FBI offers reward in search for missing Delaware County man

FOLCROFT, Pa. (WPVI) — The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the disappearance of a Delaware County, Pennsylvania man.

Isiah Jenifer, 29, has been missing since last summer.

Jenifer’s sister reported him missing to police on Aug. 28 after she said she had been unable to reach him and learned that no one else had heard from him.

“It’s not like my brother not to be at my house, and we received a few phone calls that nobody had heard or talked to him, and I checked his location – his location wouldn’t update,” Kayla Jenifer said.

Police said Isiah Jenifer was last seen on the 1500 block of Chester Pike in Folcroft. His family said that location was a Wawa.

According to Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse, investigators were able to track Jenifer’s phone after he disappeared.

“We were able to track his phone down to the city of Chester. That’s the last time his whereabouts were known,” Rouse said.

Sources said a car Jenifer was believed to have been in was later found in Chester, with blood matching his DNA discovered under one of the seats.

Authorities said the investigation stalled after that discovery, and no arrests have been made in the case.

Rouse said the FBI’s involvement and reward offer reflect the urgency of the investigation.

“It’s all hands on deck when someone is missing, and I appreciate our federal partners offering us this reward. We want help,” he said.

Jenifer’s family said the past eight months have been filled with uncertainty as they wait for answers. They also noted that Jenifer was on parole for a drug-related crime in 2019 and said it was unlike him to miss reporting to his parole officer.

His sister, Rhea Jenifer, emphasized that regardless of his past, he remains deeply loved.

“No matter what he was then, he was someone that we loved. He was a little brother. He was a big brother. He was an uncle, he was a son, he was a nephew,” she said.

Rouse said investigators are hoping someone with information will come forward, whether to help reunite Jenifer with his family or to provide them with closure.

“We’re hoping for a happy ending to this. And obviously if the happy ending isn’t available, we’re hoping to bring justice to his family,” he said.

The FBI said Jenifer has ties to multiple communities. In addition to Folcroft and Chester, he has connections in Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.

Investigators said they are hopeful someone, somewhere, can help bring him home.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office at (215) 418-4000 or at tips.fbi.gov.