On March 22 this year, Jesna Maria James had been missing for four years. A college student from the town of Erumeli in Pathanamthitta, she was only 20 years old when she disappeared after leaving her house to go to her aunt's place. Her missing story became a topic of discussion in the years afterward, with the Kerala police, the state Crime Branch and finally the CBI taking on investigations. Despite the rumours of her being found or about to be found, Jesna is still missing.
In March 2018, Jesna was a second-year degree student at the St Dominic's College in Kanjirappally of Kottayam. On the fateful day of March 22 that year, she left her house in Vechoochira, near Erumeli, to go to her aunt's place in Mundakayam, Kottayam. Police investigations found her having boarded a bus to Mundakayam, although it was never confirmed up to where she reached, or when she disappeared. There are also reports of Jesna messaging her friends and being communicable up to a certain point in her journey. Afterward however, there was no communication.
Both the state police and the Crime Branch wrote in their reports that Jesna has been abducted.
Two years into the probe, Pathanamthitta police chief KG Simon and later the Crime Branch ADGP (Additional Director General of Police) of the time, Tomin Thachankary, reportedly gave the impression that there was some news about Jesna and she'd soon be found. However, nothing turned up in the months that passed and finally, the Kerala High Court passed on the case to the CBI. In March last year - when Jesna had been missing for three years -- the CBI began its probe. But a year later, nothing concrete has yet come out.
A report in The New Indian Express says that the CBI is issuing an Interpol Yellow notice (issued by Interpol on the request of a country to locate a missing person), on the chances that Jesna might have left the country. The agency also circulated a missing person notice across the state to gather any information available.