Twenty years have passed since Jennifer Kesse disappeared from her Orlando apartment complex, and her family is still searching for answers.
Kesse was 24 years old in January 2006 and had recently moved into the community that was still under construction. In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, she had shared concerns about unsettling encounters with workers who were living in unfinished units on the property. On January 24th, after she failed to show up at the job she loved, her coworkers reported her absence, setting off a search that still continues to this day.
Investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have gone back through evidence collected over the years using newer tools, including working with an outside firm that uses artificial intelligence to review the case file and surveillance footage. Jennifer’s parents say they continue to search for their daughter every day, and that emerging technology has given them a sense of optimism.
Another positive development happened in October 2025 when Jennifer’s dad Drew Kesse announced that previously untested DNA within existing evidence was set to undergo testing could lead to new information. Mr. Kesse also mentioned he’s working with a filmmaking team for a documentary to help bring Jennifer’s story to the world.
ORLANDO, Fla. – The family of Jennifer Kesse, who disappeared in Orlando nearly 20 years ago, shared an update Wednesday, saying the case is “no longer cold.”
Kesse was last seen on Jan. 24, 2006, when she vanished from her Orlando condo near Mall at Millenia.
Orlando police found her car within a few days, about a mile away from her home.
Since then, the best clue investigators found was grainy surveillance video showing a man parking a car, then walking away from the Huntington on the Green apartment complex at Texas Avenue and Americana Boulevard, about a mile away from her complex, Mosaic at Millenia.
Kesse’s father, Drew Kesse, wrote on Facebook that Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents informed them more has opened up in the investigation after actively working on the case.
He said there was DNA found within evidence that hadn’t been tested, which will “hopefully lead to more factual information leading to Jennifer.”
