Jennifer Kesse: Missing woman's family settles lawsuit against Orlando police

Video: Jennifer Kesse: Missing woman's family settles lawsuit against Orlando police

By: Kelly Healey
Updated: March 21, 2019 - 8:26 PM

The parents of missing Orlando woman, Jennifer Kesse, settled a lawsuit against the Orlando Police Department, allowing the family to take over the case, Channel 9 reporter Shannon Butler learned Thursday.

Kesse disappeared without a trace in 2006. Her family filed a lawsuit last year, asking the court to allow a private investigator to obtain the Orlando Police Department’s records on the case.

Orlando police had argued that the information was not public.

"It's not our practice to turn over files or case notes of information to anyone in the public, and we believe that could possibly jeopardize this investigation as well as set a precedent in future investigation," former Orlando police Chief John Mina said in January 2018.

ORLANDO, Fla. — But the settlement means the Orlando Police Department must hand over the records in the case.

The family reportedly paid over $18,000 for the unredacted records.

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Butler reached out to the Orlando Police Department and the Kesse family, who are expected to release a statement.

Read: Letter from Kesse family regarding settlement with OPD

In April 2010, four years after Kesse was reported missing, police “acknowledged that it had exhausted all possible leads in the investigation," according to the lawsuit.

Police said Kesse disappeared between 10 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2006, and 8 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2006.

A private investigator will now start from original tips that came in from 2006 and work from there. The investigation could potentially take months or years.

The family knows they may never find out what happened.

Investigators said Kesse’s car was discovered at the Huntington on the Green condominiums, about 1 mile from her home near the Mall at Millenia.

Her parents, Drew and Joyce Kesse, told Channel 9 they want a fresh set of eyes to start from the beginning and hopefully find new clues.

The family will receive case files that dating back 13 years. This is a HUGE step forward in the effort to find Jennifer Kesse.
— Find Jennifer Kesse (@FindJennKesse) March 21, 2019