Two girls and a young mom vanished 25 years ago, and there’s still no clue as to what happened to them.
Jennifer Lancaster and her daughters, Sidney and Monique Smith, were last seen leaving their Topeka home around 8 p.m. on May 12, 2000. Jennifer and the girls were going to a male friend’s home, but they never arrived. She reportedly was taking several personal items with her, including quilts and baby clothes, saying she was going to get them washed, despite having access to a washer and dryer at their apartment.
Later, Jennifer’s vehicle, a 1994 Jeep Cherokee, was found abandoned at an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Southeast Swygardt, which is just southeast of Southeast 29th and California Avenue. “All personal belongings had been removed from the vehicle, including both infant car seats and the car keys,” a page on the Charley Project notes. “No one in the family has ever been heard from again.”
Jennifer graduated from Topeka West High School, but the Charley Project shares some people were not a positive influence, leading her to getting in trouble in school. “While she was pregnant with Monique, Jennifer worked at Remington’s, a local bar, then took a job at Baby Doll’s, an adult entertainment club She had a boyfriend, who was the father of at least one of her daughters.”
In recent years, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has released new age-progressed photos of what Monique and Sidney may look like today.
JENNIFER DAWN LANCASTER
Missing from: Topeka, Kan.
Missing since: May 12, 2000
Age then: 20
Height: 5’5’’
Weight: 100 pounds
Hair: Strawberry-blonde
Eyes: Blue
Clothing description: A blue and white shirt, denim shorts, sandals, diamond stud earrings and gold hoop earrings.
Distinguishing marks: right eyebrow pierced; tongue pierced; ears double-pierced; tattoo of “low rider” on left upper arm in green and black; tattoo of a design on lower back also in green and black.
MONIQUE RAE SMITH
Missing from: Topeka, Kan.
Missing since: May 12, 2000
Date of birth: April 6, 2000
Age then: 1 month
Height then: 1’10’’
Weight then: 9 pounds
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
SIDNEY KIEARA SMITH
Missing from: Topeka, Kan.
Missing since: May 12, 2000
Date of birth: March 22, 1999
Age then: 1 year
Height then: 2’6’’
Weight then: 22 pounds
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
If you have information that could help the case, contact the Topeka Police Department at (785) 368-9200; or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) THE-LOST or online via NCMEC by clicking here; or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (785) 296-4017 or anonymously online by clicking here.
For those who had stories you’d like me to investigate, please email me at annettelawless@hotmail.com.