Jennifer Lee Hampton Disappeared From Knoxville Motel

WATERLOO, Ala. -- A north Alabama town is abuzz over the mysterious disappearance of a recent homecoming queen from the local high school.

Jennifer Lee Hampton of Waterloo hasn't been seen since she vanished from a motel during a work-related trip to Knoxville, Tenn. And friends and relatives are worried about what may have happened to the 21-year-old woman, who was homecoming queen at Waterloo High School.

Principal Ray Harrison says the mood is surreal as people await word in Waterloo, a town of about 200 in northwest Alabama.

Hampton was in Knoxville with three other employees to help set up a new branch of the Mama Blues Southern Cafe, a buffet restaurant based in Alabama where Hampton works. They called police on Saturday after realizing she was gone from their motel.

"Officers briefly looked into the room and thought what they saw was suspicious," Knoxville Police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. "We believe that she was a victim of foul play.

Police declined to say what evidence in the room made investigators suspicious, but Mama Blues owner Steve Barnhill told ABC News that he understood there was no forced entry into the hotel room and sheets were ripped off one of the beds.

According to Barnhill, Hampton expressed concern to a boyfriend she was talking to on the phone before she went to bed about two men outside her room.

DeBusk declined to confirm or comment on these assertions.

Hampton's cell phone was also left in the room, police said.

Since Saturday, police have searched for Hampton both in the hotel and in the surrounding area.

"Saturday night through Sunday we used a search-and-recovery team to search the immediate area. We also used tracking dogs," DeBusk said. "Yesterday we used more than four dozen of our officers to 'grid search' in a wetland area that was near the hotel."

Police have questioned family, co-workers and friends but said they did not have any suspects yet.

"We have conducted numerous interviews," DeBusk said. "We have re-interviewed several individuals."

Those who knew Hampton described her as hardworking and kind.

"She was real sweet," said a co-worker who worked with Hampton for three years but did not want to be identified. "She didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't party. ... She was always working."

Barnhill, who is offering a $5,000 reward for information regarding Hampton's whereabouts, said his employees in Alabama were concerned.

"She was real well-liked down in Florence Ala., her home restaurant," Barnhill said. "[Employees] are calling up here once an hour wanting to know more."

According to Barnhill, Hampton was devoted to her family, speaking or texting with her mother and twin sister several times a day. Barnhill drove her mother, stepfather and two sisters to Knoxville to help with the investigation.

"She was real tight with her family. She would never leave her cell phone in her room," he said. "She would never leave with anybody."



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