Photo of Missing Florida Woman Turns Up on Dating Web Sites for Seniors, Lesbians

The photo of a Florida woman who has been missing for a year-and-a-half has turned up on Internet dating sites for lesbians and senior citizens.

A picture of Jennifer Kesse, who disappeared in Orlando when she was 24, has been posted with the profile of lindaneedslove on SeniorPeopleMeet.com and with that of chickcheckinaz on lesbianpersonalsonline.com.

“It’s disturbing,” her father, Drew Kesse, said in a phone interview. “Whoever cut and pasted it obviously had to go on her site to get it. They had to know she was missing. How someone can do that — it’s horrible.” The Web site dedicated to Jennifer's case is www.jenniferkesse.com.

Kesse, 50, said he and his wife, Joyce — who live in Bradenton, Fla. — are in the process of trying to copyright Jennifer’s image so they’ll at least be able to file a lawsuit against anyone who uses it without permission.

Jennifer Kesse was last heard from the night of Jan. 23, 2006. But on Jan. 24, she never made it to work at Westgate Resorts, where she manages the financial department that oversees timeshares.

Family and friends searched the area around her home and a nearby mall. Her car, a 2004 black four-door Chevrolet Malibu, was found abandoned about one mile from her home at Texas & Americana.

Surveillance video taken on the grounds of her Orlando apartment complex shows a person parking her car at about 1 p.m. on Jan. 24.

The investigator in charge of her case said there’s not much action that can be taken against those who have stolen Jennifer’s image to use with their profiles on dating Web sites.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” said Detective Joel Wright of the Orlando Police Department. “We can look into their background to see if it’s some sex offender, look into their history and see if it’s anybody who might have come into contact with her.”

He said it’s unlikely that those who have used Jennifer’s photograph have anything to do with her disappearance, however.

“More than likely, it’s somebody just trying to make themselves look better for someone they might want to meet later on,” Wright said. “I wonder what happens when they do meet that person.”

Lindaneedslove writes under the photo that it depicts “Linda after haircut.” She describes herself as a 25-year-old woman from Knoxville, Tenn., who has 75 percent hearing loss and is looking for “a special older man to love, to be very good friends with.” The “wonderful older man” she’s seeking will want to be with a young woman and “will love me for who I am,” she writes.

Wright said the discovery that Jennifer’s picture is being falsely used has been an annoying distraction in the investigation.

“All it does is slow me down,” he said. “All of a sudden, the calls start coming in. It’s more of a nuisance than anything else.”

Though there haven’t been any new leads in the case, Wright said he and the other investigators are going through old tips and entering them into a new state lead-tracking system to see if they might have missed something.

“We’re making progress,” he said.

Jennifer’s dad worries about the fact that the people who posted his daughter’s image on the dating sites are “very fraudulent, very deceitful. They’re out there looking for sexual contact.”

“Obviously you’ve got to be sick to do that,” Kesse said. “We don’t want Jennifer’s likeness abused. It’s just as simple as that.”

Anyone with any information is encouraged to call the Orlando Police Department at (321) 235-5300 or the Kesse family tip line at (407) 722-2162. (Read original article.)

Text Messages Replace Traditional Dating

Singles are becoming more and more cautious. Some singles don't give out their business cards anymore, whereas that seemed like a less intimate and safer way to exchange numbers in the past. Singles are back to writing their non-traceable cell numbers on a napkin or the back of the restaurant's card where the two met.

Even dating has become more reserved. Not too long ago, the first step after meeting someone was to ask them out for a drink. After the initial meet and greet, cocktails could lead to dinner if both parties passed inspection. Now, singles aren’t even meeting for drinks right away. Instead they opt for texting. Texting is intimate and revealing enough, but not too personal nor does it require the same level of commitment as a phone call.

With the popularity and rise in usage of texting came the emergence of a new language tailored to the immediacy and compactness of this new communication media. This new language can make text messages appear to be written in their own foreign language. (Online auction abbreviations can be found here.) Even though texting can be abundant with acronyms and slang, limited character usage obliges that messages be quick, charming, and engaging sound bites, which necessitates intelligent wit.

Phone number, email address, or AIM handle?

Today things aren’t as simple as asking a girl for her phone number. In the age of cell phones and wireless communication, there are a plethora of ways to contact someone, each with its benefit and drawbacks.

Ask a woman for her phone number, and you may get a business card, work number, cell number, email address, web page or AIM handle. While some people may still prefer the intimacy of talking on the phone, it really depends on comfort level and personal preference. When you meet someone and hit it off, electronic communication is just like a phone call if it leads to a date. But there are pitfalls unique to the medium.

