Federal agents arrive in Lexington County to investigate 1986 kidnapping of 4-year-old
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division are investigating a cold case that has haunted a Lexington County mother for 35 years.
Agents are looking into the June 1986 abduction of 4-year-old Jessica Gutierrez.
“Our goal is to help in the quest to find answers for the Gutierrez family,” said Susan Ferensic, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Columbia Field Office. “We want to provide an array of resources the FBI has to assist the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department in solving this case.”
Gutierrez’s mother, Debra, woke up to a parent’s nightmare in 1986. Her daughter was missing from her room and a window was open. The child’s sister said that a man “with the magic hat and the beard took her last night.”
Later, a man confessed in prison that he had kidnapped a girl in Lexington County. He was wearing a tall cowboy hat when he did it, he said. But investigators said they were never able to gather enough evidence to charge the man.
Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon asked the FBI to help search for Gutierrez. Agents are canvasing the area and talking with neighbors who lived near her family.
“This is a team of highly trained and experienced experts on missing children cases,” Koon said. “Over the coming days, the team will provide on-the-ground investigative, technical, behavioral analysis and analytical support to find out more about what happened to Jessie.”
“Even if you have been interviewed before or if you have never talked to law enforcement, now is the time to come forward if you have information that can help us,” Koon said. “You might see our investigative teams over the next two weeks, please talk with them. Even if you ‘think’ what you know can’t help, let us decide if what you know is relevant. It might be the final piece to add to the evidence we have to find Jessie.”
Anyone with information about the case can share tips by calling 803-785-2457 or visiting Crimestoppers website.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 11:39 AM.