ARTICLE #94) 2007 the year in review - That was then, this is now - Remember that one? Here’s how it turned out (usually badly)

Thursday, December 27, 2007
2007 the year in review - That was then, this is now - Remember that one? Here’s how it turned out (usually badly)
Las Vegas CityLife by Matt O’Brien

A new year is just around the corner, which means it’s a good time to look back in sober reflection before the inevitable bout of alcohol toxicity poisoning that’s just around the corner on New Year’s Eve. Before we do that, however, let’s check in with a few stories you read about this year in CityLife, and see how they turned out.

“Where’s Jessie?” Feb. 1

The story: In November 2005, North Las Vegas resident Jessie Foster flew home to Kamloops, British Columbia, to visit her family. On Christmas Day, the family drove her to the airport, where she caught an afternoon flight back to Vegas.

It was the last time the family ever saw Jessie.

On March 28, 2006, her older sister, Crystal talked to her on the phone. No one in the family has talked to her since. Her cell phone hasn’t been used. Her credit cards haven’t been used. She hasn’t made any transactions at the bank.

On April 9, Jessie’s mom, Glendene Grant, got in touch with Jessie’s live-in boyfriend. He told her Jessie had left him in early April and he hadn’t seen or heard from her since. According to a North Las Vegas Police Department report, an officer went to the boyfriend’s house that day and asked him about Jessie. About a week later, he was questioned at the police department.

In mid-April, Grant and her husband, Dwight Foster, hired a private investigator, who found out Jessie had been arrested multiple times for prostitution, under the name of Jessie Taylor. He also told her parents he thought their daughter was dead.

Frustrated with law enforcement, Grant and Foster visited Las Vegas in January 2007. They met with Mike Hope, director of Crime Stoppers of Nevada, and North Las Vegas Police Department detective Dave Molnar, who was assigned Jessie’s case. They also handed out missing-person posters on the strip.

Eventually, they left Las Vegas with more questions than answers.

The update: Grant and Foster still don’t know exactly what happened to their daughter.

After the CityLife story was published, there were reported sightings of Jessie. A bounty hunter offered his services to the family. And so did another private investigator. And Grant shared Jessie’s story on the Montel Williams Show.

“I’m glad that Jessie’s case is still in the news,” said Grant. “However, I wish it was more on the level of Natalee Holloway’s case. I understand that the cases are different and that the United States government is going to make a big deal over a young girl going to another country and going missing, but keep quiet a young girl going to its country and going missing. Nonetheless, it seems unfair.”

Grant is also frustrated with the North Las Vegas Police Department – which didn’t return phone calls from CityLife. She says officers have ignored information on the case that the family has provided.

“We just want to find Jessie,” said Grant. “We used to say, ‘Let’s find Jessie and bring her home safe.’ But almost two years into this, it doesn’t really matter if she’s safe or not. We just need to find her and bring her home. We just need some answers.”

MATT O’BRIEN