www.wvwc.comPsychic believes missing mom is dead
11:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Reported by: Craig Civale
A Norfolk mother vanished more than two years ago, leaving behind a young daughter. The investigation into Sharon Jones' disappearance has been intense. Police have interviewed dozens of witnesses and her family from New Jersey has come here a number of times to search for answers. A private investigator and a psychic were called in to help. Despite all that, the mystery remains.
In the early morning hours of September 22, 2002, police believe something, or someone, forced the 33-year-old single mother to leave her apartment. She hasn’t been seen again.
She'd gone to a Norfolk club with friends that Saturday night. Police believe she made it home because her car and belongings were in her apartment, but her place was in shambles.
"The apartment appeared to be in a state of disarray, phone unplugged, purse on sofa, and it was dumped out," said Det. Judy Bennett, the lead investigator on this case.
She calls Jones’ disappearance one of her toughest cases. "We've talked to I can't tell you how many people and I can't find anything in there that something should have happened to Sharon, that she would be in the wrong area, wrong part of town, just not her, just a nice girl.â€
Det. Bennett admits Jones’ ex-boyfriend and father of her daughter, Kia, was a suspect.
George Scott, a sailor, was caring for Kia the night Sharon disappeared. He said a couple of things didn’t make sense. “She wasn't there and she wasn't calling, but her car was there. I thought that was awkward. I just thought she had a rough night."
Scott says he and a few other men close to Sharon gave a DNA sample. "When I went to the police department, I waived my rights. I took a polygraph. It came out inconclusive," Scott added.
13News Investigates: Sharon Jones, Part One
That’s how this case has progressed - no clear answers. As days turned into weeks and months into years, her family grew desperate. They hired a private investigator.
"The fact that she seemed to be living a good life, not involved with alcohol or drugs, had a child, loved her family, doing all the right things, for it to end this way, it would lead us in the direction that something bad happened," said Nick Fortunato.
The family also called on renowned psychic Silva Browne, who told them Sharon wasn’t alive and they’d find her body "in a wooded area with a clearing for trees, in Virginia, absolutely."
Police, meantime, kept running down leads and searching areas around her apartment. They came up empty.
Sharon's picture has been placed on a number of missing person Web sites and there are big rewards for answers about her disappearance.
But there are still no answers for Sharon’s family and her now four-year-old daughter, Kia, who has been living with her grandparents.
Although she was only two at the time, Kia understands something happened to her mother. "She'll come up to me and say ‘I miss mommy, do you know where mommy is?' I basically say to her ‘I miss your mommy, too. Your mommy is my daughter. We're looking for your mommy," says Jones' father, Bobby.
Sometimes, Mr. Jones says, he and Kia go for a ride and circle the block looking for Sharon. He says it makes her feel better.
