CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Fourteen-year-old Deborah “Abby” Jenkins, last seen with 41-year-old registered sex offender James Ronald Bell, was found safe Tuesday, police in Chesapeake. Police are still looking for Bell.

She had been missing for two days and considering Chesapeake police were still investigating this as a CODI Alert case – a missing or endangered child case – and not an Amber Alert for abduction. A process is underway to cancel the CODI Alert.

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Her legal guardian, Christine Burton, told 10 On Your Side’s Andy Fox that the caseworker told her Jenkins would be in the custody of Portsmouth Social Services.

Jenkins went missing from a Comfort Inn & Suites in Chesapeake around 1 a.m. Monday. Chesapeake police were following leads in the search.

The man last seen with a missing Chesapeake teenager is a confirmed sex offender

Bell is a registered sex offender from a 2011 case in which he was found guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual assault. He is the ex-boyfriend of Jenkins’ legal guardian, Christine Burton, who 10 On Your Side was told is cooperating with police to solve the case.

Jenkins’ family has been putting up flyers around town to draw attention to her disappearance.

“We, the family, decided to put up flyers to go around the community and give them out just because there are a lot of people who haven’t had access to the news,” said Jenkins’ biological sister, Veronica Ferris. before Jenkins was found, “and they don’t know what’s going on, so the family decided to create a flyer to get it out there so we can find her.”

Burton was at the hotel with Jenkins and Bell before her disappearance.

“When I got out of the shower, me and her had an argument,” Burton said. “I went out for a cigarette and when I came back she was gone and I haven’t heard from her since. … I don’t think her life is in danger.”

“I don’t want to be on probation. I asked the judge to give me my time because I’m not going to (expletive) (expletive) (expletive).”

According to court documents, those are the words Bell told his probation officer during a home check in August 2024. Bell was the last person seen with Jenkins, whom the family calls “Abby.”

Bell is on probation for a domestic incident that happened in 2018. Court documents show that in June of that year, Bell went to a home in Portsmouth where his then-girlfriend and her relatives were staying.

While there, Bell “was standing in the street threatening to burn the house down and kill everyone in the house.” He was told to leave and did so, but as he walked away he “shouted that he had a surprise for us all and was coming back with a gun to kill us all.”

An hour later, he returned. According to the document, Bell turned around and stood at the end of the street and fired a gun into the air. Bell was arrested that day and released on a summons.

A month later, police responded again to a domestic incident with his then-girlfriend. Bell and his girlfriend were arguing in the driveway when her cousin told Bell that “his bond is going to be revoked because of the protective order he got.” He then got into his car and got into another car. One of his girlfriend’s relatives was stuck between the two cars. Bell then left before police arrived.

In August, two Portsmouth police officers saw Bell driving near Brunswick Rd. When Bell saw the officers, he tried to run. He hit one of the officer’s cars with his car before going on Portsmouth Blvd towards Chesapeake. Bell led police on a chase through Chesapeake, Suffolk and Isle of Wight County before ending near Smithfield. One of the officers was injured when his car was hit by Bell.

Bell previously had probation issues following a 2011 guilty plea to two counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Bell took a plea deal and served a year behind bars for the charges before being placed on probation. Court documents detailing what happened are too explicit to include, but the victim told police Bell told her he was “going to get her one way or another.”

Part of his plea required him to have no contact with the victim of his crime and to register as a sex offender. Bell also had to participate in the sex offender awareness program, known as SOAP.

He had to do the program twice because he didn’t pass the first time. Court documents from the treatment facility say: “Mr. Bell entered treatment and expressed frustration at having to attend the group. He has denied wrongdoing and has repeatedly said he plans to appeal.”

Part of this program is group therapy with other sex offenders. According to court documents, “members of the group expressed their sense of discomfort with Mr. Bell.” Group members said he was a “distraction” and “complains all the time”. Some of the members said they felt “uncomfortable sharing information about group treatment” because of Bell.

In June 2015, a report from his probation officer for a probation violation said that “Bell told this officer several times that he wanted to go back before his judge and that he would rather do his time.”

One of the requirements for SOAP is the daily journaling that Bell had to share with the group. When he started the program a second time, he told the counselor leading the group and his probation office, Bell claimed he was told by a judge “that he ‘didn’t have to write down his thoughts and feelings’ or anything related to the crime saddle. ” Bell was then told that the diary was a requirement of the group.

Bell was kicked out of the program a second time without passing the course.

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