This article shows part of Jenn's awareness for safety..
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/08/Northoft..._light_on.shtml
Show to shed light on missing woman
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
Published October 8, 2006
Jennifer Kesse has been missing for eight months.
She made a phone call at 10 p.m. on Jan. 23 and hasn't been heard from since. No one has used her cell phone, toll road pass or any other personal items. Possible leads come to the family's hotline daily, but the case remains a mystery.
"It's becoming more difficult day by day," said Jennifer's father, Drew Kesse of Bradenton.
A graduate of Gaither High School who spent her teen years in Van Dyke Farms, Jennifer Kesse, now 25, worked most recently for a time-share company in Orlando.
She earned two promotions in two years before she vanished, her dad proudly said.
"A lot of people ask us, 'It must be a little easier after eight months?' " Drew Kesse said. "It's not. It's getting harder."
He and his wife, Joyce, took long leaves of absence from work. He negotiates contracts for Staples. She coordinates care for patients leaving Moffitt Cancer Center.
They returned at the urging of detectives, who suggested that pacing about aimlessly would not help.
They still have their moments of grief, feelings of despair. They miss their routine of phone calls, sometimes five a day, with Jennifer. They barely eat dinner at home anymore, once a family ritual.
They pray daily, Psalms 91, passages from a book of daily thoughts.
Joyce Kesse favors a poem by Maya Angelou: "I believe in life, in will, in good. I believe that right wins out. It may sound naive, but I believe."
"I recite that poem as many times as it takes to turn my mood around," she said.
As tough as it may be, they try to remain positive and active in the ongoing investigation by Orlando police. Ask them about themselves, and though they admit to how much life has changed, the Kesses insist it's not about them.
If Jennifer is alive and waiting to be saved, they say, just imagine how bad things are for her.
They're trying every conceivable means to keep attention on their daughter's disappearance and possible abduction, with the hope that someone eventually will come forward with information that helps them find their sports-loving, always smiling oldest child.
"It's all about awareness," Drew Kesse said. "If it was to die down on awareness, it's over."
They have passed out millions of fliers, distributed "missing person" matchbooks and business cards, sponsored free fingerprinting for children, spoken at safety awareness seminars and on news programs. Next up, a "comedy for the cause" event at the Tampa Improv in Ybor City. Tickets are $10. The show begins Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
"Everyone says, 'You guys have done everything,' " Joyce Kesse said. "We don't feel that way, because if we've done everything, then how come we still don't have Jennifer?"
It's perhaps harder to cope because detectives will share that the case remains "hot," with a person of interest still being sought, but they won't give the family any details.
A slip at one of the many events that Drew and Joyce Kesse attend could derail the entire effort.
So instead the family goes over theories. They struggle with the fact that Jennifer probably was grabbed at her car, because, having been robbed at gunpoint themselves, they stressed personal safety from the time their children were old enough to understand.
Jennifer always carried Mace. She routinely called family members or friends simply to tell them where she was, just so someone knew.
The lakes around her Orlando condominium have been dragged four times. Dogs have combed the woods. As many as 1,400 volunteers helped search for her in the first two weeks after her disappearance.
But hope remains.
"We think that it will be solved," Drew Kesse said.
"We pray and hope we will have a miracle, although we're not ignorant people. We know the odds are very much against us. But look at Elizabeth Smart. Nine months. We're not there yet."
For more information about Jennifer Kesse, visit
www.findjennifer kesse.com.
Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at
[email protected] or 813 269-5304.
COMING UP
Comedy for the Cause is a support event to raise awareness for Jennifer Kesse, who has been missing since Jan. 24, 2006. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the Tampa Improv, 1600 E Eighth Ave., Ybor City. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
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