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Nancy Grace

Jennifer Kesse Disappears

Aired January 19, 2011 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a beautiful, caring, thoughtful, kind person. Has a lot going for her. Has always been someone to reach for the stars. And, for the most part, she`s always grabbed hold of them.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Twenty-four-year-old Jennifer Kesse was headed for a bright future. She had just purchased her first home, and she was in love. On January 24, 2006, the bright light on her future dimmed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This whole thing has just been one hellish nightmare.

GRACE: Kesse speaks to her boyfriend over the phone, for the last time, the night before she disappears. She tells him she is going to bed. The next day, friends and family are concerned when the financial analyst does not answer calls or texts. That concern only turns to terror when Kesse fails to show up for a meeting at work.

ROB, BOYFRIEND (voice over): Every day would either call me just to say good morning, have a great day, or just text me to wish me to, you know, have a good day, love you, that type of thing. And when I didn`t receive it Tuesday morning, I thought it was odd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My personal gut feeling is she got ready to go to work, as normal, and as soon as that condominium door closed, I don`t know what happened from that point. That`s where I think it started to happen.

GRACE: Within just four hours, the young beauty is reported missing. For two days, there were no clues until Kesse`s black Chevy Malibu was found about a mile away from her home.

JOYCE KESSE: She was abducted Tuesday. The car was found Thursday about a mile from her condominium complex in an area of town that, honestly, she would never go to. There was no sign of trauma in the vehicle whatsoever.

GRACE: Grainy black-and-white surveillance video of what appears to be a man may be the best lead police have to find Jennifer Kesse.

DREW KESSE: It is our flesh and blood. We love her. Someone has taken her from us, and we want her back, now.

JOYCE KESSE: Now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Every day 2,300 people go missing in America, disappear, vanish, their families left waiting, wondering, hoping, but never forgetting. And neither have we. Fifty people, 50 days. For 50 nights we go live, spotlighting America`s missing children, girls, boys, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents. They`re gone. But where? Tonight, Jennifer Kesse, brilliant, beautiful.

The 24-year-old Florida beauty, a financial analyst, vanishes just after a Caribbean vacation with her boyfriend. Back at work that Monday morning. The next Monday -- the next morning, Jennifer is gone. She`s reported missing after she fails to show up to work. No forced entry or struggle in her new condo. The shower actually still wet. But her purse, her keys, her cell phone, iPod missing. Her car found days later, dumped at another apartment complex a mile away. Still, no sign of a struggle. Jennifer`s purse never found. Cell phone, credit cards, never used. The FBI steps in but, still, can`t crack the case.

Tonight, Jennifer`s parents with us live, begging for someone, anyone to come forward and help bring their girl home. Straight out to Drew Petrimoulx with WDPO Radio. Drew, what is the latest in the Jennifer Kesse case?

DREW PETIMOULX, WDPO RADIO: Well, in about June of last year, the FBI got involved with this case. They agreed to review the evidence that the Orlando Police Department had detected. Later on in the year, Jennifer Kesse`s dad and brother were brought in for questioning. The brother was actually given a lie detector test. The father was going to be given a lie detector test but wasn`t. Basically, the FBI reviewed what OPD had and said they really couldn`t further the case any further on their end.

GRACE: You know, I don`t understand why the brother and the father would have been given a lie detector test.

PETIMOULX: It was strange. You know, when the FBI came in, they really wanted a complete review of the case, apparently. I remember hearing from Drew Kesse, who was Jennifer`s father, and he did think it was strange, but, again, the FBI, kind of, operates a little bit differently than local law enforcement. So, it was something that they thought that they wanted to do.

Again, they did give a lie detector to the brother, but they ended up not actually giving the lie detector to the father. So, it`s hard to say exactly what the FBI was doing with their -- when they took over -- took a look at the investigation.

GRACE: With us tonight, Jennifer`s parents, Joyce and Drew Kesse. Joining us out of Tampa, Florida. We`ll get to the lie detector later. Again, we are taking your calls. Out to Mickey in Texas. Hi, Mickey.

MICKI (via telephone): Hi, Nancy. It`s great to talk to you, again.

GRACE: Likewise.

