5-19-2010 Florida:
Law Would Require Sex Offenders To Live Outside 1-Mile Radius From School
ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- The Somer Thompson foundation is pushing for a new bill that could soon be in the hands of state lawmakers.
Somer's law, which is under final review by the foundation, would require sex offenders and predators to live outside Somer's safety zones -- or a one-mile radius from any school.
The petition also includes a change to the Amber Alert system, requiring an Amber Alert status be issued within 30 minutes of a possible kidnapping.
Jarred Harrell, the man accused of killing the 7-year-old Orange Park girl, is still in jail.
He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday on some of the 58 felony charges he is currently facing.
Investigators said Harrell kidnapped Somer on her way home from school in October. Her body was found days later in a Georgia landfill. ..Source.. News4Jax.com
May 19, 2010
Somer Foundation Pushes For New Bill
April 17, 2010
How Somer Thompson Suspect Was Caught
In response to the claims being made that, the Media and 20/20 Show referred to Jarred Harrell was a "convicted sex offender" or "a registered sex offender." This being my third post on this issue.4-16-2010 Florida:
In the 20/20 Video Coverage of Somer Thompson Case
PT-1: Parent's Nightmare 7-year-Old Disappears
PT-2: Number of Sex Offenders Shocks Residents
PT-3: Police Hunt for Somer Thompson's Killer
PT-4: Man Accused of Killing Somer: Who is he?
PT-5: A Shocking Find on Suspects Computer
PT-6: Mom to Suspect: 'You Ain't Getting Away'
20/20 Never referred to Jarred Harrell as a "convicted sex offender" or "a registered sex offender." If someone was left with the "belief" such was said by 20/20, they are mistaken. Belief is not proof such was said. The Video has no evidence that 20/20 made either of those claims. Even below the media was VERY CAREFUL in referring to Jarred Harell as a SUSPECT, and never as a "convicted sex offender" or a "registered sex offender".
Finally, as to the additional claim that, "if the Sex Offenders hadn’t been allowed to live in Somer’s neighborhood her murder could have been prevented." In PT-2 of the video 20/20 merely mentions the number of sex offenders within a 5-mile radius. I cannot find that they said anything about "if no sex offender lived there her murder could have been prevented." As I mentioned before, if one believes something (i.e., comment above) that belief must be supported by fact to make it true. Here there is nothing inferring that comment in PT-2 of the video, or in other parts.
This is a terrible case, and there is some proof that, it could have been prevented by arresting Jarred Harrell when the police first found the child porn on his computer in August rather than waiting for a forensic report, but hindsight is 20/20.
Despite Child Porn Evidence, Suspect Stayed in Home in School Zone
In the cover of darkness, a man runs.
He is alone, and yet he is being watched. Neighbors awakening to their weekday obligations notice that for the man, dawn has become a kind of witching hour of stealthy activity.
For weeks, 24-year-old Jarred Harrell was observed scurrying from his shed to various areas of his backyard in the early morning. Sometimes he was dressed only in what neighbors described as short silk boxers and a gray sweatshirt.
According to a woman who lived next door, Harrell, who moved to the home in Callahan, Fla., at the start of the year, acted strangely from the start.
Watch the full story tonight on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET
"He would run from the shed back there, and just run back and forth, back and forth. He'd be out there sometimes 5:00, 5:30 in the morning just running," said the neighbor, Christie, who asked that her last name not be used.
Click HERE for a map of registered sex offenders near the school Somer Thompson attended.
Click HERE for photos from the Somer Thompson case.
"He had on like these really short... short silk... things, they kind of looked like boxers. And a gray sweatshirt, 'cause we would laugh at how he was dressed," said another neighbor who asked to be identified as Jackie.
They say he'd run for hours.
"Just like crazy running, like a kid would run when they're mad," said Christie.
As it turns out, Jarred Harrell probably had a lot on his mind. He was fast becoming a person of interest in the murder of young Somer Thompson, who vanished while walking home from school in Orange Park, Fla., on the same block where Harrell reportedly had been living at the time.
