Search on for Lehigh Acres woman for violating multiple probation terms after drug possession arrest

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. —

A Lehigh Acres woman has been on the run for the last few months after violating multiple terms of her probation, on the heels of an arrest for drug possession.

Lee County deputies are looking for Jessica Mercado, who was originally busted during a traffic stop with several baggies of the highly addictive and potentially fatal drug fentanyl.

Mercado is a frequent face at the Lee County Jail, with six priors there, paired with additional arrests in the Orlando area.

Among the priors on her record is an arrest for child neglect, in which she left four very young children home alone while she was out and about for 11 hours in the middle of the night.

Detectives say Mercado had also previously given her children high doses of melatonin so that they would sleep during her extended absences.

Her current legal problems arose after she violated her probation by moving without providing a forwarding address, leaving in the middle of a drug test, and failing to complete court-ordered community service hours, as well as a drug evaluation.

This 41-year-old felon is 5’2”, 140 pounds and has several tattoos, including the names Jo Jo, Izzy and Nas on her left arm and the word survivor written on her right leg.

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