Jalesa Reynolds, 18, Scotland Neck, N.C missing 2/22/2010

[Lovinlife]

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/7142289/

Investigators search for missing Scotland Neck teen
Posted: Today at 9:43 p.m.

Scotland Neck, N.C. — Investigators on Monday searched a wooded area where a missing Halifax County teenager was last seen a week ago.

Jalesa Reynolds, 18, was seen at the Scotland Neck Memorial Library around 11 a.m. on Feb. 22.



Investigators said they have since traced Reynolds' Internet activity to a computer at a home on the 200 block of Cemetery Road. They think she went to the home after going to the library.

Investigators said the man who owns the residence where Reynolds accessed the computer is a person of interest in her disappearance.

Reynolds is described as 5 foot 2 inches tall and 220 pounds. She has a medium complexion and short black hair. She was wearing tan pants, a pink shirt and a blue-jean jacket with a flower design on the back.

Anyone with information about Reynolds’ whereabouts is asked to contact Scotland Neck police at 252-826-4111.

[Lovinlife]

http://www2.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/police_trace_facebook_to_find_missing_woman/114467/

Police Trace Facebook To Find Missing Woman
By Jim Niedelman | Weekend Edition Anchor
Published: March 1, 2010
Updated: March 1, 2010

A Facebook connection could be the key to finding an 18-year-old woman who’s been missing for a week.
   
Jalesa Reynolds hasn’t been heard from since she checked her account last Monday.
   
Scotland Neck police say that internet lead raises suspicions.
   
Nine On Your Side’s Jim Niedelman explains why her last Facebook log-in is getting so much attention.
   
This neck of the woods seems a world away from Facebook, but when it comes to Jalesa Reynolds, police say it isn’t.
   
“We know she was in this area,” says Scotland Neck Police Chief Joe Williams.  “That’s no doubt.“
   
Officers wound up searching this 100-acre dumpsite after tracing her internet activity, specifically on Facebook.
   
Police say she logged off her account around lunchtime last Monday at the public library.
   
Then, around 1:40 in the afternoon she checked back in using a computer located in this neighborhood.
   
There’s been no sign of her since.
   
“That’s the key piece of the puzzle,“ Williams said.
   
Her family says it was out of character for her not to come home.
     
“Stayed to herself, very shy, you know, ordinary teenager, just loved computers,“ said Reynold’s cousin Frederick Lassiter.
   
Jalesa Reynolds didn’t have a computer at home. 

So, she came to this library almost every day to use the internet and Facebook. 

Police say the normally shy woman became a lot more outgoing online. 

They worry that got her into trouble.
   
“You never know who’s on the other end of the computer,“ Williams said.
   
Williams says detectives got to the other end of Reynolds’ last login.
   
They say he’s an older man she knew on Facebook.
   
He’s described as a person of interest in the case.
   
It’s not clear how long or how well they knew each other.
   
Williams says there’s reason to think she wound up in harm’s way.

“It doesn’t look good,“ Williams said.
   
Reynolds’ family tries to stay optimistic.
   
They hope that last log-in from Cemetery Road wasn’t the end.
   
Police also searched a section of the Roanoke River late Monday afternoon and found no trace of Reynolds.
   
Chief Williams says teams could look into the water again on Friday.
   
The river level is too high to do it before then.

[MuffyBee]

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7304417
(Video avail. in article at above link)
Authorities suspect foul play in teen's disappearance
Monday, March 01, 2010
SCOTLAND NECK -- Halifax County authorities are searching for an 18-year-old woman who was last seen on February 22.

Scotland Neck police say someone last saw Jalesa Reynolds using a public computer at the Scotland Neck Memorial Library around 11 a.m. last week.

Chief Joe Williams says records indicate she logged onto a social networking Web site around 11 a.m. At 1:39 p.m., she logged onto a computer at a residence on Cemetary Road, which is about 1.5 miles northwest of town. Police believe she left the home between 2 and 3 p.m.

Williams says officers questioned the owner of the residence and seized his computer. The machine is being examined by the SBI in Raleigh.

Police stopped short of offering any more information on what they've learned from the residents in that home.

There also is a ground search underway for Reynolds. Authorities are searching near the home where the computer was seized, nearby woods and a landfill.

Family and friends describe Reynolds as a "shy woman" and say they have not heard from her since Feb. 22.

Reynolds' mother says she has never been away from home and fears she's been abducted.

"Whoever has her, bring her back home safely," Bernice Reynolds said. "Please come forward bring my baby home."

Reynolds is African-American, 5'2" tall, 220 pounds with a medium complexion and short, black hair. She was last seen wearing tan pants, a pink shirt and a denim coat with a flower design on back.

Investigators say they've conducted more than 60 interviews since last Monday. They say as more time passes they grow more concerned.

Police won't say if they suspect foul play, but a news conference is set for Tuesday morning.

[MuffyBee]

http://www2.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/police_no_new_developments_in_case_of_missing_scotland_neck_girl/114701/
(Video in article at above link)
Police: No new developments in case of missing Scotland Neck girl
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
There’s little new details concerning missing 18-year-old Jalesa Reynold’s of Scotland Neck. Today, the police department held a press conference, but police chief Joe Williams says any new developments would compromise the investigation. Two dozen relatives attended the press conference. Reynold’s first-cousin, Frederick Lassiter told nine on your side that while the teen has been missing for over a week, the family will remain posiitve and optimistic in the meantime.

