Missing From: Kansas City, Missouri
Missing: May 23, 1985
Age at Disappearance: 14
Height: 5′ 1″
Weight: 90
Hair: Blonde/Brown
Eyes: Blue
Distinguishing Characteristics: Scars, Marks, Tattoos: Caucasian female. Jody has a small mole under her chin, an appendectomy scar on her abdomen, and a large birthmark under one of her arms.
Details of Disappearance: Jody was last seen at her boyfriend’s house in the 700 block of Cambridge Street in Kansas City, Missouri on May 23, 1985. She had an argument with her boyfriend and other friends on the day of her disappearance. She apparently wanted to accompany them to their destination, but they refused.
Jody walked to a nearby friend’s residence and called her mother, asking for a ride home to the 6800 block of east Topping Street. Her mother did not have her car and Jody told her she would find another ride. She was last seen walking northbound on Winchester from 14th Street.
Jody was never heard from again. She did not take any money or extra clothing with her when she disappeared.
Jody was enrolled in a juvenile probation program at the time she disappeared. (She and a friend had had a run-in with a security guard in 1984). Her caseworker was contacted by Jody’s mother after the disappearance.
The caseworker filed two warrants for Jody, listing her as an endangered juvenile who should be detained by authorities if she was spotted. Jody’s mother assumed that the warrants also meant juvenile authorities had filed a missing child report with law enforcement; they had not.
Law enforcement never considered Jody as a missing person until 1987, two years following her disappearance, because they had not been notified. As a result, Jody’s case was obviously extremely delayed and clues were minimal by the time the investigation began.
In 1997, police dragged the Missouri River after two prison inmates claimed they had information on the case. Their tip went nowhere, but it led the Kansas City Police Department to reclassify Jody’s case as a probable homicide. Her mother now lives in Arkansas but visits Kansas City a few times every year to search for her daughter. Jody’s case remains unsolved.
Investigative Agency: Kansas City Police Department 816-234-5140
If you have any information on this case, please contact CUE Center for Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131 or call the CUE Center 24-hour tip line at (910) 232-1687. All information submitted to CUE Center for Missing Persons is confidential.
Police still searching for KCMO woman 30 years after disappearance
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Police said Friday in a press release that they are still searching for Jody Ledkins who went missing 30 years ago.
According to police, Ledkins called her mother on May 23, 1985 and said she was headed home from her friend’s home, but she never showed up.
Police said Ledkins was last seen walking on Winchester from 14th Street in 1985. She was headed north.
In the press release police said they suspect Ledkins could have been going to her boyfriend’s house located in the 700 block of Cambridge. Police said they suspect foul play in the case.
When she disappeared in 1985, Ledkins was described as 5′ 1″ tall and weighed 90 pounds. According to police, she had blonde hair and blue eyes. Ledkins wore glasses , had a small mole under her chin, a large birthmark under her arm, an appendectomy scar and “perfect” teeth.
Ledkins mother has since moved out of state, but she is still seeking the whereabouts of her daughter, who would now be 44 years old.
Police ask that anyone with any information please call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —An age-progressed photo was released Friday of a Kansas City teenager who disappeared 30 years ago while on her way home.
Jody Ledkins, 14, called her mother on May 23, 1985, and told her she was on her way home from a friend’s house.
Ledkins was last seen walking northbound on Winchester Avenue from 14th Street.
Investigators said she may have been going to her boyfriend’s house at 704 Cambridge Ave.
Police said they suspect foul play. Detectives have continued to work the case for the last 30 years. They joined with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to produce age-progressed photos of what Jody would look like last year at age 43.
At the time she disappeared, Ledkins was 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 90 pounds. She wore glasses, and had a small mole under her chin, a large birthmark under her arm, an appendectomy scar and “perfect” teeth.
The age-progressed picture shows what Ledkins would look like at 43. Anyone with information Ledkins is asked to call the Cold Case, Missing Persons and Runaway Unit at 816-234-5136 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
If you have any information on this case please contact CUE Center For Missing Persons using the contact form below or contact Cue Center at (910) 343-1131 24 hour tip line (910) 232-1687.
All information submitted to CUE Center For Missing Persons is confidential.