Sex Offender John Steven Burgess Arrested on Drug Charge in FL, POI Case of Missing Donna Jou
19 year old Donna Jou has been missing since June 23, 2007. Now it appears that there may be a break in the case. Police in Florida have arrested sec offender, John Stevens Burgess. Jacksonville police spotted John Stevens Burgess trying to dispose of a bag of crack cocaine outside a Motel 6. Burgess is also a person of interest in the disappearance of Donna Jou.
(John Steven Burgess arrested)
Police in Jacksonville, Fla., arrested John Steven Burgess, 35, who also goes by the name Sinjin Stevens, on a drug charge Tuesday, Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office in Orange County, Calif., confirmed to ABC News.
Burgess, a convicted sex offender, is a person of interest in the disappearance of Donna Jou, a 19-year-old who had just finished her freshman year at San Diego State University and who met Burgess on the Web site Craig’s List. (ABC)
Man arrested in Florida in case of Orange County missing student
Amormino said homicide investigators from Orange County were in Florida, where Burgess is currently being held on a drug charge and for failing to register as a sex offender.
Burgess has not been charged in connection with Jou’s disappearance, but authorities remain suspicious.
“This is another very suspicious act,” Amormino said. “He is clear across the country and he chose not to speak with investigators.”
Missing Persons Forum: Donna Jou
UPDATE I: Truck Found In Florida In Case Of Missing OC Woman
Police have found the missing truck of a man arrested in Florida. He is wanted for questioning in the disappearance of a 19-year-old San Diego State coed.
Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino says extensive media coverage of Burgess’ arrest led an anonymous tipster to call police with the location of the man’s 1998 blue Ford Ranger truck. Amormino says the truck was found in the Jacksonville area and is being processed by forensic investigators.
Truck is located in hunt for O.C. teen
“Forensic personnel are going through that truck with a fine-tooth comb in an attempt to locate any type of evidence which may lead us to [Jou's] whereabouts or what might have happened to her,” Amormino said.
Jou and Burgess apparently met on Craigslist.com. She was last seen June 23, when Burgess allegedly picked her up for a date at her mother’s Rancho Santa Margarita home and took her to a party at his rented West Los Angeles home, authorities said.
On July 8, the license plate of a pickup truck and a motorcycle helmet belonging to Burgess were found – along with rope, rubber gloves and a scrubbing brush – near railroad tracks about 1 1/2 miles from his house. (LA Times)