Case Details
- Photo URLs:
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- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 01/22/1998
- Missing From:
- Missing From Kansas City, Missouri
- Classification:
- Classification Non-Family Abduction
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 12/22/1981 (43)
- Age:
- Age 16 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’9, 170 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A white t-shirt, a green and black jacket, jeans and sneakers.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Jennifer has a chicken pox scar on her right cheek. Her ears are pierced.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Jennifer disappeared on January 22, 1998, after leaving East High School in Kansas City, Missouri. She’d had a fight at school and left around 9:30 a.m. At a nearby grocery store, she met Wesley Purkey, a handyman. She got into his truck and vanished.
At first, police thought she ran away because of problems at home and school. But her family knew she wouldn’t leave, especially since she was about to get her driver’s license.
Later, Purkey, already in jail for another murder, confessed to killing Jennifer. He said he abducted her, took her to his home, and killed her. He claimed to have gotten rid of her body. He even led investigators to some of her remains, but they never found her body.
Purkey was convicted and sentenced to death. He changed his story slightly later, saying Jennifer went to his house willingly, but he lied about the kidnapping to get the case in federal court. He was executed in 2020.
Despite a false report in 2004, Jennifer’s body has never been found, and her case is considered a murder.
- Agency:
- Kansas City Police Department 816-234-5000
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 01/22/1998