09/14/2021
The FBI and the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) along with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office have teamed up in the ongoing search for a girl reported missing more than 35 years ago.
An FBI unit specializing in child abductions got into Lexington on Monday to work alongside deputies and SLED agents in the search for Jessica Gutierrez. She was kidnapped from her South Lake Drive home in June 1986. Gutierrez was 4 years old.
“Jessica’s mother was unable to find her when family members woke up on June 6, 1986,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “A large area was searched on foot, on all-terrain vehicles and by air in the days after she disappeared. But no one has seen Jessie since.”
Koon said he asked the FBI to help search for Gutierrez and to canvas the area and talk with neighbors who lived near her family just as investigators did when she was first reported missing.
Anyone with information about the case can share tips by calling 803-785-2457 or contacting Crimestoppers.