“I’m not going to say suspicious. She just didn’t return home and we just want her safe return,“ Lassiter said.

Nine on your side is told the teen, who is unemployed, was a student at Halifax Community College earning her GED. On Tuesday, February 23rd, the Reynold’s family reported the 18-year-old missing. Police say records indicate the teen signed on to one of the Scotland Neck Memorial Library computers on Monday February 22nd, at noon. Currently the Scotland Neck Police Department, Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, and SBI have not eliminated the possibility of criminal misconduct.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

The search continues for an 18 year old girl who went missing last week and may be in danger.

No one has heard from Jalesa Reynolds since she went to the library in Scotland Neck last Monday.
   
Investigators do suspect foul play.

Police spoke to the media today.
   
Right now, there are no new developments to speak of in the case.

Officers spent much of Monday searching a patch of woods along Cemetery Road and they combed through a dump site for yard waste.
   
Investigators traced Reynold’s activity on the internet at the library last Monday.
   
Police say she left there about lunch time.
   
Then about an hour and a half later she signed on to Facebook from a computer in this neighborhood.
   
That’s the last communication from her.

Chief Williams says they’ve interviewed about 60 people, including the man at the address of her last Facebook login.
   
They say he’s a person of interest, but nothing more.

We’ll have the latest developments on the case and the search tonight on Eyewitness News 9 at Six.

[Nut44x4]

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7148643/

Family of missing Scotland Neck teen pleads for her return
 

Posted: Mar. 2 4:56 p.m.
Updated: Mar. 2 6:37 p.m.

Scotland Neck, N.C. — Family members of a missing Halifax County teenager last seen more than a week ago pleaded on Tuesday for her safe return.

Jalesa Reynolds, 18, was seen at the Scotland Neck Memorial Library around 11 a.m. on Feb. 22.

Reynolds’ cousin Frederick Lassiter said Tuesday that it was uncharacteristic of Reynolds to not come home.

“We just love Jalesa,” he said. “If there is anybody out there that knows anything about this case or the whereabouts of her, just call the Scotland Neck police department.”

Video at Link above

Investigators said they have since traced Reynolds' Internet activity to a computer at a home on the 200 block of Cemetery Road. They think she went to the home after going to the library.

Investigators said the man who owns the residence where Reynolds accessed the computer is a person of interest in her disappearance.

"Jalesa was a very shy girl. She was very quiet, kept to herself," Lassiter said.

On Monday, police searched a wooded area where Reynolds was last seen. Authorities have declined comment on the case. The State Bureau of Investigation is also involved in the case.

Reynolds is described as 5-foot-2 inches tall and 220 pounds. She has a medium complexion and short black hair. She was wearing tan pants, a pink shirt and a denim jacket with a flower design on the back.

