Investigators provided an update on the disappearance of Joleen Cummings on Monday, announcing the FBI had joined the search for the woman who went missing in May and is presumed dead.
The 34-year-old mother-of-three was reported missingafter she failed to pick up her children on Mother’s Day.
Days later, police arrested 50-year-old Kimberly Lee Kessler in connection with the case. Kessler worked with Cummings at Tangles Hair Salon and was allegedly the last person to see her alive.
Kessler is a suspect in Cummings’ disappearance, authorities have said. She is currently jailed on a grand theft auto charge for allegedly stealing Cummings’ car.
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At Monday’s press briefing, Cummings’ mother, Anne Johnson, said she was desperate to find her daughter, and issued a plea to the public to come forward with information.
Cummings was last seen leaving her job at her hair salonin Fernandina Beach at 5 p.m. on May 12. She was supposed to meet up with her ex-husband in Hilliard on Mother’s Day to pick up her kids, but she never showed up.
Nassau County Sheriffs Office
Her beige 2006 Ford Expedition was discovered May 15 in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Yulee, not far from the salon.
That same day, authorities said, they went to the salon to speak with Kessler. But subsequently, Kessler stopped showing up to work at the salon, where she’d been employed for about a month.
Kessler was found at a truck stop on May 16, according to authorities. She was arrested for grand theft auto and remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail.
She had her attorney enter a written plea of not guilty to the grand theft auto charge.
Tips about the case, which can be kept anonymous, can be called into 877-845-TIPS.
source: people.com