The 7-year-old girl, whose body was found in a Folkston, Ga., landfill after her October 2009 abduction, was also in Rod Buchannan's thoughts.
Buchannan, a landscaper, says he'll never forget driving down Gano Avenue -- the street where Somer went missing -- just two days after the girl's body was found. He and his wife, Lisa, suddenly spotted a familiar car parked in a driveway not far from her elementary school.
"At this point, the hair was standing up at the back of our necks. Instantly, we had that sick feeling in the pit of our stomachs. And we were nervous and I won't -- won't deny we were both scared," said Buchannan.
Jarred Harrell's Computer
Scared, because they knew the owner of the car was Jarred Harrell, someone with a dark past that they had come to fear. He was their daughter's former housemate and, from what they knew about him, the fact that he was living just three houses down from where Somer was last seen was reason for concern.
Buchannan said that less than a year earlier his son had accidentally stumbled onto Harrell's terrible secret.
"He got onto Jarred's computer one day to play a game," Buchannan said. "There was an icon on the desktop, that said, it was either 'Child Penetration' or 'Toddler Penetration.' As he turned around, Harrell came back up, and reached around and turned the computer off. And told him not to get back on the computer without his permission."
But what the Buchannans discovered later on Harrell's computer would leave no room for doubt. Harrell's mother had asked if her son could move into an apartment complex with the Buchannans' daughter and her fiancé to help him get on his feet and share expenses. Harrell did so, but the arrangement did not last long.
"Things turned up missing," said Buchannan.
Somer Thompson Suspect Reappears
One night Buchannan's daughter and her fiance say they found their iPod in Harrell's car.
"Being that he was a family friend, they give him an option," Rod Buchannan said. "Get your stuff, get out right now, middle of the night, or we call the police and put you in jail."
They say Harrell left, but in his haste left behind his computer. That would prove to be a revealing mistake. Buchannan's son had told his sister about what he had seen on Harrell's computer, and she decided to take a look for herself.
"So they decided to search the computer at that point. And that's when they found -- I mean, it was right there on the desktop," said Buchannan. "There was no effort made whatsoever to hide the material."
The siblings told their parents they found hard-core child pornography on Harrell's computer. A lot of it. And they thought he may even know some of the children.
"Stuff that our children shouldn't have seen. Should have never had to see," said Buchannan.
Buchannan said he immediately took his wife and daughter to the police and turned over the computer.
But he was unprepared to find, only two months later, Harrell's car parked at the house on Gano Avenue. The house belonged to Harrell's mother. It was in a school zone, near Somer's school.
"That was just, I don't know, just a gut instinct, you know, just get that sick, icky feeling," said Lisa Buchannan. Her husband recalled the chilling moment. "We got goosebumps," he said. "We looked at each other and I said, you know, we got to tell somebody."
The Buchannans discovered Harrell's car in the driveway just two days after police found Somer's body. They drove over to the investigation command center and spoke to the lead detective about their concerns.
"There must have been 25-30 police cars, not counting all the unmarked ones and the evidence technician vans, this place was a mad house," said Buchannan. "We informed him that our children had turned in a computer that contained a lot of child pornography. And that Mr. Harrell was being investigated by the sex crimes unit."
Strange Disappearance of Shed
The Buchannans claim they pointed out Harrell's car in the driveway to investigators. "As far as they knew that house was vacant. Police were not even aware that anybody lived there," said Buchannan.
But could police place Harrell in the house the day Somer disappeared? Public records show Harrell's family had moved out weeks earlier. Neighbors, however, remember Harrell was still coming and going from the house even after the family moved.
And shortly after the Buchannans' report, neighbors noticed something else that fueled suspicion. His shed suddenly disappeared from his house on Gano -- only to reappear at a different property.
But despite this possible evasive maneuvering and the child pornography allegedly found on his computer, Harrell wasn't the only suspect on the police department's radar.
