Missing Kaylee Jones: 16-year-old's parents face online harassment 1 month into daughter's disappearance
Kaylee Jones (Carroll County Sheriff's Office)
CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. - The adoptive parents of missing Georgia teenager Kaylee Jones say they have faced online harassment in recent weeks since their 16-year-old daughter's disappearance caught national attention.
Kaylee, born Jillian Paige Temple, was last seen on June 14 in the area of Whooping Creek Church Road in New Carrollton, when her parents say she left out of her second-story window without her computer or phone, which had recently been confiscated after her parents found out she had been in communication with strangers online.
Brenda and Daniel Jones have not heard from Kaylee since.
"They're getting calls from a lot of places to work out, but there has not been…anything," Brenda Jones told Fox News Digital of the numerous tips law enforcement officials have received regarding Kaylee's whereabouts.
Kaylee Jones (Family photo)
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, FBI, the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshal Service and local law enforcement are now assisting in the search for the missing 16-year-old, who has special needs and has now gone about a month without her prescribed medication, according to her parents.
Now, Brenda and Daniel Jones say they are facing online harassment over certain details in their daughter's missing persons case.
"The local groups have been great. Neighbors and stuff, they've been great," Daniel Jones said. "Now, the social community…"
"They've been horrible," Brenda Jones finished.
Internet sleuths trying to nail down the facts of Kaylee's case — with the hope of helping to find the missing teenager — have directed anger and accusations onto Daniel and Brenda online. Brenda said she is considering hiring a private investigator using funds from a GoFundMe titled, "Help us Find Kaylee Jones," to help with costs associated with the search for her daughter, but she does not want to share the PI's name out of fear of being attacked online.
"It's hard, but we are very optimistic," Daniel said.
The Carroll County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating Kaylee's disappearance, said in a Monday update that law enforcement has set up an anonymous tip line for callers wishing to remain anonymous to submit information about her whereabouts.
"Many leads have been followed up on by the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, State agencies, and [National Center for Missing & Exploited Children], but none have been substantiated," the sheriff's office said. "We are closely collaborating with the FBI daily and working in concert with law enforcement jurisdictions throughout the nation. Someone knows something, and we have set up a tip line dedicated to anonymous tips, so if you do know something but are afraid to come forward, please reach out at 770-830-5942 and remain anonymous."
Kaylee Jones may be carrying a blue backpack with pins and an embroidered horse-shaped patch. (Carroll County Sheriff's Office)
The Joneses previously explained that two days prior to Kaylee's disappearance, they had confiscated her phone in an effort to discipline their daughter, at which point Kaylee turned to her laptop and began communicating with strangers on chatrooms like Omegle — a website that allows users to anonymously send direct messages or video-chat with one another.
Kaylee shared personal information, including her family's address, with some "guys" she was speaking to online, her parents said.
Kaylee is described as 5 ft. 8 in. tall, weighing 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Her mother believes she may have a blue book bag "with a horse on the front." She may be wearing black tennis shoes or converse sneakers, according to authorities. Her family recently moved to Georgia from Brooksville, Florida, where they still have family and friends. She also may be going by her birth name, Jillian.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Kaylee's whereabouts to contact 770-830-5916 or email cshort@carrollsheriff.com.