For one thing, it's very easy to be seduced by the informality of email or instant messaging. Conducting e-relationships can be tricky because email often allows people to become too casual too fast; however, it is a great way to connect with someone if one of the parties is uncomfortable talking on the phone or prefers discretion during work hours.

Regardless of how you communicate with a date, note what information you are giving this person. If an email address includes both your first and last names, you may want to think twice before handing it over to someone you just met in a bar. Likewise, web pages and business cards might provide a little too much information to a total stranger.

Is it a Romantic Courtship or Stalking?

“I love him! I have to go…There is a man on that mountain that I intend to spend the rest of my life with, and nothing is going to keep me from him. Not fate, not destiny and definitely not you!” – Susan, Desperate Housewives (May 5, 2007). Is Susan’s gesture romantic or just short of stalking? According to a Rutgers University article, stalking may include the following types of behaviors:

• repeatedly visiting or "dropping by" uninvited;
• sending anonymous letters or other types of mailings such as e-mail;
• making persistent phone calls with or without leaving a message;
• giving unwanted gifts;
• following the victim while walking, driving or taking the campus bus, to class, or in other settings;
• watching and/or spying on the victim;
• writing threatening comments or graffiti where the victim will see it; and
• showing up wherever the victim is, tracking the victim's schedule.

What differentiates romance and stalking? Not too long ago, anonymous notes from a secret admirer, unannounced visits, tacky gifts, and “randomly” being at the same place at the same time were accepted as part of a courtship. And after a relationship is over, is it so unusual to vent? Tons of people have checked up on an ex or ranted about a past relationship either to mutual friends or online.

Are these behaviors threatening? Maybe the only difference is that such behaviors are considered romantic when you like (and want to see) the person and stalking when you don't.

Googling Your Date

“Googling the one you (might) love is fairly common among the young, professional and Internet-savvy. ’Everyone does it...and if [they say] they're not doing it, they're lying.'” — Nara Schoenberg, "Don't Go Into Date Blind; Singles Googling Before Canoodling," Chicago Tribune, April 2, 2001.

Marriage licenses and divorce records are public records as are professional licenses. Singles regularly use Lexis/Westlaw and the internet to ascertain more about their dates. Some partake in "internet informational gathering" to curb their curiosity. Does my date rent or own? Others want to verify their date’s honesty. Did they really go to Harvard? Is he/she really an attorney?

For better or worse, "Googling" dates is standard practice. The results can be enlightening, surprising, and even disturbing. Read CNN's recent article “Googling Your Date” (April 10, 2007). Also see, “Consider 'Googling' potential dates the new form of flattery” (August 13, 2002).

CNN's Paula Zahn Discusses Ryan Fitzgerald and Give Me a Call

Paula Zahn Now - Aired April 25, 2007 - Americans spend more time alone in the car, alone at their desk, alone in their lives. But they still want to connect, which might explain the incredible popularity of [w]eb sites like MySpace and Facebook. It's a way to reach out and communicate, sometimes anonymously.

On the [w]eb site postsecret.com, people send in anonymous post cards revealing their innermost secrets and confessions. Some incredibly personal. There are want ads for friends on Craigslist. Clearly America is lonely. So lonely that [they will] reach out to anyone who's willing to listen.

Earlier this week [Paula Zahn] talked with Ryan Fitzgerald, the young man who put his cell phone number on YouTube (see clip) for anyone who needed to talk. He says he has gotten nearly 10,000 calls just in the past few days…What kind of a vulnerable position is Ryan putting himself in and potentially some of the people he is giving advice to? (Read full article.)

Ryan’s experiment raises several questions with respect to personal safety. Ryan has supplied his name, likeness, and cell phone number to millions of people. In his interview with Ms. Zahn, Ryan discusses a conversation he had with a caller who wanted to hurt himself over a failed relationship. If perchance the distraught individual did injure himself, would someone blame Ryan and seek revenge?

Ryan’s “advice” is not anonymous. With web sites like zabasearch and zoominfo, private and personal information is easily accessible. Even if someone takes precautions to use pseudonyms, public and non-traceable email addresses, etc., it is not guaranteed that the individual’s friends and family have taken the same precautions.

Someone’s “private” MySpace Account is no longer “private” if their best friend has a non-private account and blogs freely. Although one can take care not to broadcast their personal identifying information, it is available, and if someone really wants to know who you are, there are ways to find out.