After Somer Thompson disappeared, the residents of Orange Park were stunned to learn that their children had been walking through a virtual minefield of registered sex offenders each day: 162 living in just a five-mile radius of Somer's home.
Police Home In on Somer Thompson Suspect
Several neighbors had voiced concerns about an older man living just down the street, known as "Grandpa Charley," who they say often took little girls for rides on his bicycle. When police went to question him they say they discovered child pornography on his computer.
But further investigation cleared Grandpa Charley of any connection to Somer's murder. He has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges. And within days police had turned their attention to another man who lived closer to Somer's school. His name is Richard Corpus, a 55-year-old handyman who works out of his home and spends a lot of time with kids.
"If I can't have kids, then I'll have somebody else's to play with, you know? I've got lots of kids that pass by," Corpus said.
ABC's "20/20" first met Corpus a few weeks after Somer was killed, standing at the corner near his house. He was greeting children on their way to school. Corpus had just gotten a new puppy and was carrying the animal inside his vest.
"I still will go out and greet kids and let them pet my little dog 'cause I think it brings happiness to the kids in the neighborhood," he said.
Corpus said he used to find Somer with her face pressed up against his chain link fence.
"Just so the dog will go and lick her face, you know? Somebody could have probably lured her very easily," said Corpus.
Over the next month police honed in on Corpus. He claims they seized his computers and monitored his calls.
"I can tell you this, every time the police walk in my house I start shaking," he said.
He said police even traveled to other states to question his sisters about his past. And that they gave him a polygraph test which he acknowledges he failed.
"They said that I failed one of them," Corpus said. "But if you sit in front with your glasses off staring a wall, I guess you do get dizzy after a while."
'I'm Not a Predator'
There is only one house between the vacant property where Somer was last seen and the corner where a crossing guard said he never saw Somer pass by. It is the house where Richard Corpus lives.
"I'm not a predator. But I can imagine, how this happened," Corpus said. "One, I'm going to look for some kids that are stragglers. Number two, I'm going to look for a kid that is -- innocent. And I'm going to plan it."
But while police were eyeing Corpus, he said he was on the lookout for the killer -- and he kept a hangman's noose in the garage just in case.
"This is not a threat, this is a promise," he said, displaying the noose for ABC cameras. "And, if I could, I'd hang him up from a light post and leave him there just to show the rest of the sexual predators what will happen. This is how extreme I want to catch this killer."
But for all this bizarre behavior, was Corpus merely a distraction in the pursuit of Somer's killer?
Jarred Harrell Tops List of Suspects
The holidays arrived, yet they brought no comfort or peace for one mother. Diena Thompson still did not have a face to put on the monster who killed her little girl and threw her away in the trash.
"I have to know for my own peace of mind what happened to her," said Thompson at the time. "I think that, what I have built up in my mind can't be any worse than what they're going to tell me."
Just a few blocks away, detectives were still keeping surveillance on Richard Corpus and waiting for his DNA results from the lab. But in early January police got the news: Richard Corpus' DNA was not a match.
That startling development moved Jarred Harrell to the top of the list of suspects. Investigators set out to get his DNA for laboratory testing. Then, suddenly, Harrell vanished. Investigators say he went to Meridian, Miss., and moved in with his aunt, who in Web posts proclaimed herself an "artist of the macabre" and exhibited a fascination for death, tortured bodies and mutilation.
Police tracked Harrell's new whereabouts and by February had enough information to take action. Harrell was officially arrested on 29 counts of child pornography -- but also was named a person-of-interest in the Somer Thompson case. Police then searched Harrell's various places of residence, including the house on Gano Avenue, in hopes of finding evidence to link him to Somer's murder.
Police teams worked late into the night, while two houses away, Richard Corpus -- the man who police had suspected early on -- was breathing a sigh of relief.
"To tell you quite honestly, if, if I didn't have a family, I'd probably be dead," said Corpus. "I probably would've killed myself around Christmas. Because that's how deep it got to me. Because I couldn't clear my name."
