Disappearance of Jennifer Kesse

Jennifer Joyce Kesse (born May 20, 1981) is an American woman from Orlando, Florida, who has been missing since January 23, 2006.

Shortly after she vanished, Kesse's car was discovered parked around a mile from her home.

Security footage recorded a person parking Kesse's car and walking away; the person could not be identified due to poor camera quality and the absence of any visible distinguishing physical features.

The case received local and national press attention.

As of 2024, no arrests have been made and Kesse's whereabouts remain unknown.

A graduate of Vivian Gaither High School in Tampa, Florida, Kesse attended the University of Central Florida in Orlando and graduated in 2003 with a degree in finance.

At the time she disappeared, she was working as a finance manager at Central Florida Investments Timeshare Company in Ocoee and had recently bought a condominium in Orlando.

The weekend before she vanished, Kesse vacationed with her boyfriend on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

On January 26, around 8:10 a.m., her black 2004 Chevrolet Malibu was found parked at another apartment complex about a mile from her own.

Investigators were excited to learn that several hidden cameras at the apartments surveilled the part of the lot where the car had been parked as well as the exit.

The surveillance footage showed an unidentified "person of interest" dropping Kesse's vehicle off at approximately noon the day she went missing.

None of her family or friends recognized the person, whose physical features were not clear on the video.

Investigators were disheartened to find that the best video capture of this subject, in three separate snapshots, was obscured by the complex fencing, the posts aligning to conceal the face.

One journalist called the suspect "The luckiest person of interest ever".

The FBI was called in to help determine the person's size and gender, but could only say that the person stood between 5'3" and 5'5".

NASA also enhanced the video to help identify the suspect.

Detectives interpreted the valuables left inside the car to imply that robbery was not a motive in the case.

A search dog tracked a scent that led from her parked car back to her apartment complex, prompting detectives to believe that the suspect might have returned to her apartment's parking lot after abandoning the car.

No other evidence was found along the route.

A forensic examination of the car yielded little in the way of evidence, only a latent print and a small DNA fiber.

Investigators deduced that the car had been wiped down.

The following items are known to be missing: her cell phone, her iPod, her keys, her purse, her briefcase, and the outfit she was wearing.

Authorities were unable to ping her cellphone, its power remaining off.

Her bank account keycard has not been used since her disappearance.

As is customary, investigators first questioned Kesse's immediate family and close friends, to see if any of them could have had a motive to abduct her.

Her ex-boyfriend, recently upset and wishing to get back together with her, was also interrogated, but it was concluded that he had nothing to do with her abduction.

After returning on Sunday, she spent that night at her boyfriend's home, then drove straight to work on the morning of Monday, January 23, 2006.

Kesse was seen for the last time leaving work at approximately 6:00 pm on January 23, 2006.

She spoke by phone with her father while driving home at around 6:15 pm, and then with her boyfriend at around 10:00 pm.

She was in the habit of texting or telephoning her boyfriend before leaving for work, so it was unusual when she did neither the next morning.

His call went straight to her voicemail.

When Kesse failed to arrive at work, her employer contacted her parents, who set out on the two-hour drive from their home to hers.

Kesse's parents noticed that her car was missing but saw nothing out of the ordinary in her home.

A wet towel and clothes laid out, among other things, suggested that she had showered, dressed, and prepared for work that morning.

Friends and family distributed fliers about Kesse that evening, and the Orlando Police Department organized search parties on foot and on horseback, as well as by boat, helicopter, car, and ATV.

Times are approximate and based on witness statements:

Monday, January 23, 2006

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Thursday, January 26, 2006

With no sign of forced entry or a struggle, investigators initially theorized that on the morning of January 24 Kesse left her apartment for work and locked her front door, only to be abducted at some point while walking toward or getting into her car.