In the summer of 2019, Kaylee Nelson-Jerry disappeared from a casino in Auburn.
AUBURN, Wash. — Nearly seven years after 21-year-old Kaylee Nelson-Jerry disappeared from Auburn, her family is still searching for answers. They held out hope that someone would recognize her face, remember seeing her or know what happened the day she disappeared.
“Kelly was always happy,” said her great-aunt Tammy Byers. “Ever since she was a little girl, she was always happy, smiling and laughing.”
Kaylee, a member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, disappeared in the summer of 2019. Her family said the uncertainty has left a permanent hole in their lives.
“When you see her family, her friends, us at family events, you just want to see her there,” Byers said. “Because she brought so much love, so much happiness into the room.”
According to investigators, the last confirmed sighting of Kelly was on June 19, 2019.
“So her last official, last confirmed location was at the Muckleshoot Bingo Hall,” said Detective John Free of the King County Sheriff’s Office. “Kelly said she wanted to stay for a while and that was the last time she was seen.”
Free, a missing and murdered Native cold case detective with the Sheriff’s Office, joined Kelly’s case several years ago.
As investigators reviewed Kelly’s history, Free said one incident stood out: Kelly was involved in a serious car accident in 2016 that her family said changed the course of her life.
“Reading past reports, reading witness statements, I noticed that there seemed to be a dividing line in Kelly’s life,” Free said. “After the accident, some differences were noted in her personality and she seemed to be more easily manipulated and taken advantage of.”
Biles said Kelly later struggled with drug addiction.
Family members said they were shocked when Kelly stopped contacting relatives and failed to collect tribal per capita payments, which they said was out of character for her.
“She never came back,” Byers said.
Relatives have been searching across Washington state for years, following reported sightings and talking to people living on the streets in hopes of finding clues.
“No matter where you drive, no matter where you go, as long as there’s a big group of people, you’re always looking,” Byers said. “All we need is confirmation.”
Kelly’s case highlights the wider Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) crisis.
“The MMIP crisis is not new, but the response to the MMIP crisis is,” Free said. “One of the things we discovered while working on the MMIP cases was that we began to understand the historic distrust of government in Aboriginal communities.”
Byers said the problem affects the entire community.
“Indigenous women are missing and murdered. But it’s not just women who are missing. It’s men, young boys, young girls,” she said.
Free said he will continue to actively investigate Kelly’s disappearance and is currently working on seven MMIP cases.
“I hope she’s still alive,” Free said. “However, we always have to be prepared for more sinister outcomes.”
Despite years of no answers, Kelly’s family refused to give up hope.
“We just want Kylie to come home,” Biles said. “We love her very, very much and we just want her back.”
She said the family continues to pray that someone watching might finally help solve the mystery.
“I hope someone sees this and they see Kylie and give us closure and bring her home,” Biles said. “It’s really hard, but prayer gets us through it without losing faith and without losing hope.”
