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Police Search Abandoned Hotel In Hunt For Missing Woman

Tuesday, February 7, 2006 – updated: 11:32 am EST February 8, 2006

It was two weeks ago Tuesday that police got involved in the search for Jennifer Kesse when the 24-year-old woman didn't show up for work. Police are still following leads and, Tuesday, that included the search of an abandoned hotel on Vineland Road.

So far, the best lead is the surveillance photo of a person of interest. The camera that captured the image is on top of the clubhouse at Huntington on the Green apartments. The person of interest in the video was walking close to where Jennifer's car was found in a parking lot.

For the second day in a row, crime scene investigators used technology and science to learn as much as they could about the man in the pictures, using a laser for direction and distance to measure his height.

"Every time we get a lead, whether a tip, from the news saying, 'Hey, we heard this,' we get excited about it, 'cause we think there may be some hope here," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, Orlando Police Department.

At the abandoned Orlando resort, slated to be demolished, Tuesday a cadaver dog checked all of the rooms along with Orlando officers, but turned up nothing.

"We thought, once again, another isolated hidden area where, if somebody wanted to put something, it was a place we wanted to look at," Jones said.

For Jennifer's family that, too, brings hope. The fact that she hasn't been found in any of the wooded areas, despite a massive number of searches, they believe she's still alive waiting to be rescued.

"There is someone out there that knows something and please, feel, if that was your child or loved one that someone has taken, please just make the call," Jennifer's father, Drew, said.

Jennifer's parents never imagined a search this long, clinging to memories of their daughter within the comfort of her condo.

"The hole in our heart gets bigger, but we have to be strong for Jennifer," Jennifer's mother, Joyce, said.

Jennifer vanished two weeks ago, sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning. Her family has searched to the point of exhaustion, waiting for the one lead that pans out. The family is planning another massive search effort toward the end of this week.

Last weekend, 1,200 volunteers showed up. Starting this Thursday, they're hoping for even more. They said they would continue until they find Jennifer.

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