'Of Course He Could Have Been Off the Streets'
Police said on Harrell's camera they found explicit photos and a video of a 3-year-old whom Harrell knew. Harrell was charged with 26 more counts, including molestation and photographing sex acts.
Given the evidence against Harrell, some Orange Park residents wondered what took the police so long to get him off the street. They had Harrell's computer back in August -- why was he still living on Gano Avenue in October, when Somer disappeared?
Tami Loehrs is a computer forensics expert who has worked on several high-profile cases involving child porn.
"Of course he could have been off the streets," Loehrs said.
Loehrs said the fact that Harrell might have known at least one of his victims should have been an immediate red flag.
"That is probable cause in all of the cases I have seen," Loehrs said. "That was enough to go in and get a search warrant so that they could do a forensic preview."
Police issued a statement saying they followed protocol. The process took so long, they said, because authorities had to first determine that the child porn did, in fact, belong to Harrell.
Months earlier, before she knew who would be charged, Diena Thompson told "20/20" she wanted to meet her daughter's killer face-to-face.
For the rest of the Somer Thompson story, watch "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. ET ..Source.. by KIMBERLY LAUNIER, ROBBIE GORDON and TAMI SHEHERI
Arrest in Girl’s Murder Highlights Sex Offender Myth
While this analysis by Radford is not in error, it is being posted to explain a comment he made which some may consider that Harrell was a prior sex offender.3-26-2010 Florida:
Highlighted below points to unrelated "sex crimes," what Radford means is the child pornography crimes which Harrell had been arrested for; one must look at the time frame that Radford's analysis was published. After Harrell was arrested in Mississippi, but before being charged in Somer's murder.
It was a horrible crime against a young child that made headlines around the world: A seven-year-old girl named Somer Thompson vanished while walking home from school one day in October 2009.
Her parents suspected the worst—partly because of high-profile news stories about other missing kids. Indeed, only a few years earlier in the same state, a convicted sex offender named John Couey abducted, raped, and killed a girl named Jessica Lunsford. The Thompsons hoped their daughter’s disappearance would end differently, but tragically few days later Somer’s body was found in a Georgia landfill.
Police immediately questioned registered sex offenders living in the area. According to Florida’s sex offender registry, about 80 offenders live within three miles of the Thompson home, and over 160 live within five miles. The public expected a child molester to be arrested any day; one ABC News headline read, “Dense Population of Sex Offenders in Fla. Case is Alarmingly Typical.”
Today a man named Jarred Harrell was charged with the abduction, rape, and murder of Somer Thompson.
Predictably, Harrell is not a convicted sex offender.
Why “predictably”? Because most people who abduct, molest, and kill children have no previous criminal records for crimes against children.
According to Department of Justice studies and professor David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, sex offenders have a lower recidivism (re-offense) rate than people convicted of other crimes (the idea that sex offenders can’t be cured, or often commit further sex offenses, is a common myth).
Jarred Harrell is a far more typical perpetrator than John Couey. It may seem counterintuitive, but the fact is that a convicted sex offender is far less likely to assault a child than a person who has never been convicted of a sex crime. The vast majority of crimes against children are committed by the child’s parents, family, or friends—not a stranger. (Though Harrell had been arrested for unrelated sex crimes, he had not been convicted and therefore did not appear on any sex offender registries.)
When looking for a suspect in a child abduction or molestation, it’s natural for the police and public to focus first on convicted sex offenders. But more often than not the concern about sex offenders only distracts from the more likely suspects. Children need to be protected, and that means understanding where the real dangers lie. ..Source.. Analysis by Benjamin Radford
Somer Thompson Murder Update: Did Mom Cover for Sex Offender Suspect?
Article contains an ERROR, the title refers to Jarred as a "sex offender suspect," the first sentence then says he is a "convicted sex offender" which is in ERROR!4-16-2010 Florida:
ORANGE PARK, Fla. (CBS/AP) Somer Thompson's accused killer, convicted sex offender Jarred Harrell, told police he was at his mother's home the afternoon investigators say the 7-year-old died, according to police reports and other records.
