Car, Not Woman, Found

Jenna Van Gelderen’s dark-blue 2010 Mazda 6 was found Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2½ weeks after the still-missing Jewish Atlanta woman disappeared.

While driving to her gym, a Morningside woman who was following the case spotted the car parked along Defoor Place off Chattahoochee Avenue in Northwest Atlanta. Jenna’s father, Leon Van Gelderen, met police at the scene but honored a police request to keep quiet about the discovery for more than a week.

“It’s hard to figure out what to publicize, what not to publicize,” he said. “They just wanted some time to process the car.”

Van Gelderen said the Atlanta and DeKalb police are reviewing video footage from the scene. “There’s a video camera on one of the buildings across the street from where the car was, but they haven’t told us what they found on there.”

He said the building with the camera is a recording studio.

The Van Gelderens are Congregation Shearith Israel members, and 25-year-old Jenna was housesitting for her parents when she went missing Aug. 19. At press time, her family had not heard from her in a month.

Jenna, who is 4-foot-11 and 140 pounds, has developmental disabilities that reportedly make her trusting and suggestible.

A $10,000 reward is offered for information leading to her return. The Help Find Jenna Van Gelderen page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/HelpFindJennaVG) is being used for updates on the case.

Leon Van Gelderen said DeKalb County Police Chief James Conroy has been nice and is actively involved in the case.

“Thanks to Chief Conroy of Dekalb Pd for spending several hours with us today. He assures us they are diligently working the case,” Van Gelderen posted on his personal Facebook page Friday, Sept. 15.

Any information can be emailed to FindJennaNow@gmail.com or called in to Van Gelderen at 404-966-8565 or Conroy at 770-724-7475.