The FBI expanded its search on Saturday for Florida hairstylist and missing mother of two, Joleen Cummings, to a landfill in Georgia.
CBS 47 reports that Kimberly Kessler, 50, a woman with a reported 18 different aliases and the last person to see Jolene alive, was caught on surveillance camera throwing away what looked to be a white trash bag and the emptying the contents of a trash can into a dumpster in Florida. The trash from the dumpster was transferred to a landfill in Chesser Island Landfill in Folkston, Georgia, where agents have begun searching.
The agency began searching at 7 a.m. on Saturday and plan to continue the search for seven straight days.
“Search conditions, make no mistake, are going to be very rough,” Jacksonville FBI Special Agent in Charge Charles Spencer said. “There’s going to be heat, there’s going to be rain, there’s going to be other issues we’re going to be dealing with. Team members are trained and equipped for it.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kessler, is currently behind bars after her co-worker Joleen, 34, disappeared on May 13. Kessler was reportedly the last person to see Cummings after the pair worked at the Tangles Hair Salon in Fernandina Beach on May 12.
When Cummings failed to pick up her three kids from her former husband, she was reported missing. On May 14, authorities went to the salon to interview Kessler but she left before they could talk to her. Another co-worker told police that Kessler pulled into the parking to report for work, but when she learned police wanted to speak with her, she left.
The following day, authorities found Cummings’ SUV abandoned close to a local Home Deport store. Surveillance camera reportedly captured Kessler parking Cummings’ vehicle a little after 1 a.m. on Sunday. Kessler got out of the driver’s side of the SUV but Cummings never emerged. According to an affidavit, Kessler then walked to the nearby Gates gas station, where she got into a taxi cab.
On May 16, police located Kessler sleeping inside a black Kia Soul at a rest area off of Interstate 95 in St. John’s County. She was arrested and charged with grand theft auto, based on the footage of her driving the victim’s car. Police also noted she had scratches on one hand and one eye.
Last month, Kessler went on a “hunger strike” in jail after authorities determined her other alleged identities. Kessler reportedly claimed she thought her food was being poisoned. She has since started eating again.
Anyone with information regarding the case is urged to contact the contact the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office at 904-548-4005 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
[Feature Photo: Jolene Cummings/Handout]
