut down and
36:44
Speaker 1: physically isolated and socially distancing from people, I realized that
36:50
Speaker 1: we are living in a time of escalation in terms
36:53
Speaker 1: of help of this hopelessness, fear, anxiety, and I wanted
36:56
Speaker 1: to be a person to inspire hope. And so that's
37:00
Speaker 1: what really propelled me to write this book, is to
37:02
Speaker 1: begin to share that despite the circumstances that we can
37:06
Speaker 1: find ourselves in life, we can find our way through
37:09
Speaker 1: to piece joy, hope, and I want to share that.
37:13
Speaker 1: And I'm also sharing some stories of others that inspired
37:16
Speaker 1: me along the less sixteen plus years as well. But
37:19
Speaker 1: as I said to Joyce and Drew when I was
37:21
Speaker 1: visiting with them back on July fourth week, that I
37:24
Speaker 1: firmly believe that if this book can be read by
37:28
Speaker 1: the people, the person or people that were directly involved
37:30
Speaker 1: in Jennifer's case, that they would hopefully learn that despite
37:35
Speaker 1: whatever it is that they've done, that does not mean
37:38
Speaker 1: that's the last chapter of their life. They can be
37:40
Speaker 1: redeemed and that they can certainly find a new beginning,
37:44
Speaker 1: but they have to come clean and they have to
37:45
Speaker 1: finish whatever the consequences are. But I will also say
37:49
Speaker 1: to your listeners that there are so many there's thousands
37:53
Speaker 1: of these stories, and so the impact is not just
37:56
Speaker 1: for the people it's personal to me with Jennifer, but
37:59
Speaker 1: also I would like to hope that somebody anywhere that's
38:02
Speaker 1: involved in some type of humus crime would read this
38:06
Speaker 1: and realize that no matter what you've done in life,
38:08
Speaker 1: it can be restored, it can be rescued. Wow. Bill
38:12
Speaker 1: Gilmore joining us. This is Jennifer's uncle, author of Aftermath
38:17
Speaker 1: of Jennifer Kessy's Abduction. I pray that you are right,
38:22
Speaker 1: Bill Gilmore. The tip line is eight six six eight
38:27
Speaker 1: to three eight eleven fifty three eight six six eight
38:32
Speaker 1: three eight eleven fifty three, or I advise the Kessie
38:35
Speaker 1: family tip line nine four one two zero one four
38:40
Speaker 1: zero zero nine repeat nine four one to zero one
38:45
Speaker 1: four zero zero nine. There is a fifteen thousand dollars
38:50
Speaker 1: Three Boys, Nancy Grace crime Story, Signing off good bye friend,