ORLANDO, Fla. – She was a 24-year-old University of Central Florida graduate and young professional living in a new condo complex near the Mall at Millenia.
Her parents sounded the alarm when they got a call from her job saying she never showed up for work.
Joyce Kesse described the last two decades as “emotionally and mentally exhausting, to have our daughter, our family of four, be a family of three without a resolution.”
Jennifer Kesse worked for Westgate Resorts, owned by timeshare mogul David Siegal, who died in 2025.
[FLASHBACK VIDEO: Search conducted in Kesse case]
In 2007, Siegal offered a $1 million reward for Kesse’s safe return.
“David said, ‘It’s got to be something really big because if they still have her it’s got to be something meaningful,’” recounted Mark Waltrip, COO of Westgate Resorts.
The reward came and went and still no answers.
Drew Kesse, Jennifer’s father, said one of the biggest developments was finding Jennifer’s car.
Police located her black 2004 Chevy Malibu just days after her disappearance, about a mile from her condo at the Huntington on the Green Condominiums.
Decades later, investigators are retesting all DNA found in the car.
“Two hairs had never hit any data bank, but they did find two pieces of evidence that were never tested, I believe it was two pieces,” Drew Kesse said.
Another key lead came from surveillance footage capturing the person driving Jennifer’s car.
The video was grainy, but the family hopes advances in technology will help.
“Basically AI (artificial intelligence) we’re truly hoping that AI does something with the picture of the person who parks Jennifer’s car,” Drew said. “Between DNA and AI, there’s incredible hope right now to just crack the case.”
After years of organizing searches and asking for the public’s help, the Kesse family sued the Orlando Police Department for the case file. It has been with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the past three years.
The family says having new investigators on the case brings renewed hope.
“They truly believe they’re going to solve the case,” Drew said.
Joyce Kesse added, “To be around investigators who are extremely intimate with every nuance of the case, for them to be a little bit upbeat, and that’s encouraging.”
[PAST COVERAGE: Family of Jennifer Kesse says case ‘no longer cold’ nearly 20 years after her disappearance in Orlando]