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Relatives Join Search For Missing Tampa Mother

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 18, 2008

Updated: 11/18/2008 01:50 pm

  Jennifer Johnson

Vincent Brown

TAMPA - Relatives of a missing woman are conducting their own search for her in bodies of water, wooded areas and anyplace they can imagine, her sister said.

Jennifer Denise Johnson, 31, was reported missing at 7:55 p.m. Saturday after relatives became concerned when she was not at home for her 2-year-old daughter's birthday party.

"We hope she comes back safe; but if not, we're prepared," Johnson's sister, Rachel Johnson, said today. "She never would've been away from her baby for that long."

Vincent Brown, 39, Johnson's ex-boyfriend and the child's father, is being held without bail at the Orient Road Jail for violating his probation on a cocaine-possession charge.

A prosecutor this morning identified Brown as "a suspect in a murder case," even though police do not classify him that way.

Investigators found Johnson's purse and credit cards inside her black 1996 Infiniti I-30 on Monday in the parking lot of Oak Park, 5215 E. 15th Ave., police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said today.

Investigators are following several leads, among them a greeting on Brown's cell phone that was "ominous," McElroy said.

Rachel Johnson previously had said that Brown's greeting said he might not be heard from again and asked callers not to forget him.

Today, Johnson said she was fearful her sister would be freezing and hungry if she had been left outside, given recent temperatures. Unable to "sit back and wait," relatives have been conducting their own search for Jennifer Johnson, who works for a medical-supply company and dotes on her daughter.

"They're looking in water, wooded areas, everywhere they can think of," Rachel Johnson said. "I'm not going to stop till we find my sister."

Brown appeared before Circuit Court Judge Walter Heinrich this morning, and Heinrich denied him bail because of the probation violation. Curious about the television camera recording what he thought was a routine matter, Heinrich asked prosecutors, "Is there anything else that I need to tell him about?"

Assistant State Attorney Linda Grable replied, "He's a suspect in a murder case."

"We don't have any other charges on him," Heinrich said.

"Not at this point," Grable answered.

Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office, clarified the remarks, saying Brown "is a suspect in the disappearance of a missing woman."

McElroy declined to comment on the prosecutor's remarks, saying, "We're still searching for Jennifer Johnson as a missing person."

She acknowledged that investigators' concerns grow as time passes.

"The longer she's missing, obviously, there's the greater possibility of foul play," McElroy said.

Asked about the prosecutor's comments, Rachel Johnson said, "I hope we find her alive." If not, Johnson said, they want to give her a decent burial.

Emotions are running high among Johnson's family. About 25 to 30 relatives went to confront Brown's parents at their house twice Monday, McElroy said. Officers were able to calm the situation on both occasions.

Johnson was last seen at 11 p.m. Friday at the Apollo club, 5110 N. 40th St., arguing with Brown, police said. Brown and Johnson went to his parents' house on East Cayuga Street about 3 a.m. Saturday. "At that point, they were not arguing, and it didn't seem unusual to the parents," McElroy said.

Johnson's daughter was with Johnson's mother at the time and remains in her grandmother's care, police said.

News Channel 8 photojournalist Kate Caldwell and information from Tribune archives contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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