GA GA - Jessica Dietzel, aka Jessica Vanzant, 21, POI named, Albany, Feb 2020

[PommyMommy]

JUL 23, 2024

Holding Out Hope: The Jessica Dietzel Case

The first episode focuses on missing person, Jessica Vanzant Dietzel. She was 21 years old when she was reported missing in March of 2020. She would now be 26 years old.

www.walb.com

The first episode focuses on missing person, Jessica Vanzant Dietzel. She was 21-years-old when she was reported missing in March of 2020. She would now be 26-years-old. WALB News 10′s Jamie Worsley and Rowan Edmonds take a look back at her case and share new developments that could lead to closure.

As promised, we have reached out to the Albany Police Department for answers. Chief Persley got back to us after the airing of the episode, and this is what he had to say.

(Q&A at the link as well as a link to the podcast)

 

[mlhenn]

Jessica Diane Vanzant Dietzel – The Charley Project

Last updated September 27, 2024; clothing/jewelry description added, details of disappearance updated.

• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA light blue Nike shirt, leggings and black Nike slides. Carrying a mustard-colored bag.

Details of Disappearance​

Dietzel was last seen in Albany, Georgia on February 18, 2020. That day she logged into her Facebook Messenger account with a friend, Gary Potter's, cellular phone; she didn't have her own phone and used other people's often. She messaged another friend asking them to call her, saying she was scared and "I know I'm in too deep."

Police later tracked the login to somewhere near Five Points Inn. She has never been heard from again. She was reported missing by her mother on March 1.

After Dietzel's disappearance, police searched Potter's house and seized some of his property, including his truck. They found some hair that could have been Dietzel's, but they have yet to establish that. Potter claimed he did not know Dietzel and refused to answer any more questions without an attorney. He is the only person of interest in Dietzel's case who hasn't been cleared by law enforcement.

A notebook belonging to Dietzel was found six months after she went missing, lying in a parking lot in Oglethorpe, Georgia. It appeared to have been recently dropped there as it was not weathered or faded from the sun.

Authorities believe Dietzel was involved with dangerous individuals at the time of her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.