MICKI: Congratulations on the twins. Thank you for sharing them with us. I have a question about her boyfriend. My question was going to be, did she have a boyfriend, and, then, I found out, yes, she did have a boyfriend. What was their relationship like between her and her boyfriend?

GRACE: You know, to my understanding, it was very good. They had just come back from a long weekend vacation to the Caribbean. I don`t believe they lived in the same area. I know they didn`t live together. What do we know, Jean Casarez?

JEAN CASAREZ: They did live in a separate area, because Jennifer lived in the Orlando area. He lived in the Fort Lauderdale area. But he is the last person to have ever heard her voice because he spoke with her at 10:00 in the evening, and that was the last time anyone heard of her.

GRACE: And, normally, he said she always texted him, e-mailed him, called him, something every morning to say have a great day, I love you. And it didn`t happen that morning.

CASAREZ: That`s right. And, coupled with that, she didn`t show up at work on January 24th, and that`s when it all began to unravel that she was gone.

GRACE: And what I find significant about this timeline is she would normally send the boyfriend a text or something, to my understanding, before she went to work, which means she went missing well before she was due at work, whatever time that was, 8:30 or 9:00, because he didn`t get that morning call.

You know, to Lillian Glass, Dr. Glass, psychologist and author joining us out of L.A. You know, people are creatures of habit, typically. I mean, usually every night people will call home to their parents, or they`ll -- if they`re out of town, they`ll call their spouse at a certain time. They do the same things day in, day out. And part of her routine was to call this boyfriend every morning. So, if she didn`t make it that morning, something was wrong.

CASAREZ: Exactly.

GRACE: That early.

CASAREZ: And that was very odd because, again, that`s when he picked up something was not right.

GRACE: But why are we like that? How much can we rely on that? Is that universally true?

CASAREZ: It is pretty much. We are creatures of habit. And, you know, Nancy, in the criminal world how people, oftentimes, return to the scene of the crime, so to speak. So, it does happen, in terms of human behavior. We are creatures of habit, and we do the same things, oftentimes, over and over again.

GRACE: Let`s go out to Jennifer`s parents, joining us out of Tampa. Drew and Joyce Kesse. To both of you, thank you for being with us.

DREW KESSE: Thank you, Nancy.

JOYCE KESSE: No, thank you.

GRACE: First of all, I don`t understand, Mr. Kesse, why the FBI wanted to give you a polygraph. You were established elsewhere at the time of her disappearance. I don`t even really understand that.

DREW KESSE: Once I got done laughing and saying, yes, hook me up, they told me that there was no time left. A polygraph should have been done. I should have really listened to what Marc Klaas had done in his case. And the first thing he did with police is say, hook me up. I never considered myself in the mix of things, to be quite honest with you. So, I didn`t think of that, but that`s the same thing that I told the FBI agent, is this should have been done on day one, not four and a half years later.

GRACE: Well, you know, did you ever think, Mr. Kesse, that as soon as you said, what? OK, sure, hook me up. As soon as you said that, it, kind of like, gets rid of the need to polygraph somebody.

Also, to you, Mrs. Kesse, what more can you tell me about what time, if you know, that she would contact her boyfriend in the morning?

JOYCE KESSE: Well, Jen, typically, left for work between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning. And it was her habit to call Rob when she got in her car. So, as she got in her car and was driving to work is when she would make that good morning call. And, as we know, Rob never received that call.

GRACE: We`re going to go right back to Jennifer Kesse and her parents, but I`m hearing in my ear that we`ve gotten news on a missing 4- year-old out of California. Juliani Cardenas. Stacey Newman, what`s the latest?

STACEY NEWMAN: We`re tracking this amber alert as we speak. This 4- year-old beautiful little boy. Juliani was snatched from the arms of his own grandmother, Nancy, as she was watching him while his mother was at work. The suspect, 27-year-old Jose Rodriguez, he barged his way into the home, Nancy, assaulted the grandmother, pushed her to the ground, and took off with this little boy. Their grandmother listened to this little boy crying, Nancy, as the suspect drove away, kidnapping him in broad daylight.

