Family of missing Jennifer Kesse in court for lawsuit hearing

ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - The case of Jennifer Kesse is back in the central Florida spotlight. Kesse, 24, has been missing for 13 years and no one has been arrested. 

On Thursday, her parents attended a court hearing in a lawsuit the family has filed against over their missing daughter's case. Drew and Joyce Kesse are suing the City of Orlando, Orlando Police, and the Police Chief. They say that police have repeatedly denied them access to their missing daughter's case files.

The family filed the lawsuit in December after they say the city gave them some documents that were heavily redacted. Under the lawsuit, Orlando Police had to turn over nearly 100 gigabytes worth of documents. 

Thursday's hearing was to determine whether or not a detective hired by the family can go over those files with the judge. The family says that if that happens, they want to be in the courtroom or have their attorneys in there.

The Orlando Police Department says it's still an active investigation, so they don't need to hand over their investigative records.  In a statement, the Orlando Police say that "it's the department's standard practice not to release file materials in open and active cases such as this one. In an effort to ensure the integrity of the investigation." 

Orlando Police also say that they have received more than 180 tips on Kesse's disappearance in the last five years. They say that this is not typical in most disappearance cases and they are following up on every one.

The judge in the case says it would take almost five-and-a-half years to read through the entire case. Still, she is allowing the lawsuit to proceed.

"I think we're on the right track now of where we need to be," said Drew Kesse.  "I think we've said it for 13-plus years now, whatever it takes to find Jennifer, period!"  

"We're not going away!" Joyce added.