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White Slave: a Novel
Wayne S Gilbertson
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, her car was discovered parked around a mile from her home. A local security camera recorded a person parking Kesse's car and walking away. The person could not be identified due to poor camera quality and the person's face and any distinguishing physical features being obscured. The case received local and national press attention. As of 2021, 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 of her disappearance, she was working as a finance manager at Central Florida Investments Timeshare Company in Ocoee and had recently bought a condominium home in Orlando.
Kesse was seen for the last time leaving work at approximately 6 p.m. on January 23, 2006. She spoke by phone with her father while driving home at around 6:15, and then with her boyfriend at around 10:00 p.m. 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 to her went to voicemail. When Kesse failed to arrive at work, her employer contacted her parents, who began the two-hour drive from their home to hers. Her 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.
Investigators and Kesse's friends and family remain open to the theory that she fell victim to human trafficking.
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