Coffee and Cases Podcast

On January 24, 2006, 24-year-old Jennifer Joyce Kesse disappeared from Orlando, Florida, while leaving for work. Nearly two decades later, her family is still fighting to learn what happened to her.

In Part 3, we examine the investigation itself. What crucial opportunities may have been lost during the earliest hours? Why did Jennifer’s family have to fight for access to her case files? What did their private investigation uncover—and could new DNA testing, artificial intelligence, and renewed attention from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement finally bring answers?

If you have not listened to Parts 1 and 2, we encourage you to begin there before joining us for the final chapter in our coverage of Jennifer’s case.

To support the Kesse family’s continued search for Jennifer, visit their GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/kasmv-help-us-find-jennifer-kesse

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On January 24, 2006, 24-year-old Jennifer Kesse vanished from Orlando, Florida, after what should have been an ordinary Tuesday morning.

Jennifer was responsible, cautious, ambitious, and deeply connected to the people who loved her. She had just returned from vacation, gone back to work, spoken with her family and boyfriend, and appeared to be settling right back into the life she had carefully built for herself.

Then, sometime between getting ready for work and arriving there, Jennifer disappeared.

In Part 2 of our coverage, we follow the rapidly unfolding search as Jennifer’s family and coworkers try to understand how a responsible, dependable young woman could seemingly vanish between her Orlando condo and her workplace. With no obvious signs of a struggle inside her home and only Jennifer, her work belongings, and her car missing, investigators are left with urgent questions—and very few clear answers.

If you have not yet listened to Part 1, we strongly recommend beginning there for the full timeline of Jennifer’s final confirmed hours.

For additional Coffee and Cases content, bonus episodes, and ways to support the show, join us on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases

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A short note and a thank you to all of you!

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When the county fair came to town. Jeremy Bright begged his mom to allow him to attend. When she agreed, she had no idea the lifelong heartache that would result. How could a 14-year-old boy just disappear from a crowd with not a single clue?

Please consider supporting the pod by joining us over on our Patreon page! Are you up-to-date on all our regular content? Be a part of the C & C Fam by going to https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases to register!

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On January 24, 2006, 24-year-old Jennifer Kesse vanished from Orlando, Florida, after what should have been an ordinary Tuesday morning.

Jennifer was responsible, cautious, ambitious, and deeply connected to the people who loved her. She had just returned from vacation, gone back to work, spoken with her family and boyfriend, and appeared to be settling right back into the life she had carefully built for herself.

Then, sometime between getting ready for work and arriving there, Jennifer disappeared.

In Part 1 of our deep dive into Jennifer’s case, we take a closer look at the woman behind the headlines, the life she was building, the unsettling circumstances surrounding her condo complex, and the first alarming hours after her family realized something was terribly wrong.

For additional Coffee and Cases content, bonus episodes, and ways to support the show, join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases

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After flying to San Francisco for the summer, 18-year-old Kristen Modafferi told her sister that she was “learning about life.” Unfortunately, life has a dark side.

Link to order form for the cookbook: ⁠http://www.kristenfoundation.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=hw&report=sp&ID=009⁠

Link to order form for the bracelet:

⁠http://www.kristenfoundation.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=hw&report=sp&ID=010⁠

If you would like to make a donation to the Kristen Foundation, please see the link below:

⁠http://www.kristenfoundation.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=hw&report=sp&ID=107⁠

Please also consider supporting Coffee and Cases by joining us over on our Patreon page! Are you up-to-date on all our regular content?! Be a part of the C & C Fam by going to ⁠https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases⁠ to register!

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One small change to a schedule-- Blake Dickus staying a bit longer with his dad and step-mom to have lunch-- changed the course of so many lives forever. After Blake’s dad returned to work from a lunch at home with his family, someone came into his home and brutally murdered his wife, Chynna, and his ten-year-old son. But who could have committed such a senseless act?

Please also consider supporting Coffee and Cases by joining us over on our Patreon page! Are you up-to-date on all our regular content?! Be a part of the C & C Fam by going to ⁠https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases⁠ to register!

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On May 14, 2008, 19-year-old Brandon Swanson disappeared near Porter, Minnesota, after calling his parents for help in the middle of the night.

What should have been a simple drive home after celebrating the end of the college semester became one of the most haunting missing persons cases in Minnesota history.

Brandon was on the phone with his father when something happened. Then the call went silent. Nearly two decades later, his family is still waiting for answers.

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June 1st, 1983 began as an exciting day for 12-year-old Ann Gotlib since it was the first day of summer vacation. She spent the day with various friends before making a short bike ride home. But it was a ride during which Ann disappeared. Sadly, law enforcement were not short on potential suspects— even though it is a case that remains open to this day.

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Over the past two episodes, we followed a story that almost refuses to be believed: a newborn taken from Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, a toddler found abandoned outside a department store in Newark, and a man raised as Paul Fronczak who later learned through DNA that he was not the baby everyone believed had been returned. After decades of questions, genetic genealogy finally gave him the name he had been born with: Jack Thomas Rosenthal. But that answer opened another mystery, because Jack had not been born alone. Fourteen minutes before him, a baby girl entered the world too. Her name was Jill Lynne Rosenthal.

And unlike Jack, Jill was not found abandoned in Newark. She was not placed into foster care under another name. She did not grow up inside someone else’s story. She simply disappeared—without headlines, without a public search, without a childhood photograph, and without the world even knowing it should be looking for her. Today, in the final episode of our coverage, we turn fully toward Jill: a little girl who was born, a little girl who had a name, and a little girl whose disappearance was hidden so thoroughly that silence nearly became the final word. This is the final episode in our three-part coverage of the case of Jill Rosenthal.

I want to again thank Paul Fronczak and Tracy Hastings again for trusting us with this story and for taking the time to speak with me. Please listen to their podcast, The Fronczak Files, because they are telling this story from the inside—not just as a mystery, but as a lived experience involving identity, family, loss, silence, and the ongoing search for answers. You can find their work at https://www.thefronczakfiles.com/.

And if you are caught up on our regular Coffee and Cases episodes and want more content, join us on Patreon, where we cover a solved case each month as part of our state-by-state spotlight: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases.

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