Jarred Harrell has no known prior sex offense/s, therefore is not a "convicted sex offender" at the point of this article
But newly released records also show that Harrell's mother told him she'd provide his alibi during a jail phone call. According to The Florida Times-Union, the records, released Thursday, mostly involve unrelated child pornography charges against Harrell, but also included new details about Somer's case.
The little girl vanished while walking home from school in north Florida in Oct. 2009. Her body was eventually found in a Georgia landfill. Investigators worked the case for months before arresting Harrell in Mississippi on child pornography charges. They soon pinned him for Somer's murder.
But Harrell says he didn't do it. Authorities redacted portions of Harrell's statements to investigators, but the documents show he told police he was with his mother at her Orange Park house in the hours after Somer disappeared on her walk home from school.
Harrell's mother told police she was with him at the home for an hour before they left the house, had dinner together and then split up.
But in a jail call between them months later, she told her son she'd give him an alibi in Somer's disappearance, the records show.
The State Attorney's Office cited several public records exemptions for the redactions, including one protecting details of confessions.
Harrell, a 24-year-old unemployed restaurant worker, is being held without bail. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting and killing Somer Thompson. ..Source.. Edecio Martinez
April 16, 2010
New Documents In Jarred Harrell Case
4-16-2010 Florida:
Harrell Told Police His Whereabouts The Day Somer Thompson Disappeared
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- New documents released Thursday by the state attorney's office reveal what Jarred Harrell told detectives he was doing the day Somer Thompson disappeared.
Harrell, 24, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder one week ago.
Channel 4's lead investigator Jennifer Waugh pored over 119 pages of court papers. Nearly all of them were related to the 29 counts of child pornography charges Harrell is facing. The documents also reveal detectives interviewed him seven days after Somer disappeared.
Somer Thompson was last seen walking home from school around 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19. Detectives asked Harrell where he was between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. that day.
Detectives interviewed Harrell at the home on Gano Avenue in Orange Park where he lived with his mother and stepfather. Months later, that home was searched by federal investigators.
The documents showed that detectives said Harrell told them he was helping his mother pack up that day because she was moving to Callahan. He said that she was with him between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. that afternoon and that she left for their new home in Callahan.
The papers revealed the same detective that interviewed Harrell also called Harrell's mother and that she gave him the same information. She said Harrell was with her between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. that day. She also said they left her Gano Avenue home together, got gas for the car, and had dinner at McDonald's before she drove to her home in Callahan. She said she left her son around 5:30 p.m. that day.
According to the court documents, Harrell continued to live at the Gano Avenue home for at least a week after Somer disappeared. Sheriff Rick Beseler of the Clay County Sheriff's Office said there is evidence that links Harrell to Somer's death. ..Source.. News4Jax.com
March 28, 2010
Harrell arrested in Somer Thompson murder
Harrell Arrest Docket3-26-2010 Florida:
ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- Action News has confirmed Jarred Harrell has been arrested in Somer Thompson's murder.
A source confirms with Action News Jarred Harrell will be charged in Somer's murder. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office will not confirm the arrest but it says it will make a major announcement in the investigation into Somer Thompson’s murder today at noon. The seven-year-old disappeared in October, while walking home from school.
....
On February 11th, Jared Harrell was named as a person of interest in the Somer Thompson murder investigation. The Clay County Sheriff's Office says it executed a search warrant at Harrell’s former residence at 1152 Gano Avenue, near Somer’s home. Investigators from the Clay County Sheriff's Office, FBI, and FDLE searched the home for evidence throughout the night. Harrell was arrested in Meridian, Mississippi for 29 counts of Possession of Child Pornography.
...
On February 24th, Jarred Harrell was extradited to Clay County and booked into the jail. Later that day, Harrell was charged with 29 counts of Child Pornography. Detectives say they found pornographic images of a young girl on a computer owned by Jarred Harrell. Investigators also say they found pornographic video and pictures of a young girl at the Callahan home of Harrell's mother. According to the warrant, Harrell is seen in the video posing a child.