GRACE: OK. Stacey Newman, what more can you tell me about his disappearance? It`s my understanding that he has tried to get the little boy before, and he has absolutely no blood relation to the little boy.

NEWMAN: Nancy, that same morning, he showed up at the home. The mother told him to leave. He also tried to go to the school to find this little boy. He was sick at home with the grandmother. He was determined, Nancy, to kidnap this little boy.

GRACE: Everybody, we are talking about Juliani Cardenas, he`s only 4 years old. Take a look. The suspect, Jose Esteban Rodriguez, 27, he`s the mother`s ex-boyfriend. Tip line, 209-552-2472, that`s the Santa Fols (ph) County Sheriff`s Department. There is a reward. This man intent on getting the 4-year-old boy. But why, Stacey?

NEWMAN: He was with the mother, Nancy, he wanted to be in this boy`s life. She broke off the relationship. Fast-forward to today, this boy is missing. He`s been kidnapped.

NANCY: INAUDIBLE. He needs me. He misses me. He loves me. More than he loves Jose. He needs to come home. He needs to go to school.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Orlando investigators believe 24-year-old Jennifer Kesse was abducted the night of January 24, 2006, on her way to her job as a financial analyst. Kesse was last heard from when she made a call to her Fort Lauderdale boyfriend the night before she vanishes.

DREW KESSE: Around 10:00 she was in bed. We talked briefly. No problem at all.

GRACE: The next morning, the financial analyst never makes it to work at central Florida investments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just looked like she got up and got ready to go to work as any other day she would get up and get ready to go to work, to us.

JOYCE KESSE: There was nothing amiss. You know, typical Jen. Leaving for work, makeup out on the counter, hair dryer.

GRACE: The day she`s reported missing, someone is caught on grainy surveillance video. But without a clear shot of the suspect`s face investigators are having a hard time making a positive ID.

JOYCE KESSE: Search your soul. Show some remorse. Somebody knows something. And that`s all we`re begging for.

GRACE: We are taking your calls tonight. Straight out to a Gail in Florida. Hi, Gail.

GAIL (via telephone): Hi. I was just wondering if it`s possible that somebody from the ship that they were on had followed her home.

GRACE: Hmm. What about it, Pat Brown? Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler," joining us out of D.C.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, I, sort of, doubt that because so much time passed between when she got home, and when, apparently, she got ready for work to go out. I believe the person was there at that complex, either living there, visiting somebody there, or working there.

I think the police need to go back to that complex and find out who that person is because they took her car. They didn`t have their own vehicle. And, then, they dumped the car about a mile away, which is very common when someone just needs to get rid of the car, they don`t want to walk too far, but they get rid of the car and then walk on home, or walk back to work.

GRACE: Joining us tonight, Mr. and Mrs. Kesse. Drew and Joyce Kesse, Jennifer`s parents. To you, Joyce Kesse. I seem to recall that there was something about the area where the new condos were. Were there transients and was it a gated community?

JOYCE KESSE: Yes. And just, also, if I might, Nancy, to clarify, Jennifer was not on a cruise. She, actually, flew out of Fort Lauderdale to Puerto Rico, then on to St. Croix. So, the one caller had indicated a cruise. It was not a cruise.

GRACE: Right. I heard that.

JOYCE KESSE: To answer your question, boy --

GRACE: Transients in the area.

JOYCE KESSE: Thank you, transients. It was a gated security-guarded complex. And, yes, they had hired, unfortunately, illegal workers and allowed the illegal workers to live in some of the empty apartments. It was an apartment complex undergoing condo conversion. And, with sadness, Jennifer was one of the first people who closed. So, there were renters living at that same complex, but she had voiced to many people an uneasiness. The workers would stop and stare. They did not make obscene gestures. They didn`t wolf whistle. They made her feel uncomfortable.

DREW KESSE: And, Nancy, in Florida, it`s very common, within a mile of almost any home in Florida, you can have a million dollar home and you can have a $20,000 home. It`s -- where she chose to live was very much the premier property and area of Orlando, up and coming. But, yes, it is -- any place that you see in Orlando that has trees, there`s homeless living in it.

GRACE: So, my question is, then, these immigrants, I`m getting the suggestion that -- were any of them illegal?

