A Florida mom’s loss on Mom’s Day 2018 disclosed a killer hiding in simple view and the awesome’s decades-long path of lies and incorrect identifications.
Worry expanded when Joleen Cummings, 34, fell short to get her youngsters after operate at the Tangles salon in Fernandina Coastline that Might 13.
A brand-new “20/20” episode, “The Last Cut,” broadcasting Friday, Nov. 21, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the following day on Disney+ and Hulu, takes a look at the instance.
You can additionally obtain even more behind the curtain of weekly’s episode by paying attention to “20/20: The After Program” once a week collection precisely your 20/20 podcast prey on Mondays, held by “20/20” co-anchor Deborah Roberts.
Joleen Cummings disappeared in May of 2018, never ever to be seen once more.
Ann Johnson
Detectives located her cars and truck deserted days later on in a neighboring Home Depot parking area, where electronic camera video disclosed an unidentified individual leaving the car after driving from the instructions of Cummings’ salon, where she had actually helped 6 years.
Detectives went to Tangles and discovered that the last individual to see her was a brand-new associate called Jennifer Sybert. When Sybert reached the beauty salon and saw cops existing, she left the scene, according to private investigators.
In a brand-new meeting for “20/20,” Wayne Herrington, a private investigator on the instance with the Nassau Area Constable’s Workplace, stated that the cops did a forensic evaluation of the beauty salon. The outcomes were troubling, according to Herrington.
” Primarily the entire beauty salon brightened. There was blood almost everywhere that clearly had actually been tidied up. You might see wipe marks on the flooring in blood,” he stated. “There was no question in our mind that not just was this a criminal offense scene, that this was a murder scene.”
Investigators Wayne Herrington and David Douglas, that examined the criminal offense.
ABC Information
Authorities at some point detained Sybert in a freeway remainder location south of Fernandina Coastline for grand burglary car, affirming she was the individual seen leaving Cummings’ cars and truck after it was left at the Home Depot. They additionally observed lacerations on her face, Herrington stated.
” She had claw marks on her face. She had band-aids on her face,” he stated. “It appeared like to me that she had actually remained in one heck of a battle.”
When scheduling Sybert, investigators checked into her history and made a surprising exploration. When initially spoken with, she confessed that her genuine name is Kimberly Kessler, and private investigators revealed that she had actually lived in greater than 30 cities over 20 years, under a minimum of 18 pen names.
” I prepare to return to being myself. Kimberly Lee Kessler– type of a foolish center name, isn’t it? It resembles my mama faltered,” Kessler informed authorities at the time.
Kimberly Kessler’s first mugshot when detained.
St. John’s Area Constable’s Workplace
According to authorities, Kessler had actually swiped the identification of a deceased 13-year-old lady called Jennifer Sybert. The teenager was eliminated in a vehicle mishap in Germany, yet hidden in Butler, Pennsylvania– where Kessler was initially from. Kessler’s mom had actually reported her missing out on from Butler in 2004, authorities stated.
Kessler was billed with the first-degree deliberate murder of Cummings and grand burglary car. She begged blameless and acted unevenly while waiting for test.
Beth Smith, a correctional officer in the center where Kessler was held, informed “20/20” that she would certainly act bizarrely while jailed.
” She really tore her smock off totally, obtained nude, began smearing feces around herself, and it simply went from there. She after that chose it was a terrific concept to toss it at us. So we remained in there soaking, diving, attempting to escape it,” Smith stated of one event.
Herrington highlighted an additional uncommon activity.
” At a moment throughout her imprisonment, she started a cravings strike, went from 170 extra pounds to down around 80 extra pounds,” he stated.
District attorneys affirmed that Kessler had actually killed and severed Cummings and disposed of her body in trash can in a dumpster behind the beauty salon, never ever to be recuperated.
Joleen Cummings and her mama Ann Johnson prior to she vanished.
Ann Johnson
Her protection suggested that Cummings’ murder was not deliberate, which was requisite for Kessler to be founded guilty of first-degree murder.
After much less than 3 hours of consideration, Kessler was condemned of first-degree murder and grand burglary car. She was punished to life behind bars without the opportunity of parole.
Kessler appealed her sentence, yet it was disregarded in 2024, according to court documents.
Jill Johnson, a buddy of Cummings, informed ABC Information’ Deborah Roberts in a special brand-new meeting for “20/20” that she desires her to be kept in mind for her spirit.
” She was lovely in and out, and once more, she was very first and primary a mommy to those children, and she was a terrific pal, excellent audience,” she stated.
