‘I just want justice’: Investigation continues into disappearance of Keeshae Jacobs
Toni Jacobs: “My determination to find my daughter is even stronger today than it was when she first went missing.”
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The search continues for answers in the disappearance of Keeshae Jacobs, who was last seen on Sept. 26, 2016.
“My determination to find my daughter is even stronger today than it was when she first went missing,” said Toni Jacobs, Keeshae’s mother.
Seven years ago, Keeshae Jacobs was last seen at Chimborazo Park. She told a family member she would see them the next day but never made it back home.
“Today is not fair. I shouldn’t have to wait seven years. My daughter shouldn’t have been missing,” said Toni Jacobs. “I just wish she was home so she can hug me get on my nerves. I’m tired, I’m very, really tired, but I can’t stop fighting because I’m all Keeshae has.”
The search for Keeshae spanned across Richmond as people put up fliers with her picture and made their pleas to bring her home.
“I just want justice for my daughter,” said Toni Jacobs. “I want to know, one way or the other, if she’s here or not so I can have some closure.”
In Nov. 2017, Richmond Police said they suspected foul play in the disappearance of the Richmond woman.
On Tuesday, Richmond Police told NBC12 their detectives consider Otis Tucker a suspect in Keeshae’s disappearance.
Tucker was someone Toni Jacobs said she had a conversation with after her daughter went missing.
“He told me that he knew Keeshae through a mutual friend of theirs, and basically then he perceived to tell me different times he saw her, which was a lie,” she said.
In Nov. 2022, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested and charged Tucker with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of a Florida woman.
“As patrol officers arrived on the scene, neighbors indicated that banging and screaming were heard from one of the nearby residences, followed by an unknown black male fleeing from the rear of the same home. Officers immediately conducted a search of the residence in an effort to ascertain the safety of those possibly inside. During the course of this search, they discovered a female victim deceased inside,” wrote the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in their press release about the incident back in Nov. 2022.
In May 2023, Tucker pleaded guilty to both charges for the Florida case. On Sept. 15, 2023, Tucker was sentenced to life behind bars.
“In that moment, I was hurt for the mother who lost her daughter,” said Toni Jacobs.
Toni Jacobs also told NBC12 she has kept in touch with the mother of the victim from Florida.
“We talked on the phone a couple of times, and I literally apologized to her. It was two mothers on the phone crying,” said Toni Jacobs. “She’s praying for me that I get the answers, and I’m praying for her because she lost her daughter in the process of me trying to get the information and get this man prosecuted.”
As Richmond Police continue investigating the case, Toni Jacobs asks those with information about her daughter to come forward.
“And for the community to just come together and stop turning your back and acting like it doesn’t, or any crime doesn’t involve you when it does,” she said. “Just because it’s not at your door today doesn’t mean it’s not going to be at your door tomorrow.”
Richmond Police is asking anyone with information about the Keeshae Jacobs case to call Richmond Police Department Major Crimes Detective C. Key at (804) 646-5984 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. All Crime Stoppers reporting methods are anonymous.
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