DeJesus was last seen walking home from Wilbur Wright Middle School in Cleveland, Ohio on April 2, 2004. She was in seventh grade special education classes at the school, and was still learning how to read. She left the school on Parkhurst Drive at about 2:30 p.m., and walked with a friend to West 105th Street and Lorain Avenue. DeJesus gave fifty cents to her friend so the girl could call her mother and ask if they could go to DeJesus's home together. The mother said no, so the girls parted ways and DeJesus walked at least one more block on Lorain Avenue before disappearing near a phone booth (tracker dogs later lost her scent on 104th Street). She has never been heard from again.

DeJesus was about thirty blocks from her home on West 71st Street when she vanished. Her mother gave her $1.25 to ride the public transport bus home, but as she gave some of the money to her friend, she didn't have enough money to take the bus. DeJesus decided to walk home instead, which is not unusual for her. When she walked home, DeJesus usually arrived by 3:35 p.m. Her mother started looking for her at 3:45, and called police at 5:30. Police initially investigated her disappearance as a runaway case. She was caught smoking a cigarette and grounded for two months days before she disappeared, and was very upset because of his. However, her family says it is uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning, especially with her mother's birthday coming up on April 8. Now investigators are saying there is no evidence that DeJesus left of her own accord; they are investigating her case as an abduction case.

DeJesus disappeared only a few blocks from where another teenager, Amanda Berry, disappeared in April 2003. Another teen girl, Ashley Summers, went missing from the same vicinity in July 2007. Neither of those girls has been found. Police are looking into the theory that the three cases are linked; they think one or more of the missing girls may have been forced into prostitution. Authorities are also investigating the possibility that a kidnapping and rape on March 22, 2004 is connected to DeJesus's disappearance. A teenage girl said a man abducted her when she was waiting for a bus on west 40th Street and Denison Avenue in Cleveland. He sexually assaulted her and then released her. That crime is unsolved and authorities are not sure if it has anything to do with DeJesus's disappearance.

A week after DeJesus vanished, police announced that they were seeking a Hispanic man in connection with her disappearance. He is described as 25 to 35 years old, 5'10 and 165 to 185 pounds, with green eyes, a goatee and a pencil-thin beard. Investigators have released a composite sketch the individual, which is posted below this case summary. He was seen near Wilbur Wright Middle school before DeJesus vanished, and was asking for her. He is believed to have been driving a white or light blue car with a unique bumper sticker; the bumper sticker may have had an image of a wolf on it.

Authorities identified two persons of interest in DeJesus's case in September 2006, and arrested both men on unrelated charges. One of them is a convicted sex offender with an extensive criminal history with at least nine convictions for sex crimes over the past two decades. Investigators received a tip that DeJesus's body was buried in the sex offender's garage and they searched this individual's home. They did not find any human remains but they did find other evidence. Neither man has been charged or named as a suspect in DeJesus's case.

DeJesus is described as naive, friendly and trusting. She was not streetwise, but her parents had taught her to never accept a ride from anyone, not even one of her uncles or one of her father's friends. She enjoyed music, particularly Aaliyah and Jennifer Lopez, at the time of her disappearance. Her other hobbies included slumber parties, roller skating and baseball. Her case remains unsolved.

Top Left: Man wanted for questioning in DeJesus's disappearance;
Top Right: Replica of DeJesus's pants;
Bottom Left: Replica of DeJesus's shirt;
Bottom Center: Replica of DeJesus's coat;
Bottom Right: Replica of DeJesus's shoes