THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506230492
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Detectives on Thursday ruled out their strongest lead in the baffling disappearance of a 21-year-old Georgia college student, after interviewing the person last seen with her.
Jennifer Lea Evans, a pre-med student at Emory University in Atlanta, hasn't been seen since early Monday, when she vanished from an Oceanfront-area nightclub.
Investigators said Thursday they found the man last seen with her after a Crime Solvers tipster recognized a police sketch of him. The sketch was developed from descriptions given by Evans' two friends.
Detectives questioned the man extensively Thursday, but later released him. Police spokesman Mike Carey said the man is now considered only a witness. The man was not identified.
Meanwhile, Carey said, ``There is no new information on the well-being, or whereabouts, of Jennifer Evans.''
The development is a setback for detectives who are not even certain they are investigating a crime.
``We were at ground zero with this thing,'' Carey said. ``Now, we're in the basement.''
Evans, a dean's list student with a near-perfect grade point average, was vacationing with her former college roommate and other friends in Sandbridge. She vanished from The Bayou nightclub in the first floor of the 19th Street Radisson Hotel early Monday morning.
Evans and two friends had gone to the club Sunday night. There, Evans met a man who claimed to be a 20-year-old Navy SEAL. Around 1 a.m. Monday, her friends wanted to leave, but Evans' new companion convinced her to stay longer. The friends agreed to get coffee and pick Evans up in an hour. When they returned, she was gone.
Carey said the man police were seeking is the person who spent time with Evans after her friends left. However, the man told police he left the bar, without Evans, before the student's friends returned.
Lt. Jack Pritchard, a detective-squad supervisor, said police are satisfied the man is telling the truth.
``Unless any new information comes forward, he is only a witness,'' Pritchard said.
Despite what Carey called ``an aggressive investigation'' and dozens of calls to a police tip line - including a fruitless call from a psychic - detectives have found little to explain the student's whereabouts.
``We have pursued every lead and we have had face-to-face interviews with everyone mentioned,'' Pritchard said. ``But most of the leads we have run down have not connected. Right now, it is just an unexplained disappearance, period.''
Unexplained disappearances are rare in the resort city, although missing-persons reports are not.
In the past 18 months, 668 people were reported missing to police. The vast majority - more than 96 percent - were later located.
Most missing persons return home on their own, stumble disoriented into hospitals, or relocate to other areas without telling anyone. A few - 25 of the 668 - were never heard from.
Although the majority of missing person cases don't result in police searches, the suspicious circumstances surrounding Evans' disappearance has led to the most intensive investigation in recent memory.
``This is a unique situation, but we would give the same attention to anyone who disappeared under similar circumstances,'' said Capt. William Haden, commanding officer of the detective bureau. ``It wouldn't matter if they were rich or poor, white or black, from out-of-town or from here.''
Pritchard said detectives are pursuing two theories: Evans is gone because she wants to be, or she is gone because she was abducted.
``Right now, we have no indication of foul play,'' Pritchard said. ``But I can't discount it. While we have no crime, we have what could be a crime. But there's just no evidence.
``We want to prove what happened,'' he said. ``Then we can answer the questions.''
Anyone with information about Evans is asked to call 427-0000. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Jennifer Lea Evans
KEYWORDS: MISSING PERSONS by CNB