DREW KESSE: We not only know that they were illegal immigrants working on property, Nancy, they were, actually, allowed to stay in unused vacant apartments. So, they did not have to pay for rent. They could work late and be there early. And, in fact, the 24th, the morning of the 24th when all this broke loose, probably by the time -- well, by the time we got there, everyone was pretty much vanished, as far as workers are concerned, and a minimal staff showed up the next day. So, there was a lot of illegals. We know that there was a lot of illegals. Police tracked illegal workers that were there. And, in fact, it continued up until about a year ago. They continued -- that complex continued to let illegals work in there.

GRACE: You know, that`s incredible. I want to see that shot again. You just showed it, Liz. One of the last clues we`ve got in the disappearance of this Florida beauty, Jennifer Kesse. Take a look at this guy, walking in front -- that`s in front of her condo, right?

LIZ: No, that`s where her car was dropped off.

GRACE: Where her car -- oh, thank you. Thank you very much. Take a look at that, Marc Klaas. What do you make of it?

MARC KLAAS: Well, it`s a very strong clue. They know it was her car. They know it`s that person. They`ve identified that person as someone between five foot three and five foot five. That, certainly, starts to limit the suspect population. And, hopefully, they`ll be able to continue to enhance those pictures. It will jar somebody`s mind.

GRACE: Right.

KLAAS: Something will come of it.

GRACE: Joining me, right now out of Washington, D.C., Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor, death penalty qualified. Eleanor, you`ve got so much experience in this area. Weigh in.

ELEANOR ODOM, FELONY PROSECUTOR: Well, Nancy, what`s so important, as someone else just mentioned, the timeline of this case. And it never hurts with a cold case to go over the timeline, in detail, and see what you can figure out from that.

GRACE: You know, what, Eleanor, that`s exactly what we do. Stay with us. Right now profiling Jennifer Kesse. With us live tonight, taking your calls, her parents, Drew and Joyce Kesse. Where is Jennifer? Tip line, 866-838-1153.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: The 24-year-old beauty went missing on January 24, 2006. Kesse speaks to her boyfriend over the phone for the last time the night before she disappears. She tells him she is going to bed. The next day, friends and family are concerned when the financial analyst does not answer calls or texts. Jennifer`s Chevy Malibu was found just two days later only a mile from her apartment complex.

Surveillance video shows what appears to be a mystery man driving Kesse`s car at a nearby condominium complex.

Eleanor`s right. Let`s nail down the timeline. Let`s go through it, Jean Casarez.

CASAREZ: 10:00 p.m., January 23rd, the last time she talks with her boyfriend. A very nice phone call. The next morning, her makeup was found, her pajamas were found. It looks like she spent the night in her apartment. It looks like she left for work. Her brother had stayed in her apartment while she was on vacation. He had some guys over. One of them left a cell phone. So, she had that cell phone. It is believed to be put in a drop box to get to that person. He never, ever received that cell phone. It was never seen again. She did not get to work on that day, January 24th, and she never spoke with her boyfriend, like she usually did, between 7:30 and 8:00.

GRACE: To Jennifer`s father and mother, Drew and Joyce. Drew, tell me the condition of her apartment.

DREW KESSE: Her condition, it was, obviously, brand new. She had just purchased it --

GRACE: I mean that morning. What did it look like? Had she made breakfast? Had she done her hair? What?

DREW KESSE: No. It looked like she slept in her bed. She had two or three outfits laid out on the bed as if she was choosing an outfit to wear. She -- as was stated, the bathroom looked like someone got ready to go to work. The rest of the condo was just perfect. It, honestly, looked like a maid came through. Right down to a full setting -- four-piece setting -- table setting on her ding room table.

Her -- right inside the front door was her luggage that she used on vacation. She just came in and dropped it and went to bed. And, unfortunately -- you know, one thing that I do want to bring up is in the morning at 7:30, every Tuesday, since we actually lived in Jennifer`s condo four times longer than she did, eight months, every Tuesday morning, which she was taken on a Tuesday, we believe, at 7:30, landscapers started to cut the entire complex at her building. And they were told they saw nothing.