On February 25th, Jarred Harrell was charged with 12 more counts of Production of Child Porn and Molestation of that child. Harrell appeared in court for an arraignment on 55 charges of child porn and molestation of a child on March 3rd. Harrell’s attorney entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf for all the charges.
Today, Jarred Harrell was arrested and charged with the murder of Somer Thompson. In a news conference today, Sheriff Rick Beseler announced Harrell's arrest, "158 days ago our community was rocked by the brutal murder of a 7 year old girl," he said, " As we all wrapped our arms around the family of Somer Thompson and each other to grieve, the out pouring of support and generosity to bring Somer’s killer to justice was the light in the search for justice in this community."
Sheriff Beseler described four key points that lead Team Somer to arrest Jarred Harrell, “We have evidence that will show that Harrell assaulted Somer, killed her and dumped her body in a dumpster that eventually ended up in a Folkston, Georgia landfill.” Beseler said, investigators relied on statements from witnesses, admissions from the suspect (Harrell), evidence collected from the Gano Avenue home and DNA evidence linking Harrell to the crime.
Sheriff Beseler told the media today, Somer Thompson died of asphyxiation, “I can’t comment on the condition of the body or the evidence found around the body, it would be inappropriate at this time.”
State Attorney, Angela Corey spoke briefly saying, “I concur with the Sheriff that this type of crime, absolutely qualifies for the death penalty.” Harrell is charged with premeditated murder, meaning Harrell, planned, plotted or deliberated before committing murder. Premeditation is an element in first degree murder that shows intent to commit that crime. ..Source.. Fox30Jax.com
Slain Girl's Mom: Suspect a "Monster"
3-28-2010 Florida:
Somer Thompson's Mother Calls on Communities Nationwide to Be More Vigilant, Saying, "This Isn't Mayberry Anymore"
(CBS/ AP) An unemployed restaurant worker was charged Friday with sexually assaulting and killing 7-year-old Somer Thompson, whose body was discovered in a Georgia landfill two days after she vanished walking home from school in north Florida.
Jarred Mitchell Harrell, 24, faces charges of premeditated murder, lewd and lascivious battery and sexual battery. Somer was lured into Harrells' parents' home and later asphyxiated and tossed into a trash bin, Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said, but he did not want to give too many details about her death.
"I've waited 158 days to find out who did this to my child," said Somer's mom, Diena Thompson. "Who could do this?"
She didn't hold back, adding, "A monster. That's all this person is, a monster."
And she had a message for Harrell: "I would like to take this opportunity to say … we got you, and you ain't getting away."
Harrell was already being investigated for child porn on his computer when the second-grader went missing Oct. 19, but initially he wasn't a prime suspect in her disappearance. Instead, authorities interviewed convicted sex offenders within a 5-mile radius of Somer's suburban north Florida home.
On Feb. 11, Clay County authorities filed the child porn charges and Harrell was arrested in Mississippi. He was called a person of interest in Somer's case and has been in jail ever since.
When his name surfaced, it was one of more than 4,000 leads in the case, reports CBS News Correspondent Kelly Wallace.
Somer's case - an innocent little girl vanishing from a quiet suburban street - resonated with many.
"It could have been any one of our children," the sheriff said.
The discovery of her body touched off fear and an outpouring of grief in northeast Florida and southern Georgia for the Thompson family -- as well as support: Days of vigils and fundraisers were held so Somer's mom would have enough money to stay home with her other children. A mountain of stuffed animals, balloons and notes to the family sprung up near a tree across from the little girl's home.
"Somer was such a bright star that never got her chance to shine," her mother said.
She's calling on communities nationwide to unite and take action, stressing, "This isn't Mayberry anymore. We, as parents, as community leaders, as citizens, we need to get together and figure out what it is that we're not doing right."
