The Disappearance of Jael Hamblen

Jael Hamblen (20), and her infant son, Joel, pictured together in May 2014.

At the time this picture taken, Jael and her son were living in Anchorage, Alaska with her roommate, Kendra White (32), and Kendra’s two children.

On the morning of October 11th, 2014, Jael and Kendra left their children with Kendra’s mother for the weekend. Jael then spent the afternoon shopping with her best friend’s mother before meeting up with Kendra at TGI Friday’s for dinner. Lissa Lake, the woman who Jael went shopping with, said that Jael was in a great mood in the afternoon. However, according to Kendra, Jael’s mood had changed for the worse by the time they met for dinner. A guy she was interested in had let her know he wasn’t. Kendra suggested that Jael should go out and have fun to cheer herself up, but Jael ended up returning home after dinner. Kendra said that she last saw Jael return to her room after a shower at 10pm.

Around 10:30am on the following morning, Kendra texted Jael from her bedroom about going to a movie together. Jael did not reply. At noon, after her knocks went unanswered, Kendra entered Jael’s bedroom and found that it was empty. Kendra thought Jael had decided to go out the previous night and initially did not worry about her. At 2:02pm, Kendra texted the following the Jael: “Hey where are you? I didn’t even realize u left the house.” Once again, Jael did not reply. Kendra tried texting Jael once again at 3:45pm, stating: “I haven’t heard from you all day what’s the deal?” That text also went unanswered. Additionally, all calls to Jael’s phone went straight to voicemail. Sometime between 10pm on October 11th and 12pm on October 12th, Jael vanished without a trace. She was reported missing by her mother on October 14th, 2014.

Five months later, in March 2015, hikers found Jael’s purse buried in the snow along a trail in Chugiak, Alaska. Her social security card and cell phone were among the contents of the purse. Investigators say that it is unlikely that Jael placed the purse there herself, as the weather on the night she disappeared was below freezing, and she didn’t enjoy hiking. After analyzing Jael’s phone, investigators revealed that Jael never actually received the texts that Kendra sent her on the afternoon of October 12th. This means that the phone was shut off or the battery had died by the time the texts were sent. There has been no activity on Jael’s phone since the morning of October 12th.

Anchorage police are still investigating Jael’s case. If you have any information about her whereabouts, please report it here.