GRACE: You know, that is significant. Every Tuesday morning, 7:30 a.m., they come to landscape. And they all say they saw nothing?

JOYCE KESSE: Exactly.

DREW KESSE: Correct. And she, also, had a pedophile living next door that we found out afterwards.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Vanished into thin air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need to find her.

GRACE: So many cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still looking --

GRACE: So few leads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.

GRACE: Missing person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our duty to find her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The witness seeing the suspect on the Nancy Grace.

GRACE: There is a God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Nancy Grace show was out there for us.

GRACE: Found, alive. 50 people, 50 days. 50 nights. Just don`t give up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a beautiful, caring, thoughtful, kind person, has a lot going for her, has always been someone to reach for the stars, and for the most part she`s always grabbed hold of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-four-year-old Jennifer Kesse was headed for a bright future. She had just purchased her first home, and she was in love. On January 24th, 2006, the bright light on her future dimmed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This whole thing has just been one hellish nightmare.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kesse speaks to her boyfriend over the phone for the last time the night before she disappears. She tells him she`s going to bed. The next day, friends and family are concerned when the financial analyst does not answer calls or texts. That concern only turns to terror when Kesse fails to show up for a meeting at work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every day would either call me just to say good morning, have a great day, or just text me to wish me to, you know, have a good day, love you, that type of thing. And when I didn`t receive it Tuesday morning, I thought it was odd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My personal gut feeling is she got ready to go to work as normal and as soon as that condominium door closed, I don`t know what happened from that point. That`s where I think it started to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Within just four hours, the young beauty is reported missing. For two days, there were no clues, until Kesse`s black Chevy Malibu was found about a mile away from her home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was abducted Tuesday. The car was found Thursday about a mile from her condominium complex in an area of town that honestly she would never go to. There was no sign of trauma in the vehicle whatsoever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grainy black-and-white surveillance video of what appears to be a man may be the best lead police have to find Jennifer Kesse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is our flesh and blood. We love her. Someone has taken her from us. And we want her back. Now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. We`ll be straight back with Jennifer Kesse, but first, a 4-year-old little boy snatched literally out of his grandmother`s arms. A statewide amber alert issued from -- about the boy. Police dragging a canal. The witness may have seen suspect`s car go in. Now, surveillance video allegedly shows suspect buying beer just prior to the kidnap. Stacey Newman, what can you tell me about those circumstances?

STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, new news right now about that vehicle that this witness believes they saw going into the canal. As we go to air right now, just minutes ago, we have learned it is not, repeat, not the car of Jose Rodriguez. Cops plan to go back onto the scene, Nancy, because there are fresh tire marks there. They believe it may be linked somehow to this case.

GRACE: All I can say is thank God. He`s angry with the mother. He keeps showing up trying to get the little boy from school, trying to get him every which way he can. He gets the little boy, snatching him away from his grandmother`s arms, and thank God he didn`t run his car into that canal with the boy to get back at the mother. What about it, Jean Casarez?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, IN SESSION: One very, very relevant fact here. And let`s review with everybody. Juliani is the name of the little boy. Juliani. And Jose Esteban Rodriguez is the name of the suspect in this case. And Julian is just a little boy. But the grandma saw him being taken by Jose Esteban Rodriguez, who is not the birth father, but the ex-boyfriend of the mother you`re seeing right there.

GRACE: What do you make of it, Pat Brown?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: The relationship he had with the little boy, he may not have been the biological father, but depending how long he was with the boy, maybe raising him from a baby, he may consider himself the father. So, it depends how much of an attachment he has. But if he`s just trying to get back at the mother, he`s angry at her --

GRACE: Pat, the family says he believes he is the father, but he`s not. He acts like he`s the father. He wants to be the father.

BROWN: Right.

GRACE: But he`s not the father.

BROWN: Well, he could be the father in the sense that -- you don`t have to be the biological father. If you raise that child from --

GRACE: The family is saying he`s not the father.

BROWN: Right. But I`m just looking at it from his point of view. I`m just saying what relationship he may think he has. But if he`s just trying to get back at the mother because he`s angry with her, that`s where the real danger comes in because then he`s just using that child as a pawn and has absolutely no empathy for the child at all. He just wants what he wants.

