Every Town - Caught on Tape: The Unsolved Abduction of Jennifer Kesse

Episode Date: June 15, 2024

The disappearance of Jennifer Kesse is a frustrating case because there’s so much evidence to point to exactly what happened, and yet, no one has ever been caught for the crime and Jennifer still remains missing. It’s a situation where an innocent young woman was just going about her daily routine when she crossed paths with someone who intended to do her harm and ever since then its been a nightmare for her family who just wants to know what happened and for justice to be served. 👀 Watch This Episode On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/scarymysteries 🎧 Our Other Podcast Scary Mysteries: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZooEZMoZ421WdsOVJhVkT 💀 Exclusive Videos, Podcasts & Perks: https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries  👁 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg 👁 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald 👁 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial 🗣 Business Inquiries, questions and comments hit us up at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Everytown has a dark side. The disappearance of Jennifer Kess is a frustrating case because there's so much evidence to point to exactly what happened. And yet, no one has ever been caught for the crime, and Jennifer still remains missing. It's a situation where an innocent young woman was just going about her daily routine when she crossed paths with someone who intended to do her harm. And ever since then, it's been a nightmare for her family who just wants to know what happened and for justice to be served. Her story is one that showcases some fairly poor police work, and in fact, her case led to reforms and how missing persons cases are handled in Florida altogether. Hey guys, it's Andrew.

Welcome to another episode of Everytown. Thank you so much for tuning in. The weird thing about researching this one is after going through all the evidence, it seems like the answer is actually right there in front of us all, and yet this case remains a mystery. So let's head down to Orlando, Florida together, where I'll get you up to speed on it, and you can decide for yourself what happened in the disappearance of Jennifer Kess. Drew and Joyce Kess gave birth to their only daughter, Jennifer, on May 20th of 1981,

while they were living in New Jersey. A few years later, they had a baby boy named Logan. A short time after that, the family moved on down to Tampa, Florida. Jennifer attended Vivian Gather. her high school in the city's West End. Growing up, she was always responsible as her parents instilled values in her that would lead to success in the real world. She was fun-loving, smart, and had a drive to go on to college, looking to do big things when she graduated, and it's exactly what she did. Jennifer would go on to attend the University of Central Florida over in Orlando. It was about an

hour and a half drive from her parents' home, so it was just far enough where she felt like she could spread her wings a bit, but also be close enough to pop on back to Tampa whenever needed. The four years of school flew by. She received her degree in finance in 2003. Pretty quickly after that, she was able to get a job in the finance world. By 2006, at just 24 years old, she had already earned the title of finance manager over at Central Florida Investments, Timeshare Company. With her interest in investing, she had her head set on getting into the real estate game early on, and she succeeded in that too when she purchased a condo unit at the Mosaic at Millennia Complex in Orlando.

This area was originally some smaller apartments that were now being converted to condominiums. And even while construction was still going on there, she snatched one up for herself. So, life was good down in the sunshine state for Jennifer. She was working a stable job, had the new condo to decorate, and a steady boyfriend, a guy named Rob Allen. In January of 2006, the couple took a well-deserved vacation down to St. Croix to relax and spend some time on the beach. It was a fun, romantic getaway. When they returned on Sunday, January 22nd, it was late at night, and so Kess just spent the night at Rob's house, and then in the morning drove straight to work that Monday.

She spent the day getting back into the swing of things, telling her coworkers about the good times and nice meals she had down the Virgin Islands. When the working day was done at around 6 p.m., she then headed home on the way she called to check in with her dad as the son began to set at around 6.15. Later on, back at her condo, around 10 p.m., she talked with her boyfriend for a bit before going to bed, and that would be the last time anyone loved her would ever talk to her again. The following day, on Tuesday, January 24th, Rob waited for his regularly scheduled call from Jennifer, but it never came. It was a cute thing they did, as she always called, while heading to work just to say good morning. A short time later, on his way to work, Rob decided to give her a call, but it went right

to voicemail. It was then that he remembered her mentioning an important meeting, and so he didn't really think anything of it, figuring she was busy with her colleagues. only she wasn't occupied in a conference room of any sort, and in fact had missed the morning meeting altogether, and then didn't even show up to work at all. No call out for being sick, no warning, and given her responsible nature, and this was very concerning to her coworkers. After her employer called her cells several times without receiving an answer, an alarm to Jennifer's uncharacteristic, no call, no show behavior, they contacted her parents to let them know

the situation, and immediately Drew and Joyce knew something was wrong. When they too couldn't get in touch, them, along with their son, Logan, hopped into the car and headed up to Orlando. On the way, they called to ask the manager of her condo to check her home with a spare key. He went in and reported no sign of her at all, not everything appeared normal. There was no sign of a struggle or forced entry, and her car was gone. By 3.15 p.m., her parents arrived. to take a look around her place themselves. There was evident she had been there that morning. She laid out a wet towel to dry,

clothes options to choose from on the bed, and all indications were that she showered and got ready for work in the morning. They were fairly confident whatever happened to her was recent. Still unable to reach her. They called the police, but since Jennifer was an adult, despite her family being adamant, something was wrong.

