Jennifer Kesse had recently purchased her own condo at the Mosaic at Millenia Condominium in Orlando, Florida and just received a promotion at work. She had just returned from a 5-day trip to St. Croix with her long-distance boyfriend of one year. Jennifer seemed happy & really enjoyed the time away with her boyfriend. But what happens next is not so clear… On January 24, 2006 Jennifer never showed up for work and was never seen again.
At the time, Jennifer Kesse was a 24 year old finance manager for a timeshare company. Jennifer’s parents (Drew & Joyce Kesse) who lived 2 hours away, received a phone call from their daughters work. They immediately knew something was wrong when they were told Jennifer was a no call/no show to work that day. Calls to Jennifer’s cell phone were going to straight to voicemail, something that never happened before. Wasting no time, her parents were on the road to her condo.
The condo seemed normal for someone who would have gotten ready for the day and left for work. The shower was wet as expected with the previous nights clothes nearby. Her phone, keys and purse were not found in condo, Jennifer’s black Chevy Malibu was also not in the parking lot. Still this is all in-line with her having left for work like normal.
Her brother, Logan, had stayed at her condo with some of his friends while Jennifer was away on vacation. One of his friends mistakenly left his cell phone there, so the day before Logan had made a plan with her to get the phone in the mail. This phone was also missing from the condo.
Jennifer’s boyfriend, Rob Allen, was the last known person to speak with her before she disappeared. He would normally hear from her every morning but didn’t on that day. All of his attempts to outreach her were unsuccessful. He learns through Jennifer’s parents that she had never shown up for work. He explained that the night before, he spoke with Jennifer on the phone around 10:00 pm and says their call didn’t go very well, the long distance aspect of their relationship was tough and that Jennifer was looking for reassurance that he loved her. Which he did.
It should be noted that Jennifer’s family and boyfriend were all ruled out as suspects right away. They were an incredibly close knit family and described Jennifer as a very safety-conscious person. Her family and friends firmly believe that there is no way she would have willingly went anywhere with anyone she didn’t know without putting up a fight.
Jennifer’s bank account had not been accessed, her credit cards were not used and her cell phone was not pinging anywhere.
Two days after her disappearance, Jennifer’s black Chevy Malibu car was found parked at an apartment complex, Huntington on the Green, about a mile away from her home. Initially, it’s thought there’s no evidence of a struggle at first glance of the car. It’s been described that this apartment complex was in an area known not to be the best of places.
Unfortunately, back in 2006 Jennifer’s condo complex did not have surveillance camera’s on or around the property. There is no video footage showing Jennifer’s movements leading up to her disappearance. But at the nearby apartment complex, Huntington on the Green, where Jennifer’s car was found, they actually did have surveillance cameras.
Frustratingly, the fence obscures so much of this unidentified person who is seen walking through the parking lot where Jennifer’s car was found parked at the Huntington on the Green apartment complex. It’s not entirely clear if this person is a male or female, but investigators determine this suspect is between 5’3″ and 5’5″ in height. There is also report of video showing the person sitting in the car for about 30 seconds or so before getting out and walking away.
At the time, the complex where Jennifer lived was being updated from apartments to condo’s so most of the units were vacant. Jennifer would talk to her Dad about how the construction workers would make her feel uncomfortable, so she would always be sure to be on the phone with someone (such as her Dad or her boyfriend) when she had to be near them. Sources say there were many of the construction workers actually staying at the condo complex in an empty unit nearby to Jennifer’s. There seemed to be much speculation as to the likelihood that many or most of them were assumed to be undocumented workers.
Three years later detectives on the case interview a housekeeper that was working at the Mosaic condo complex and upon viewing the surveillance video explains that she thinks the person could be “Chino” a former maintenance worker on the property. Chino was tracked down and found to already be serving time for an unrelated statutory rape case. They questioned him and he said Jennifer would not let him into the condo do to work/repairs at the time. He was given a polygraph test and passed.
Years go by and Jennifer’s parents grow understandably more and more frustrated regarding the lack of movement in their missing daughters case. They decide to sue the Orlando Police Department for the case files. In March of 2019 Jennifer’s family settled the lawsuit against the police department. This means that the family is now leading the investigation into their daughters disappearance. In the settlement, Jennifer’s family obtained over 16,000 pages of records and 67 hours of audio/video. The case files weren’t simply just handed over in the settlement though, the family had to pay a steep price tag for them. Jennifer’s family had a legal team and also hired a private investigator, Michael Torretta to aid in their investigation.
In November 2019, 13 years after Jennifer’s disappearance, her family acted on a new tip that came in. A woman comes forward to report something strange she witnessed at the time around Jennifer’s disappearance. The woman described seeing a man removing (from a truck) & dumping a 6 to 8-foot carpet/rug into the water at Lake Fischer (which is a little over a mile away from where Jennifer was last known to be). Sources say that one of the projects being done at the Mosaic Condo Complex at the time of Jennifer’s disappearance was rug removal/replacement. Dive teams and search dogs (including cadaver dogs) searched the lake. Even though the search dogs did sense a couple hits, no rug or other evidence was found in the area of the lake that was searched.
In 2020 evidence photos of Jennifer’s car are FINALLY made public and those photos may indicate a struggle (unlike what was previously reported). As quoted by Jennifer’s father, Drew Kesse to Fox 13 News, “If you look really close, it almost looks like someone was slammed down over the front hood, driver’s side like onto the hood, and then almost pulled off of it. With fingertips and all.” Inside the car on the driver’s side floor, they also note a large boot print by the gas pedal. That large boot print would not have belonged to Jennifer. But still, this has not been enough to identify any suspects.
Jennifer Kesse is still missing. It’s been over 15 years now. Her family still has no answers but they are not giving up. There is a Go Fund Me Page to aid in the cost of their investigation. If you have any information on Jenn’s disappearance please call the Kesse family Tip Line at 941-201-4009.
To submit a tip or to join the conversation, visit the “Help Find Missing Jennifer Kesse” Facebook page or www.jenniferkesse.com.
If you are interested in hearing even more about Jennifer’s case, The Fox News Podcast- House of Broken Dreams: The Jennifer Kesse Story is an 11-episode podcast. It includes interview’s with Jennifer’s familly, friends, and those involved with the investigation. They also discuss leads/tips and theories of what happened to Jennifer. I think they did an amazing job covering this unsolved case & I highly recommend it.
Sources
Help Find Missing Jennifer Kesse (Facebook Group)
Jennifer Kesse disappearance: Family says it’s ‘close’ to answers in 15-year-old cold case
Jennifer Kesse disappearance: Newly released police photos suggest violent struggle
Jennifer Kesse’s family hopes recently released photos will lead to new tips in her disappearance
Family of woman missing since 2006 refocuses search after new tip
Dive teams search lake following new tip on Jennifer Kesse, missing since 2006
House of Broken Dreams: The Jennifer Kesse Story (Fox News Podcast)