GRACE: You know, Marc Klaas, Pat Brown is right. When you get the anger factor, you could see a possible retaliation against the mother in the worst way, Marc.

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT & FOUNDE, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, this guy is an absolute raving lunatic with a history of violence. I believe he`s got a manslaughter on his record. This is a perfect storm for an amber alert. You know who he is. You know what he`s driving. You know that he`s a very angry individual. So, hopefully, this amber alert will work, and people will be able to bring this kid home.

GRACE: OK, Liz, let me see that surveillance video at the convenience store. They got him buying beer just prior to the kidnap. He does have a criminal record, including a conviction for voluntary manslaughter. We also know the mother is pregnant with his baby. We are talking about Juliani Cardenas, ripped from his grandmother`s arms, abducted by the mother`s estranged boyfriend. This just happened yesterday, 4:12 p.m. Stacey Newman, what are cops doing?

NEWMAN: Like I said, they`re at the scene of that canal. They have issued this amber alert. They`re just following up on as many leads as they can to find this boy. And more importantly too with that surveillance video you`re seeing there on the screen, Nancy, the time stamp is literally about 20 minutes before this kidnapping. So, more danger for this boy. This man is probably drunk and has gotten behind the wheel with a 4-year- old little boy.

GRACE: The tip line, 209-552-2472. There is a reward in the case. Please look at this 4-year-old boy. He is completely helpless. From Patterson, California it`s about 17 miles southwest of Modesto. We`re looking for a silver Toyota Corolla, California plates, 6 H, happy, B, brother, W, white, 445. 6 HBW 445. Silver Toyota Corolla, oversized black rims, small spare tire may be on left rear.

This little boy`s life may depend on it. 209-552-2472. It`s been just over 24 hours. He was literally ripped from his grandmother`s arms. And now back to Jennifer Kesse. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-four-year-old financial planner, Jennifer Kesse, vanished from her Orlando home January 24th, 2006. Jennifer had just returned home from a long weekend in the Caribbean but was reported missing when she failed to show up for work the next day. Jennifer`s Chevy Malibu was found just two days later only a mile from her apartment complex.

After conducting an initial search, cops believe she was abducted and released surveillance video of a possible suspect dumping Jennifer`s car. The grainy video shows a suspect between 5`3" and 5`5" parked Jennifer`s car at a condominium complex and walk away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: It is not beyond the realm of the possible for this case to be solved. To Andrew Scott, former chief of police, Boca Raton, now, president AJS consulting Miami, Florida. Andrew, there`ve been a lot of cases that have been solved when time has elapsed.

ANDREW J. SCOTT, FMR. CHIEF OF POLICE, BOCA RATON, FL: Oh, absolutely. There should be no diminishment of hope in this case just because nothing has been developed over the last 4 1/2 years. A show like this will obviously prompt people`s memories. But even more importantly, that photograph with the new technology could be accurately honed in and the focus changed where they might be able to get a legible picture out and then reproduce that picture to the public.

So, there`s many things that could be going on here including the fact that they`re opening up this case with other investigators and looking at it with fresh eyes. So, I think there is hope in this case.

GRACE: You know, you`re taking a look at this shot that he`s talking about. This was just outside the gate. Her car was found only a mile away. To Eleanor Odom, Doug Burns, and Daniel Horowitz. To you first, Doug Burns, when time passes, will that be held against a suspect or defendant when they finally are found?

DOUG BURNS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, yes, that`s very possible. The thing that strikes me here, it`s interesting, the father said about the illegal workers. Obviously, you don`t want to paint with a broad brush, but the problem is there isn`t a lot of employment paperwork, and that`s a very difficult obstacle.

GRACE: What about it, Daniel Horowitz? As time has passed, is that an aggravating factor to a defendant that may have grabbed her, that he let so much time pass and the family suffer?

DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Of course. Of course. I mean, people may furious with this person. But I think most importantly here, we have to relook at the facts in terms of who was there, talk to the people. Were people drug addicted in the past and now they`ve cleaned up? Let`s go to the jails around there, the prisons. I think this is a drug-related crime, and I don`t think it`s related to those workers at all.

