ARTICLE #2) JESSIE FOSTER - Las Vegas cops silent on missing woman

Wednesday, April 19, 2006
JESSIE FOSTER - Las Vegas cops silent on missing woman
The Kamloops Daily News by Jason Hewlett

The North Las Vegas Police Department wasn’t offering any information on its search for a Kamloops woman who may have disappeared into the seedier side of the city.

A detective with the NLVPD refused to comment on the case of Jessie Foster, 21, who disappeared three weeks ago after living in Las Vegas for about a year.

Instead, The Daily News was referred to the department’s office, who did not return phone calls.

Mike Kirkman, a private investigator with Las Vegas Detectives, said this lack of co-operation isn’t unusual when it comes to missing person cases.

“There is no criminal investigation when someone is missing. No one has been able to provide evidence of foul play,” he said during a phone interview Tuesday.

Kirkman was hired by Jessie’s father, Dwight Foster, after she failed to contact family members during the Easter weekend.

He said police are being pressured by himself and the Canadian Consulate in California to take a more serious look into Jessie’s disappearance.

“They should share the same concerns that I have…the people she has fallen in with are very unsavoury people,” Kirkman said.

Kirkman’s investigation revealed Jessie started dating a man who may be a pimp shortly after moving to Las Vegas. His wife is a known prostitute who allegedly threatened Jessie on numerous occasions.

The wife works at a brothel called The Chicken Ranch in Nye County, 112 kilometers west of Las Vegas, Kirkman fears Jessie may have ended up at such a place, he said.

“I’ve got serious concerns she’s in a place she doesn’t want to be,” he said.

Glendene Grant, Jessie’s mom, tries not to think about such things. All she wants is to hear from her daughter.

She never approved of her daughter’s relationship and said it turned violent on several occasions. Her concerns turned to fear when Jessie, who contacted her family with fail at least three times a week, suddenly stopped calling.

Grant contacted the consulate in hope of enlisting their help in finding Jessie. She went to the downtown branch of TD Canada Trust Tuesday morning to check her daughter’s bank statements. There hasn’t been any activity since March 28, the last time anyone heard from Jessie, she said. “I’m waiting for the bank to get back any Visa transactions. That takes a little bit longer,” she said.