Kersh was last seen in Homewood, Alabama on November 3, 2008. She left her cashier job at the Tria Market at 1:00 p.m. to pick up her one-year-old son at his day care, but never arrived and has never been heard from again. The day after her disappearance, Kersh's red Chrysler Sebring convertible with the license plate number 2D5202F was found abandoned in an alley in west Birmingham, Alabama. Three days after that, her purse was found under an overpass on some railroad tracks, near Montevallo Road and east of Barber Court, about 100 yards from where her car had been.

In the aftermath of Kersh's disappearance the police briefly detained three male persons of interest, but had to release them all for lack of evidence. Kersh's son was taken into the custody of the Department of Human Resources for a short time, then placed with Kersh's best friend. In May 2010, a year and a half after Kersh's disappearance, Joacquas Megauil Haywood was charged with capital murder in her case. A photo of Haywood is posted below this case summary. He had dated Kersh, and authorities stated he'd been a person of interest from the onset of the investigation. They believe he killed her during a botched burglary. Haywood maintains his innocence and is awaiting trial. Little information has been released about the case against him.

Kersh was born in Russia and spent the first years of her life in an orphanage. She and her fraternal twin sister were both eventually adopted by separate American families. After Kersh graduated from high school, she moved to the Birmingham, Alabama area to reunite with her sister. Her adoptive parents previously lived in Guam and now live in Washington, D.C. Kersh is described as an independent and reliable but very trusting young woman and a devoted mother. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.

Above: Joacquas Megauil Haywood