GRACE: Eleanor Odom.

ELEANOR ODOM, ATTORNEY: You know, cold cases are very sympathetic to juries. Juries are very sympathetic to this, and I think they would find anybody who`s found to be the defendant in this case guilty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone knows something. We`re still looking for Jennifer. All right? Not only this person ought to help us out, but we`re still looking for Jennifer. That`s the main thing here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orlando police continue to investigate the disappearance of 24-year-old Jennifer Kesse, who authorities believe was abducted from her apartment complex in January 2006.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we do know is somebody probably knows the person involved or people involved in this case. They just haven`t come forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say Jennifer had a conversation with her boyfriend around 10:00 p.m., January 23rd. When Jennifer failed to show up for work the next day, she was reported missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoever has her, do the right thing, as we`ve been saying all the time, and just let her go and be off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her car found abandoned at an apartment complex just a mile from her own home, but no signs of a struggle in the car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The longer something goes on, it`s certainly always going to be concerning to the family, and it`s always going to be concerning to us, but, you know, we`re going to always hope and keep our fingers crossed that we can move quickly with what information we get and try to find her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators hoping for a tip from the public, release grainy surveillance video of a suspect dumping Jennifer`s car the day she was reported missing. Investigators have looked through more than 1,000 leads but have made no arrests. Where is Jennifer Kesse?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. And joining us tonight, Jennifer`s parents, Drew and Joyce Kesse. Out to the lines, Martha in Mississippi. Hi, Martha.

MARTHA, MISSISSIPPI: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

MARTHA: Well, first of all, you know why I`m so proud of you? Because you realize what the man on Monday quoted, and justice to some is a threat to justice for all by Dr. King. And he meant all. And thank you, Nancy, for honoring Jesus Christ every day, in what you do, in spite of what the critic, who need to stay off your Facebook page has to say.

OK. Now, my question is do the police or FBI show the profile of the young man in the picture to all the immigrants that were there at the time, and if not, can they go back and do so or even go to Mexico and show the picture? Because I really think it needs to be shown in Mexico.

GRACE: You know, that`s an excellent idea. What do we know about that, Drew Kesse?

DREW KESSE, FATHER: As far as going back, as I stated earlier, the next day, probably 3/4 of the work crew was gone. They`d already decided they were taking off to other parts. As far as Mexico is concerned, Mexico does have information about Jennifer. The consulate down there was contacted early in the investigation. And personally, myself, approximately about a year ago, I sat down one Sunday morning and wrote every single consulate that was available at the U.N., both at the U.N. offices as well as their country offices.

So, we have heard from over 60 countries concerning Jennifer. And I would like to say also the photograph that we have of the person who dropped Jennifer`s car off, that was enhanced by NASA as well as Wal-Mart and Target. That is the best we`re going to get. They put cameras up at Jennifer`s place two weeks after she was taken. But the real crux of the situation with Jennifer, and especially, being an adult, Nancy, is first responders.

Our first response from a police officer was she probably had a fight with her boyfriend, she`ll be back, and walked out. And that`s what started it all because she was an adult. We have to rely on our first responders. There`s no room for mistakes when it comes to missing and abducted people. There is no room. Please make that, you know, really clear. And we have been told by Orlando police in meetings as well as with FBI that missteps were made by Orlando police in the first week, and those missteps will never be able to get back.

So, we have to go forward with what we have and don`t have. And it is the first responder in the training. Orlando police had no protocol. They had no policies and procedures to follow at the time. They do now, I think. And it is just incredible that we have gone out and educated ourselves. We know how to find missing people now.

Yet, Orlando Police Department has yet to send any of their officers for training. Our lead detective has not had one class in training of missing people. I`ve been trained by Fox Valley Technical College, which is the leading continuing education technical college for police in the land. And I`m 3/4 of the way through the courses.

GRACE: Even after the Kesse case, that nothing has been done. When you say there`s a lot that they don`t have because they didn`t get it immediately, things like what?

DREW KESSE: Well, I don`t want to go into all of it. It`s not really the time or place --

GRACE: Well, don`t. Don`t. Don`t. If you think it`s going to compromise the investigation, don`t even bring it up.

