Sheriff lacks resources to reopen case

An investigator believes the missing woman's body was thrown into a well.
OAK HILL, Ohio (AP) -- The sheriff in southern Ohio's Jackson County has a decent lead on a woman's disappearance three decades ago, thanks to information recently dug up by a retired officer who knew her.
What investigators don't have, they say, is the time or manpower to pursue it.
A private investigator has given the sheriff's office new information, but the case sits unsolved while the woman's mother has reached old age.
"We have a woman who is 78 years old. All she wants is to maybe find her daughter's bones and bury them, and they're dragging their feet," said retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Bill Reese, Joanna Jenkins' former brother-in-law.
Disappearance
Jenkins moved in with her boyfriend in 1977, when she was 23. She disappeared shortly after the two were arrested for robbery.
For the next six years -- until he died of a heart attack -- Charles Jenkins would drive past young blond women and turn around, hoping to see his daughter's face.
His wife, Virginia Jenkins, of Oak Hill, 130 miles east of Cincinnati, tried to put the heartache and hope out of her mind, resigning herself to the mystery.
Then, in 2003, Reese called. He'd found some new information -- a possible suspect, witnesses and the place where officers might be able to find the body.
"It's been torturous, but time had helped to dull things," Virginia Jenkins said. "When [Reese] opened this back up, it was like she died yesterday. It all flooded back."
Reese said he's shared everything he knows with the Jackson County sheriff's office.
Challenges
Lt. Tony Robinson said the office can barely afford to keep deputies on patrol for the rest of the year. Funding is down $300,000 from five years ago, and the newest patrol car has 150,000 miles on it.
Robinson said he doesn't have the resources to chase leads on a 28-year-old missing person case.
"God only knows I would love to help that lady," he said.
Robinson tries to get to the case when he can, but witnesses won't talk, and he's worried if he goes for the suspect Reese pointed him toward, the man will bolt before he can be pinned down.
The case isn't strong enough to pass to the state or secure a warrant to search for Jenkins' remains in a well near the house where she grew up, Robinson said.
Detective's beliefs
Reese said he believes her body is there based on talks he had with a man who gave Jenkins a ride home one night. Jenkins told him her date had hit her and threatened to kill her.
After hearing that the man had struck Jenkins in a bar a few nights later, Reese's informant asked the man what happened. The man said he'd killed Jenkins and thrown her body in a well.
Virginia Jenkins said she just wants to know what happened. She wants to cremate her daughter's remains and put them next to her husband's. And she wants the man who may have killed her daughter brought to justice, even if it's nearly three decades later.