GA- Family of girl found in landfill once called Paxton home

10-26-2009 Florida:

PAXTON GA. – The mother and grandparents of a 7-year-old girl who was found dead last week in a Georgia landfill used to live in Paxton.

Janeene Bradley of Rantoul said the family of Somer Thompson of Orange Park, Fla., has been in shock since investigators discovered the suburban Jacksonville, Fla., child's body under trash in a landfill near the Florida-Georgia state line Wednesday.

"I've been talking on the telephone with Somer's aunt, and the entire family has been devastated," Bradley said on Sunday afternoon. "Somer was loved and is very much missed."

Somer Thompson was last seen alive walking along a sidewalk on her way home from school. She had become upset with some of the other children and had run ahead of the rest of the group, but she never made it home.

After sorting through tons of trash at a landfill that serves Orange Park, police found the girl's body and were able to identify her through her clothing and a birthmark.

According to Mary Justino of the Clay County sheriff's office, no witnesses have come forward reporting seeing the girl abducted. Justino said the girl's death was a homicide.

Bradley said Somer's mother, Diena Thompson; her grandparents, Phillip and Debbie Bowling, and Diena Thompson's sisters lived in Paxton in the early 1980s.

"The family lived there while Phillip Bowling was stationed at Chanute Air Force Base," Bradley said. "The family later moved to Florida, but I've kept in contact with Diena's sister through the years. I've known the family since I was 12 years old."

Bradley said the Mothers of Preschoolers group at Grace Church in Mahomet are writing cards to send to Diena Thompson and are asking some of the local children to draw pictures and write notes to send to the family. Bradley is also collecting letters from central Illinois residents she will be sending to the family on Nov. 4. Those letters may be mailed to: Janeene Bradley, 864 St. Andrew's Circle, Rantoul, IL 61866.

In addition, a memorial account has been set up at a Florida credit union. Those donations may be sent to Somer Thompson Donation Account, P.O. Box 45085, Jacksonville, FL 32232-5085.

Diena Thompson spoke to the media from outside her home over the weekend.

"I hope they get you, and I hope they make you pay for a long, long time," she said. "You don't take somebody. You didn't just take her from me. You took her from my family... And you don't do this to a little baby and put my baby in the trash like she's nothing." ..Source.. by Tim Mitchell