Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / Disappearance of Jennifer Kesse - Part I
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Jennifer Joyce Kessey born on May twentieth, nineteen eighty one
- 0:05is an American woman from Orlando, Florida, who has been
- 0:08missing since January twenty third, two thousand six. Shortly after
- 0:13her disappearance, Kess's vehicle was found parked approximately one mile
- 0:17from her residence. Security footage captured an individual parking Kesse's
- 0:22car and departing the scene. However, the individual could not
- 0:27be identified due to the poor quality of the video
- 0:30and the lack of any notable distinguishing features. The case
- 0:34garnered significant attention from both local and national media. As
- 0:39of twenty twenty four, despite new leads and extensive searches,
- 0:43no arrests have been made, and Kess's location remains unknown.
- 0:49Kessei graduated from Vivian Gaithera High School in Tampa, Florida,
- 0:53and went on to attend the University of Central Florida
- 0:56in Orlando, where she earned a degree in finance in
- 1:00two thousand and three. At the time of her disappearance,
- 1:04she was employed as a finance manager at Central Florida
- 1:07Investments timeshare Company in Ocoee, and had recently purchased a
- 1:12condominium in Orlando. The weekend Prior to her disappearance, kesseer
- 1:17vacationed with her boyfriend in Saint croix Us, Virgin Islands.
- 1:23After returning on Sunday, she spent that night at her
- 1:26boyfriend's residence and then drove directly to work on the
- 1:29morning of Monday, January twenty third, two thousand and six disappearance.
- 1:38Kesse was seen for the last time, leaving work at
- 1:40approximately six pm on January twenty third, two thousand and six.
- 1:45She spoke by phone with her father while driving home
- 1:48at around six fifteen pm, and then with her boyfriend
- 1:52at around ten pm. She was in the habit of
- 1:55texting or telephoning her boyfriend before leaving for work, so
- 1:59it was on usual when she did neither. The next morning,
- 2:03his call went straight to her voicemail. When Kesse failed
- 2:07to arrive at work, her employer contacted her parents, who
- 2:11set out on the two hour drive from their home
- 2:14to hers. Kess's parents noticed that her car was missing,
- 2:19but saw nothing out of the ordinary. In her home,
- 2:22A wet towel and clothes laid out, among other things,
- 2:26suggested that she had showered, dressed, and prepared for work
- 2:30that morning. Friends and family distributed flyers about KESSI that evening,
- 2:35and the Orlando Police Department organized search parties on foot
- 2:39and on horseback, as well as by boat, helicopter, car,
- 2:43and ATV. Times are approximate and based on witness statements.
- 2:49In the absence of any evidence indicating forced entry or
- 2:52a struggle, investigators initially posited that on the morning of
- 2:56January twenty fourth, Kessei departed her apartment and for work
- 3:01securing her front door behind her. It is believed she
- 3:04may have been abducted while walking towards or entering her vehicle.
- 3:10On January twenty sixth, at approximately eight ten am, her
- 3:14black two thousand four Chevrolet Malibu was discovered parked at
- 3:18a different apartment complex located about a mile from her residence.
- 3:22Investigators were encouraged to learn that several concealed cameras at
- 3:26the complex monitored the area where the vehicle was parked,
- 3:30as well as the exit. The surveillance footage revealed an
- 3:34unidentified person of interest who appeared to drop off Kess's
- 3:38car around noon on the day she vanished. None of
- 3:42her relatives or acquaintances recognized this individual, whose features were
- 3:47not clearly discernible. In the video. Investigators were disappointed to
- 3:52discover that the most detailed video captures of this person,
- 3:56taken in three separate frames, were obstructed by the complexes fencing,
- 4:02which aligned in such a way as to obscure the
- 4:05individual's face. One journalist referred to the suspect as the
- 4:10luckiest person of interest ever. The FBI was enlisted to
- 4:14assist in determining the individual's size and gender, concluding only
- 4:19that the person was between five feet three inches and
- 4:22five feet five inches. NASA also enhanced the video in
- 4:27an effort to aid in identifying the suspect. Detectives assessed
- 4:31the valuables found within the vehicle, concluding that robbery was
- 4:36not a likely motive in this case. A search dog
- 4:39followed a cent trail from the parked car to the
- 4:42apartment complex, leading investigators to suspect that the perpetrator may
- 4:46have returned to the parking area after leaving the vehicle.
- 4:50No additional evidence was discovered along this path. A forensic
- 4:55analysis of the car produced minimal evidence, revealing only a
- 4:59latent fing fingerprint and a small DNA fiber. Investigators inferred
- 5:04that the vehicle had been cleaned. The following items have
- 5:08been reported missing her cell phone, iPod, keys, purse, briefcase,
- 5:14and the clothing she was wearing at the time. Authorities
- 5:17were unable to track her cell phone as it remained
- 5:20powered off. Additionally, her bank account key card has not
- 5:24been utilized since her disappearance investigation, as his standard procedure,
- 5:31investigators initially interviewed Kess's immediate family and close friends to
- 5:36determine if any of them might have had a motive
- 5:38for her abduction. Her ex boyfriend, who had recently expressed
- 5:42distress and a desire to reconcile, was also questioned, but
- 5:46it was determined that he was not involved in her disappearance.
- 5:50Her current boyfriend was similarly interrogated.