HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The father of a missing Fairmont State University student is praying his daughter will be found safe.
Kara Jeffrey, 21, missing since May 1, was last seen visiting a friend near state Route 75 in Huntington.
“We’re numb. Just can’t make sense out of any of this,” Jim Jeffrey said on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Originally from Barboursville, Kara Jeffrey had been living in Fairmont at the time of her disappearance.
State Police believe Jeffrey is in “extreme danger” and that she could be with a black man who goes by the alias Jeff Cooper, though troopers believe that is not his real name.
Kara Jeffrey told her dad Cooper was her boyfriend.
“He’s a master of disguise,” Jim Jeffrey said. “He literally set Kara up by registering a car in her name that she wasn’t aware of. He had her purchase a gun, buy the gun that’s registered in her name. When they go into her apartment, there’s all these drugs there and, again, the house is in her name and he’s completely out of the picture.”
Troopers believe the man is connected with drug trafficking in the state. Jeffrey said Cooper often tries to disguise himself.
“The police have seen him with dreadlocks. They’ve seen him with shorter hair. I’ve seen him with short hair myself. Apparently, he has gold teeth that he can take in and take out, so he’s very good at changing his looks,” he said.
Kara Jeffrey has not used her cell phone since May 1. Phone records show there was activity in the eastern part of West Virginia, western Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, but all leads have gone cold.
“Right now, we don’t have a clue,” Jeffrey said. “More than likely, she’s with this individual that everybody is looking for.”
Jeffrey described his daughter as a Korean woman with an athletic build, standing 5-foot-4 and weighing 140 pounds. He said she has a yin-yang tattoo on the inside of her upper arm.
Anyone with information on Kara Jeffrey’s whereabouts was urged to call State Police Cpl. Isaac Harmon at 304-290-4002 or Sgt. Sally Hatten at 304-633-6261.