Judge receives Jennifer Kesse investigative documents from Orlando police

Family filed public records complaint against OPD to get daughter's file

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jennifer Kesse's family was back in court Thursday after suing the Orlando Police Department in an attempt to obtain records of their missing daughter's case.

Kesse's parents, Joyce and Drew Kesse, who live in Bradenton, and her brother, Logan Kesse, filed a public records complaint in Orange County in December against the Police Department.

An Orange County judge told both parties during a hearing that she wants to make sure every investigative document is reviewed before moving on with the suit.

Kesse's family is trying to force the department to turn over her case file, so it can conduct its own investigation as to what happened to the 24-year-old, who vanished in 2006.

The judge received a thumb drive and a hard drive of the investigative documents and said it could take months to review everything.

"Essentially, what she’s doing is going back and saying let’s go ahead and review the documents we are going to send her the alternative and if she signs that and issues it to the city, then the city will then have 48 hours to respond."  Kesse family attorney Michael Kest said.

Orlando police officials said Kesse's case is still an active investigation and the records need to be redacted because the documents contain confidential information.

The cost of redacting those files could cost the family $18,000, according to city attorneys. 

"We knew there were a lot of documents ... the city of Orlando is claiming that every single document in that entire file that they have is somehow evidence of an active investigation," Kest said.

"I think we are on the right track now and where we need to be so as our team said, 'Nothing slips by the time this is all over,'" said Drew Kesse.


About the Author:

Ezzy Castro is a multimedia journalist on News 6's morning team who has a passion for telling the stories of the people in the Central Florida community. Ezzy worked at WFOR CBS4 in South Florida and KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, where she covered Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Being from Miami, Ezzy loves Cuban coffee and croquetas!

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