Mother, police seek clues in case of runaway teen

Corbin resident Candace Dodd said she’s put over 1,000 miles on her car and lost more hours of sleep than she can count in the last week and a half searching for her 17-year-old daughter, Jessica, who’s been missing since June 26.
After a trip to her local physician, Candace said she came home and her daughter was simply gone. The teen had been babysitting her mother’s adopted son and she reportedly asked neighbors to watch him before vanishing.
“The neighbors said they saw her walking through there with a backpack at about 3:00 p.m. Monday,” Dodd said. “That was the last time anyone’s heard from her … I’m about at the end of my rope.”
A missing person’s report was filed with local police the next day. Candace said her daughter’s departure is unusual because she didn’t take many of the items she uses every day: only a toothbrush and a few items of clothing.
“If she was running away, I mean planning it, you’d think she’d take her makeup and hair straightener and things she normally uses. She didn’t take none of that.”
Having searched for the last 10 days in all surrounding local communities, Candace said she’d simply settle for word that her daughter is alive and well, even if she doesn’t intend to come home.
“I wish she would call someone, anyone in my family to let them hear her voice. She don’t have to call me,” Candace said. “I’ve tried everything I can think of. I love her. If she can’t come home or doesn’t want to come home, at least I’d like to know that she’s alive and OK.”
Jessica Dodd will be a senior at Corbin High School this fall. She participates in the JROTC program at the school and other extracurricular activities. She does not have a driver’s license and did not take her learner’s permit with her when she left. She does not own a cell phone.
Candace said she’s talked to her daughter’s best friend on numerous occasions. The girl claims not to have heard from Jessica.
“Last thing I had heard was she was going to get on the back of a train and ride it to Tennessee and then hitchhike to Florida,” Candace said. “We have family that live down there.”
Last week, Jessica had reportedly been spotted with a man named “A.J.” and with two friends from Woodbine.
Candace said she worries her daughter could have been led to experiment with drugs because of influence by some of the people she hangs out with. In the last six to eight months, she said she’s noticed a shift in Jessica’s personality – more independent and rebellious. Before disappearing, she had been grounded for staying out too late. She also recently broke up with a boyfriend and expressed a desire to leave the area.
“She’s usually a pretty responsible kid. It’s just been the last six to eight months she’s started to change. I thought it was just a teenage thing, but not this. Not just leave and not tell anybody,” Candace said. “These people I’ve been hearing she’s hanging around with do that sort of stuff [drugs]. She could be doing pills or whatever they are doing.”
Since late last week, Candace said she has heard little regarding her daughter’s whereabouts.
Anyone with any information regarding Jessica Dodd is encourage to call Corbin Police at 528-1122 or Candace Dodd at 524-2233.