Sheriff names child porn suspect a person of interest in Somer Thompson slaying

2-11-2010 Florida:

Family friends of the former Clay man said they are sickened by the news

ORANGE PARK — A former Clay County man arrested Thursday in Mississippi on child pornography charges was named by Sheriff Rick Beseler as a person of interest in the Oct. 19 disappearance and slaying of 7-year-old Somer Thompson.

Beseler said Jarred Mitchell Harrell, 24, is being held on $1 million bail in a Meridian, Miss., jail after he was arrested by federal agents on 29 counts of child pornography. Those crimes occurred while Harrell lived in Clay County, Beseler said.

The arrest warrant said Harrell worked for a Mississippi recycling company at the time of his arrest. He is listed as 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds.

A Middleburg woman whose daughter was a one-time roommate of Harrell and who said she has known him and his family for years described him as a recluse who enjoyed playing computer games.

Lisa Buchanan said Harrell spent at least some time alone in his mother’s home at 1152 Gano Ave. at the time of Somer’s disappearance.

The home, which is a block from where Somer was last seen and along her route home from Grove Park Elementary School, was searched Thursday by Clay deputies and FBI agents. Authorities also served related search warrants at homes in Callahan and Mississippi, as well as a car in Mississippi, Beseler said.

Buchanan, 45, said Harrell had previously been living with her daughter in an apartment on Wells Road. But she said Harrell was kicked out in August for stealing an iPod.

She said her daughter then found child pornography, with girls as young as 6, on a computer and computer discs Harrell left behind. Harrell’s arrest docket provides graphic details of those images and movies.

Buchanan and her 46-year-old husband, Rod, said they went with their daughter to turn over the materials to police in August. Those materials were in turn given to the state attorney general’s Cyber Crimes Unit.

Processing was not finished until after Somer’s death, authorities said.

The Buchanans said they spotted Harrell’s vehicle outside his mother’s home a few days after Somer’s body was found and alerted police to their concerns him. The couple said Harrell’s mother and stepfather moved out of the home about two weeks before Somer’s disappearance.

The couple also said police became extremely interested after learning Harrell had been spending time at his parent’s otherwise vacant home.

After learning of Harrell’s arrest and possible link in Somer’s case, the Buchanans said they were stunned.

“It makes you sick,” Lisa Buchanan said.

It’s unclear when Harrell became a person of interest in Somer’s slaying. Police have said they recently have been receiving a steady stream of laboratory tests of DNA and other evidence collected from where her body was found in a Folkston landfill. Beseler declined to comment Thursday on what links investigators may have between Harrell and Somer.

Clay County investigators and FBI agents continued their search Thursday night of the unoccupied Gano Avenue house. It’s unclear if the searches were still going on in Callahan and Mississippi, where deputies said Harrell moved a short time ago to live with relatives.

Beseler refused to take any questions from reporters after reading a prepared statement that named Harrell as a person of interest. Clay County investigators and local FBI agents are in Mississippi awaiting word on whether Harrell plans to fight extradition.

The single-story brick house on Gano Avenue was empty when police arrived. Records obtained by The Times-Union show the listed property owner, General L. Dailey — Harrell’s stepfather — moved out of the home late last year. Dailey, 66, owned the house since 1996, according to Clay County property appraiser records. Neighbors said they knew little about those who lived in the home.

After being told of the search in the Gano Avenue home, Diena Thompson, Somer’s mother, told The Times-Union she supports whatever work authorities can do to bring Somer’s killer to justice.

“I’m not speculating on anything. I don’t want to get my hopes up and I don’t want to get my hopes down,” Thompson, 35, said of the search. “I’m going to put my faith in God and hope the Clay County Sheriff’s Office does what they’re good at.”

In the days after Somer disappeared, investigators, including the same FBI forensics team on hand Thursday, initially focused on a home under renovation at 1080 Gano Ave. Investigators searched a Dumpster on that property and also gathered evidence from inside the home, which had been damaged in a fire and has not been reoccupied.

Thursday’s police activity occurred as a number of students were walking home from Somer’s school on the route she usually took. The search drew several curious neighbors from their homes.

“Does this have anything to do with the little girl?” asked Joey Smith, 24, who lives about a block away.

Lisa Gainers, 49, who lives near the home, said she hopes police will be able to learn more about Somer’s disappearance and death from their search.

“If they find something pertaining to Somer, that’s good,” Gainers said. ..Source.. Jim Schoettler