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JENNIFER Kesse told her family about some uncomfortable experiences at her condo complex before vanishing 17 years ago, her uncle has revealed.
Police detectives looking into the January 2006 disappearance of Jennifer, who was 24 at the time and living in Orlando, interviewed several people working in the area who were cleared.
The Kesses, however, maintain not all the Spanish-speaking workers were interrogated, and that many of the people they had seen at the complex previously suddenly weren’t there
And, in a book by her uncle – The Aftermath of Jennifer Kesse’s Abduction – that details the heartbreak of dealing with his beloved niece’s situation, Bill Gilmour stressed that Jennifer felt she was being watched and subjected to “unwanted stares.”
Private investigator Michael Torretta was brought in by the family to work on the case after a legal battle with the Orlando Police Department was won and the case files were handed over.
He believed around ten construction workers lived in an empty apartment across from Jennifer’s and that one of them abducted her, per a report by CBS News.
Complex management denied Torretta’s theory about them all living together.
Gilmour described Jennifer, who was working as a project manager for a time-share company, as “predictable in a good way,” which made her shock disappearance all the more bizarre and suspicious.
She was very safety conscious and even made a habit of calling her mother or father when walking to her car after a night out or a meeting so everyone would know she was safe.
“Jennifer was intelligent, always conscious of her surroundings, and planned for her safety,” wrote Bill, who is adamant that there were no problems in her life that would have made her want to run away and end contact with her loved ones.
Her boyfriend Rob and immediate family were all interviewed by police.
While Rob admitted their last phone call “didn’t go well,” detectives struggled to make inroads.
Jennifer’s black Chevy Malibu was found two days after she vanished a mile from the apartment but there was little else to go on.
Surveillance video from the complex showed someone parking her car on the day Jennifer disappeared, although crucially, the person’s face was obscured.
That led the Kesses to the workers at the complex.
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“Anyone who has bought a new home knows there will be continuing involvement with the developer and maintenance staff for some time,” Bill said in his book.
“Unfortunately, Jenn lived alone and felt like she was being watched and subjected to unwelcome stares.
“Jenn shared her concerns with her father. As a result, Drew told her to call if she ever felt threatened or in danger, and he would come to Orlando and take care of it.
“She also made a formal complaint to the property management company. Based on Jenn’s concerns, Joyce and Drew immediately suspected the workers when they realized Jenn was missing.”
Lead investigator Detective Joel Wright took a fresh look at the case in 2009 and honed in on a man called Chino, whose name cropped up in a conversation with a former housekeeper who worked at the same complex.
At the time, Chino was in prison on a rape charge, and although Wright interviewed him and made him take a polygraph test, no further action was taken.
Fast-forward to today, and the Kesses are still searching for Jennifer with no new leads.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to look at the case but progress is slow.
DNA found in her car, initially unbeknownst to the family until they received the files from the Orlando Police Department, could shed some light.
“All of these things potentially have hope,” Bill told The U.S. Sun recently at Crimecon.
“They could take the DNA and reconstruct the three-dimensional image of what they believe that person would look like.”
Yet the pain of the last 17 years refuses to wilt, with Bill admitting writing his book was a “cathartic” experience that helped deal with the hell of simply not knowing.
Recalling the nightmare of the first few days following Jennifer’s disappearance, as father Drew orchestrated a flyer campaign amid a desperate search for his daughter, Bill wrote from the heart.
“As I tried to sleep, my mind played out all the possible dark scenarios of what could have happened to Jenn,” he said.
“Emotions were all over the map — glad for new information, yet overwhelmed with a sense of loss and grief, sorrow, and sadness.
“What happened and where was she?
“Nothing made sense. Jenn was living her dream.”
