DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County police are investigating the disappearance of a young woman who was house-sitting for her parents.
Jenna Van Gelderen disappeared nearly a week-and-a-half ago, the weekend of Aug. 18, from a home on Oakdale Road in the Druid Hills neighborhood, not far from Emory University.
Her brother said when he showed up at the home, the lights were on and so was the TV, but there was no sign of his sister. Jenna’s shoes and cellphone chargers were left at the house.
The 25-year-old Gwinnett Tech graduate has a form of high-functioning autism and likes her routines, according to her parents.
They say there's no way she left on her own.
"It's still surreal," her mother, Roseanne Glick, said. "I go to sleep crying, I wake up crying, I keep thinking, worrying and know that she would never have just left."
Jenna was taking care of the family’s 21-year-old cat and her parents say she wouldn’t have left without telling them.
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"I was concerned from the beginning,” her father, Leon Van Gelderen, said.
He says there was also an unusual item missing from the home -- a tapestry from World War II. He says it has little monetary value.
Glick says she talked to her daughter once or twice a day, and is desperate for anyone with information to come forward.
“Anything that you could give us to help us find her we want her home, we love her tremendously,” she said.
As DeKalb police investigate the disappearance, Jenna’s parents, their friends, neighbors and synagogue are passing out flyers, trying to generate any leads
“If it wasn't, as I said, for the community, we would be in worse shape,” Leon Van Gelderen said.
Jenna's 2010 blue Mazda is also missing. It has noticeable scratches on it and a Georgia tag of PWH5902.
If you see Jenna or her car, you're urged to call DeKalb County police or call 911.
Cox Media Group