The authorities didn't act with urgency. They initially believed it was more likely that she had left on her own volition. The Cass family wasn't one to wait around for anyone or stand idly by, and so they, along with friends and family, began immediately printing up and handing out flyers. By the early evening, the police now looking bad in the public's eye, the Orlando PD decided to join in and help out. They conducted searches of the area on foot by horseback, but Still, no sign of the 24-year-old.

Since there was no sign of forced entry or a struggle happening at her place, investigators theorized it on the morning of January 24th. Jennifer left her condo to go to work and lock the front door, only to be abducted at some point while walking toward her car. It was possible that something happened on the way to work, but that seemed less likely because there'd be more chances of a witness out on the road seeing something. and if it was an accident, surely they'd have heard about it.

By Wednesday, there'd still no word from her, any sightings, the police stepped it up a bit, employing the use of boats, a helicopter, patrol units, and ATVs to search the woods. The media grabbed the story and covered it on the local channels. By early Thursday morning, finally, somebody had something to tell. It came from a woman who lived in an apartment complex that was just a little over a mile away from where Jen's condo was. She called the police after seeing the girl's 2004 Chevy Malibu

pictured on the morning news, and she said that the same exact car had been sitting outside the apartment building the past two days and hadn't moved. The authorities raced over and verified that the vehicle did in fact belong to the missing girl. They questioned everyone who lived there, seeing if they had seen or heard anything.

Showed them pictures of Jennifer, but no one knew anything. It seemed odd at first, but soon the police would understand why. Lined all around, the apartment complex were several surveillance cameras, only this was almost 20 years ago, and they were the cheap kind, so they weren't the best quality. But still, with so many, they should be able to see who dropped the car off and piece this together. The chances were really high that they had a shot of catching whoever left the car there. The footage was collected and reviewed.

And in it, they saw the person drive in through the entrance at around noon on the day that Jennifer went missing. The person driving the car was not Jennifer, and she was nowhere in the vehicle either. However, all the footage was either too grainy or was taken from too far away and was bad quality. None of her family or friends recognized this individual whose physical features couldn't be seen clearly. The clothes, the walk, it was all of a stranger. but this person was definitely the key to finding out where Jennifer was. The best video of the subject was taken as he walked away from the complex after dropping the car off, but his camera only took a still shot every three seconds.

So in total, as this man walked, there were three different images of him moving down the sidewalk. Unbelievably, though, an iron fence in between him and the camera obscured this guy's face in each and every one of the shots. not. The iron posts aligning perfectly every time to conceal who he truly was. Because of that one journalist dubbed the suspect the luckiest person of interest ever. They couldn't even positively identify the race of this individual. But in viewing the footage myself, it appears to be somebody who is either of a Caucasian or Hispanic descent. They're wearing a plain white t-shirt and what looks like khaki-style pants and dark sneakers.

In Orlando PD had reached their technical limits, and so the FBI was called in to assist in trying to enhance the images. After they had trouble too, Nass even took a stab at it. In the end, all they knew for sure was that this person stood between 5 foot 3 and 5 foot 5. And that's it for the official reading. Jennifer's car was searched, and I knew there were some things missing. Her cell phone, iPod, her. keys and work briefcase were all gone. And there were apparently other valuables left behind in the car that were left untouched

that were enough to lead the authorities to believe that robbery was not a motive. A search dog was brought in, and they trailed a scent from the parked car all the way back to Jennifer's condo complex, leading detectives to believe that the suspect may have returned to the area where the abduction first took place. But why would they do that? No other evidence was found along this route. The car, of course, was brought in for a forensic examination, but not much came out in terms of providing any possible evidence. A latent print was pulled, but it came up empty in terms of identifying anybody in the system.

There was also a small fiber with DNA on it, but that too led to nobody, assuming there was even enough to test back then. The police have been unclear and not really forthcoming with all their information, which, as the Kes family, understandably upset. And the car appeared to have been wiped down for the most part in order to clean it up. Ultimately, whoever did this, had never been in trouble before, and wasn't in any law enforcement databases. Later on, they did find dust in the car that showed that a struggle had taken place on top of the hood. Jennifer's cell phone was unable to be pinged by authorities as the power was either turned off or it had been destroyed. and the reality started becoming clearer that, while despite having some evidence and even the video footage of the actual suspect, the police didn't have a lot.

Investigators began asking around, talking to Kess's immediate family and close acquaintances, trying to find another piece of the puzzle they hoped would tie all this stuff together. Maybe within there they could find a motive and then pursue that, but it never happened. Her boyfriend was questioned, but he was at work. that Monday morning, plus he didn't have any reason at all to do anything bad to his girlfriend. But digging a bit deeper into her past, there were a couple people that piqued the investigator's interests. Jennifer's ex-boyfriend, for one, but not taking their breakup all that well and tried several times to make amends with her, hoping she'd get back together with him.

