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Jenkins was born in April 1928 and grew up in East St. Louis, Ill. She had one older brother, and her parents divorced when she was about 5.

Alvin Cooper of East St. Louis, Illinois, was preparing Monday to fill out a missing person’s report on his 35-year-old son.

She was 18 when she met Ike Turner in East St. Louis when he was the 26-year-old bandleader of Kings of Rhythm.

Ms. Turner’s career began in the late 1950s, when she was in high school in East St. Louis, Ill., and spanned half a century, as she moved from singing R&B and soul into rock and pop.

Ms. Turner embarked on her half-century career in the late 1950s, while still attending high school in East St. Louis, Ill., when she began singing with Ike Turner and his band, the Kings of Rhythm.