DREW KESSE: No, the investigation is over. If someone was to call the Orlando Police Department right now, they would not take the lead. They would ask you to call the FBI. The FBI will tell you that they are only reviewing Jennifer`s case and that you should call Orlando Police Department. That is the catch-22 that Jennifer is in right now. Not us. We`re not the hurt ones. You can`t hurt us anymore. It is Jennifer. And --

GRACE: So neither Orlando Police nor the FBI are taking tips?

DREW KESSE: No.

JOYCE KESSE, MOTHER: No. And they won`t make the case --

DREW KESSE: And they asked right to our face, no, do not send any more tips. She is gone. She has vanished. We do not have a clue of where she is. It`s over.

JOYCE KESSE: But they won`t make her case cold, which is very interesting unto itself.

DREW KESSE: They don`t have to share the case if the case is left open and active. Which --

GRACE: Are you talking about the Orlando PD?

JOYCE KESSE: Correct.

DREW KESSE: It is Orlando Police`s case. It has never been the FBI`s case.

GRACE: But they`re not even taking tips?

JOYCE KESSE: No.

DREW KESSE: The FBI has not even looked at the tape of Jennifer`s car being dropped off. Quote unquote --

GRACE: What about it Marc Klaas? What do you make of that?

KLAAS: Well, I make many things of that. Obviously, they`re on their own here. There`s no law enforcement behind them. So, they have to devise strategies to get the media and the public behind them. But as far as this business of training law enforcement on missing persons, you know, there are 25,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, and in order for all of them to go to Fox Valley Training, it will probably take 100 years.

What I think needs to be done is they need to take the mountain to Mohammed or they need to take Mohammed to the mountain. They need to take the training to the agencies, to the states, and you could then train all of those agencies in a very short amount of time, in probably, just a couple of years. They shouldn`t be sitting on their pedestal waiting for the cops to come to them. They should be going to the cops and doing it that way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: These are the faces of America`s missing. Every 30 seconds, another child, a sister, brother, father, mother, disappears. Their families left behind, wondering, waiting, hoping. We have not forgotten.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The police reaction basically was he`s 17, and boys will do this, and he`ll come home. I put up all these posters. I walked blocks and blocks and blocks putting up all these posters. And the next day, they were all gone. He said he was going to a friend for a little while, and he probably would be back around 10:00. He didn`t take anything with him like he normally would. And he loved to act. He was in plays at school. He was very handsome. So, you know, that helped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was cute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that he made a mistake. I think he misjudged the people that he was going to go visit with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He really was going to come home that night.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Theda in Missouri. Hi, Theda.

THEDA, MISSOURI: My son, Christian Taylor Ferguson missing from St. Louis, Missouri.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nine-year-old Christian Taylor Ferguson was with his father the morning of June 11th, 2003 when his father pulled the car over to make a quick phone call at a pay phone.

GRACE: Unless the cops get enough information at the get-go --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But when he stepped out of the car for just a moment, someone suddenly stole the car with Christian still in the back seat.

GRACE: They don`t have enough, they can`t make an arrest. They can`t make him, now that he`s a target, they can`t make him come in and talk to them.

THEDA: Well, let me tell you about my case. They have enough evidence. There`s a 33-page police report. You know, I just really can`t believe that I`m in this position of looking for my son and trying to bring some normalcy to my entire family`s life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The SUV was found abandoned a few hours later, about five miles from where it was taken. Police and tracker dogs searched the area, but there was no sign of Christian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a common thread here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family says Christian had a medical condition and would not have been able to get out of the car without assistance.

KLAAS: It extends to Christian. It extends to Hasanni. It extends to Zahra Baker. Did you know that the maltreatment of children with disabilities is 1.5 to 10 times higher than the maltreatment of children without disabilities, and that immediate family members perpetrate the majority of neglect, physical abuse and emotional abuse against these children?

THEDA: I remember Christian being very vibrant. He was so beautiful to me. And his skin was so soft. And he -- if you looked at him, you wanted to just grab him and pick him up and just hold him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: I`m Nancy Grace. See you tomorrow night, 9:00 sharp eastern. And until then, we will be looking. Keep the faith, friend.

END