NORTON SHORES, Mich. — A minivan and a white male are now being sought in the abduction case of a Norton Shores mother.
Jessica Heeringa, 25, went missing around 11:15 p.m. Friday, just as she was finishing her shift at the Exxon Mobil gas station on E. Sternberg Road.
Authorities are now looking for a silver minivan, possibly a Chrysler Town & Country, that could be involved.
“A passerby had observed this vehicle near the store, parked near the store, and observed the vehicle driving away,” Norton Shores Police Chief Dan Shaw said.
Police are also looking for a white male between 30 and 40 years old, medium to heavy build with broad shoulders and with light brown or sandy blonde hair.
Police say the station did not have security cameras at the time of the incident. “We all were well aware that there were no cameras, and we would be working alone,” Kristen Wilder, a co-worker, posted on Facebook Sunday.
Heeringa was working by herself.
FOX 17 went into the store on Sunday and saw that cameras had been installed since the abduction.
There’s a chance Heeringa knows her abductor. Investigators say no money was taken from the store’s cash register, and Heeringa’s possessions were untouched.
“As a store clerk, she has contact with a lot of people,” Shaw said. “Most of the people who have talked to us so far have indicated that she’s a very pleasant person – very sociable – so she engages in conversation with all of her customers. So, it’s very possible that she may have known this person.”
Wilder agreed on Facebook, citing that the store typically has the same customers regularly: “This was also NOT just some random person that took her,” she posted. “It was someone she knew.”
Heeringa is 5-foot-1 and 110 pounds. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and occasionally wears wire-frame glasses. She could also be wearing a blue “Sternberg Exxon” polo shirt – the one she would have been wearing while at work that night.
If you have any information about events that led to Heeringa’s abduction or any leads in the case, contact Silent Observer at 231-722-CRIME or the Norton Shores Police Department at 231-733-2691.