However, wanting to get back together with an ex isn't a crime, and it was eventually cleared early on as having anything to do with her disappearance. Her computer was taken in to be examined, and in it they found that one of her managers over at her finance job had taken a real liking to her, wanted to get romantically involved. He tried to pursue her as the emails and conversations showed, but she didn't want anything to do with them for a variety of reasons. This manager was interviewed several times, but again, just like the others, he was ruled out as a suspect. The lead, though, that I found very interesting was the one that keeps everything close to

the condo where the crime took place, since it's pretty clear that the abduction most likely occurred in between her front door and car. As mentioned earlier, those condos were still being built at the time that Jennifer was living there, lots of comings and goings of workers. According to the police, a lot of the guys working on the construction project were non-English-speaking laborers. And, according to the numbers, unauthorized immigrants represent 15% of the construction labor workforce in total, and they're primarily concentrated in six states. California, New Mexico, Texas, New York, New Jersey, and Florida. And Kess had told family members on more than one occasion that these construction workers relentlessly whistled at, cat-call, and harassed her, almost on a daily basis. She'd leave for

work and get whistled at. If she came home during the day, the same thing would happen. These workers would see her often, which means they got to know her routine. And knowing where someone's going to be would help a lot if you intended to kidnap them. Now, there's a lot of people working out there, and police did try to question them, but ultimately the language barrier proved to be too big of a problem. And essentially, they gave up on that lead. So, think back to the description from that surveillance camera. If a worker committed this crime, then that would also explain why that dog went back to the condo complex. Because that's what the worker did after leaving Kess's car.

If the person were new to the country, it would also explain why their information, fingerprints, and DNA wasn't in any database. And if you yourself, if it were worked on a job in construction that large, you know that someone could get away with dipping out for a few hours and come back without anyone even noticing. The person went to run an errand or was working in another section where they had some trouble. If you're still not convinced, well, then listen to this. Crew workers on that job were allowed to stay in vacant condos while they were finishing construction on the project. And so it's very possible that the person who did this had the entire day off

and was living just a few doors down from Jennifer, fantasizing about her until they couldn't take it any longer. Ultimately, the police moved on from this angle, despite the family's protest. McKess family has held strong in their fight for justice for their daughter over the past 18 years who have not given up hope for a single moment. Whether or not she's dead or alive,

they know someone out there has answers and they want the peace they deserve injustice to be served. In May of 2007, they offered up a $1 million reward for information leading to her whereabouts, with the stipulation that she was alive and giving a deadline of July 4th. It was their final big push to get answers, but they never came. As the years had passed by, her parents have been vocal about the lack of interest from the authorities in trying to solve the case. If investigators were checking databases from, for example, more constantly.

Perhaps the perpetrator's fingerprints may show up from an arrest, but whenever the Kesses inquired, they get the typical runaround that angles are being looked into and leads are being pursued. But those details are never divulged. And Drew, even to this day, doesn't know if they've sent all the physical evidence in for DNA testing or retesting. The family feels like with all the advancements in technology, Jennifer's case deserves a real deep dive, ma'am, I agree with them.

In 2018, Drew and Joyce filed suit against the Orlando PD to gain access to all their records regarding the case so that they could see for themselves what was going on. The lawsuit was settled in March of 2019 with the police agreeing to hand over up to 16,000 pages of records within the next four months. Only, it took years before they received them, and even then, lots of the information. have been marked over in black ink. That's how it's gone for a family that has lost their daughter. It's like pulling teeth just to talk to someone or find an authority figure who cares. In December of 2022, the case was handed over to the Florida Department of Law

Enforcement Cold Case Unit. And they say they intend to interview people who have already been identified as suspects to try and knock a puzzle piece loose. They also say they will retest evidence that the Kess family is so desperate, asked them to do. Hopefully that happens. However, as of the making of this story, there is no new news to report on that front. For Drew, he sees this case as bigger than Jennifer. He views the struggle to get answers and for police to just do their jobs and helping their communities as a sign of the breakdown of how we are all supposed to act. In the statement recently, he had this

to say as an overall message to the public. What I see in America, today is the total breakdown of family. And we don't start loving ourselves, first and foremost, so we can learn to love other people, such as our wives, our husbands, our children, and then our community, our country. Well, that's what we need. It's what made this country, the greatest nation on earth. We here at every town wish the Kess is the best, and hope they get the answers they're looking for soon.

A GoFundMe page, help us find Jennifer Kess, has raised more than the best. than $117,000 to help her family pay for the monstrous legal fees and PI bills that they've occurred over time. Anyone with information about Jennifer's disappearance is asked to contact the Find Jennifer Kess Facebook page or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at 888-356-4774. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Go check out this episode in video form over on our YouTube channel called Scary Mysteries. Or if you just want some more podcasts from us, check out the Scary Mysteries podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in today.

I'm going to come back next week for another episode filled with scary, strange, mysterious stories. Because you never know. Maybe your time will be next.