Anyone with information about Reynolds’ whereabouts is asked to contact Scotland Neck police at 252-826-4111.

~~~~~~~~~
She looks really familiar to me. The name doesn't ring a bell though...
I wonder if she has been missing before

[NCMike]

FIRST ON WITN: Sex Offender Lives At Home Center Of Search
WITN News has learned that a convicted sex offender lives at a home where deputies say Jalesa Reynolds was last seen more than a week ago.
WITN News has learned that a convicted sex offender lives at a home where deputies say a missing teenager was last seen more than a week ago.

The North Carolina Sex Offender Registry says Dwayne Davis lives at 285 Cemetery Road in Scotland Neck. That's where police say Jalesa Reynolds was last heard from a week ago Monday. Davis served six years of a 15 year sentence from Martin County for second degree rape and was released from prison in 2000.

A law enforcement source tells WITN that Davis is a person of interest in the case.

Police say Reynolds logged onto a social networking site at the home and the homeowner told police she left between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. Police have seized that computer and have sent it to the SBI in Raleigh to be examined.

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/85825382.html

[NCMike]

http://sexoffender.ncdoj.gov/results.aspx

This is the sex offender whose house she logged onto facebook from.

[NCMike]

Interesting too that Scottland Neck is roughly 45 miles from the Rocky Mt. area, which leads us to http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=6418.0

I know it may be a stretch, but I would think it is definitly worth looking into. 

[Lovinlife]

http://www2.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/vigil_held_for_the_missing_jelsea_reynolds/115631/

<a href="http://vp.mgnetwork.net/viewer.swf?u=dd6ffb447895102da6fd001ec92a4a0d&amp;z=NCT" target="_blank">http://vp.mgnetwork.net/viewer.swf?u=dd6ffb447895102da6fd001ec92a4a0d&amp;z=NCT</a>

Family and friends of Jalesa Reynolds gathered tonight at Shiloh Baptist Church in Scotland Neck.

Vigil held for the missing Jalesa Reynolds

By Alexander Freedman | Reporter
Published: March 3, 2010
Updated: March 4, 2010

Family and friends of Jalesa Reynolds gathered tonight at Shiloh Baptist Church in Scotland Neck.
   
They held vigil at 7:30pm to pray for her safe return.
   
Pastor Alfred Solomon Jr. says there is no set end to the vigil; they are going to pray as much as necessary.  The church also provided food for the meeting.
   
Fredrick Lassiter, cousin of Jalesa, was at the vigil tonight.  He said the family has not received any new information about where Jalesa might be.

[Lovinlife]

http://www2.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/gag_order_issued_in_case_of_missing_teenager/116649/

Gag Order Issued in Case of Missing Teenager
By Arthur Mondale | Reporter
Published: March 5, 2010
Updated: March 5, 2010

New developments in the search for a missing Scotland Neck teenager. Now a judge has stepped in and issued a gag order to police.

Even before nine on your side learned of the gag order, the Scotland Neck Police Department, Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, and even the SB,I refused to answer any of our questions. But on the 10th day of the missing person investigation, the teen’s family was willing to speak today more than ever.

“Just knowing God and having faith. That’s what makes us think she’s going to walk through that door in any minute,” Jalesa Reynolds’ first cousin, Adreka Wiggins, said.

As three dozen officers, deputies, and rescue crews reinitiated a ground sweep off Cemetary Road near the home where it’s believed Reynolds’ last logged onto her facebook account, her family’s optimism grew.

“This is a praying family. And we are like this in all situations and at all times—that’s why we have faith that she’s coming back safe,“ said Wiggins.

The missing teen’s mother says her daughter will come home.

“Just hoping for the best, not for the worst,“ said Reynolds’ mother, Bernice.

Divers with the Littleton Volunteer Fire Department also search the muddy waters of the Roanoke River.

It was a busy morning. Superior Court Judge Alma Hinton issued a gag order on police. Unknown to the family, they say it should quiet growing rumors.

“If the gag order is to protect some type of evidence, I say protect it or to keep something from being leaked I’m for it,” said Reynolds’ cousin, Frederick Lassiter.

Nine on your side called Judge Hinton’s office as well as the District Attorney’s office to get details about the gag order. Our calls have yet to be returned.  In a conversation with Police Chief Joe Williams on Thursday, so far 60 people have been interviewed and authorities weren’t in a position to rule anyone out.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2010/03/05/news/doc4b91427a387bc459982810.txt

Reward offered for missing Scotland Neck woman
by Della Batts
The Daily Herald Staff Writer
Friday, March 5, 2010

Jelesa Reynolds

SCOTLAND NECK — A $500 reward is now being offered by the Scotland Neck Police Department for information leading to the whereabouts of 18-year old Jelesa Reynolds, of Clarkville Drive, according to Chief Joe Williams.

Efforts in a ground search continue today, Friday, March 5, by the Scotland Neck Police, the State Board of Investigation, the State Forestry Service, the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and area fire departments.
Williams said law enforcement continues to process evidence in the case.

Reynolds was last seen in the vicinity of Cemetery Road, just off Mary’s Chapel Road, about two miles outside town. Reynolds’ family reported her missing Feb. 23, after she failed to return from a trip to the library.

Reynolds is described as 5 feet, 2 inches, African-American woman and weighing approximately 230 pounds.

She was wearing khaki pants, a pink shirt, a blue jean jacket with a flower print, black shoes and a black scarf on her head.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Reynolds, you are urged to call the Williams at 252-826-4112, the Halifax County Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444 or the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office at 252-583-8051.
**********************

I've noticed the different spelling of her name, from "Jalesa" to this article "Jelesa". 

[Nut44x4]

She should be listed with NCMEC Missing Kids. I do not see her here:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=usMapSearch&missState=NC&searchLang=en_US

They list up to 18 years old

[Lovinlife]

I'm confused, does her family now believe that she ran away or are they in denial?

http://tinyurl.com/yc286qk

Local Family: Holding up “pretty strong” that missing Scotland Neck teen will return home

By Amy Kibler | Six & Special Projects Producer
Published: March 17, 2010
Updated: March 17, 2010
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment

It’s been weeks since anyone has seen or heard from 18 year old Jalesa Reynolds of Scotland Neck. 

Nine On Your Side spoke to family members today who says they are still holding up “pretty strong” that the teen will return home.
   
Her last communication came when she checked her Facebook account.
   
Police traced that last internet activity to a home on Cemetery Road.
   
Searches of the woods in that neighborhood along with a section of the Roanoke River came up empty.
   
A gag order remains in effect preventing police from talking about the case.
   
Authorities are still offering a 700 dollar reward for information that leads to her whereabouts.

Video of newscast at link.

[Nut44x4]

I don't know. It doesn't seem like there would be a 'gag order' in place regarding a runaway. I think there must be a lot more to the story. Besides that, 18 year olds do not 'run away'and should not be considered runaways...they leave if they choose to leave.

[Lovinlife]

I don't know. It doesn't seem like there would be a 'gag order' in place regarding a runaway. I think there must be a lot more to the story. Besides that, 18 year olds do not 'run away'and should not be considered runaways...they leave if they choose to leave.

True, very true.  Do you think this is connected to the Rocky Mount NC murders?