ORLANDO, Fla. (WTSP) -- It's been 12 years to the day since Tampa native Jennifer Kesse disappeared in Orlando. Orlando police have looked into thousands of tips, but they still haven't found her.
The department held a press conference Wednesday morning to bring the case back into the forefront of people’s minds.
Chief John Mina announced the department is assigning a detective to the case full time. It’s also rolling out a city bus with Kesse’s picture on it and placing similar billboards around the city.
“I was working the night she went missing,” Mina said. “I remember talking to [Kesse’s father] on the phone and remember hearing the voice of a very concerned and upset father, and I'll never forget it.”
Kesse’s family, and in particular her brother, called out the department after the press conference, saying they haven’t done enough.
“It’s pretty common sense that everybody can read between the lines of this dog and pony show here,” Logan Kesse said.
Logan Kesse would only allude to mistakes they've made in their investigation. Grainy surveillance video of a person of interest remains one of the biggest clues and one of the biggest mysteries.
“This is only being done because we have attorneys involved now,” Kesse said, using expletives to say the department has messed up.
The family hopes having the bus and having a detective on the case full time will help generate leads, but isn’t happy the case has apparently come to a standstill.
“This is a blaring and glaring point that this case is cold,” said Kesse’s father Drew. “After 12 years, who puts a bus out here?"
Drew Kesse said his family has hired private investigators and attorneys. They plan to sue the department for the case files. Orlando Police refuse to hand them over because they say the investigation is still active, not a cold case.
“We believe that could possibly jeopardize this investigation, as well as set a precedent for future investigations,” Minda explained.
Kesse's family promises to keep fighting, 12 years after she disappeared.
“She's our flesh and blood,” Drew Kesse said. “We are ultimately responsible for bringing Jennifer Kesse home, and we will do whatever needed and whatever's possible to do that until I expire.”
Police said someone called in a tip as recently as this month. They said a new podcast started by two men from Tampa has helped generate some of them.
Police and Kesse's family are urging anyone who's called in a tip before to do so again.
To leave a tip, call Orlando police at (321) 235-5300 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.
For more information, go to www.FindJenniferKesse.com.
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