"The pulse of our country is looking at cases like this with just an eagle eye," attorney and In Session correspondent Jean Casarez remarked to "Early Show Saturday Edition" substitute co-anchor Kelly Cobiella," which will, Casarez says, add to what already will be a "very difficult, very difficult" case for the defense.
Still, Casarez pointed out that police dogs were in Harell's parent's house's backyard and didn't flag any scents. She noted a defense lawyer could say, "'He didn't do it. The dogs didn't even see it." They might also try an insanity defense, but that, too, is "very difficult," Casarez said.
During a press conference at the same church where Somer's memorial service was held, Beseler said detectives used DNA evidence, witnesses and statements from Harrell to solve the case.
"Our collective resolve to bring Somer's killer to justice is the only light in the darkness caused by this tragedy," Beseler said as about 50 members of "Team Somer" - the sheriff's office investigators and staff who worked the case - stood by.
"This is someone with no criminal record," Casarez observed. "This is someone that they couldn't have their DNA in a database."
Harrell's relatives have said they don't believe he is capable of violence. Messages left at the public defender's office were not immediately returned.
Prosecutors can seek the death penalty in this case, but they have not said whether they will do so.
Somer's mother said she would support prosecutors' efforts if they decide to seek capital punishment.
Clay County detectives said at the time of Somer's disappearance, Harrell was living at his parents' suburban Jacksonville home, near her home and school.
On a hunch, they tailed nine garbage trucks from her neighborhood to the landfill and picked through the trash as each rig spilled its load. They sorted through more than 225 tons of garbage before they spotted her legs sticking out of the trash.
Harrell had come to the attention of law enforcement in August, two months before Somer disappeared. His roommates said they kicked him out for stealing and they discovered child pornography. It was soon turned over to investigators.
The parents of one the roommates drove by Harrell's parents' home a few days after Somer disappeared and noticed how close they lived to the girl's house. When they saw Harrell's car in his parents' driveway, they told detectives.
He was arrested on the child pornography charges at an aunt's home in Meridian, Miss., where he had moved a few weeks earlier.
The sheriff's office has said Harrell wasn't arrested earlier because detectives had to prove Harrell downloaded the child porn.
Harrell has also been charged with 29 counts of possessing child pornography in Florida, as well as a dozen additional counts of child porn and child molestation.
Beseler said Somer was not in Harrell's parents' home for long. "I believe it was something that went rather quickly," he said.
When Somer's mother mentioned the asphyxiation at her own news conference, her older sister fainted.
Thompson's voice, however, was unwavering.
"I'd like to take this opportunity to say to Jarred Harrell that we got you and you ain't getting away," she said. "He had an impulse and he took something away from me. Why would you take away your own life for my seven-year-old daughter, my baby?" ..Source.. CBS News
March 26, 2010
Suspect charged in Somer Thompson murder case
In all the news reports involving "Jarred Harrell" there is no mention that he has ANY criminal history.3-26-2010 Florida:
CLAY COUNTY, FL -- Clay County authorities have charged a man currently in custody with the October 2009 murder of 7-year-old Somer Thompson.
The girl was abducted on her way home from school last October. She was murdered and her body dumped in a Georgia landfill.
Jarred Harrell, 24, has been charged with the crime.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Clay County Sheriff Sheriff Rick Beseler cited DNA, admissions and other evidence obtained during the investigation. He did not elaborate on any specifics.
"We feel confident that Jarred Harrell committed this crime," Sheriff Beseler said. "We have evidence that will show he murdered Somer."
Harrell was arrested last month in Mississippi on charges of child molestation and child pornography and was transferred to Florida. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Authorities say Harrell was living alone in his mother's Clay County home when Somer vanished. The home is close to Somer's route home from school.
In addition to First Degree Murder, Harrell is charged with sexual battery and other offenses. He will be arraigned on the new charges Saturday morning.
Sheriff Beseler said any future statements regarding the case will come the Clay County State Attorney's Office. ..Source.. Cary Williams
March 12, 2010
Trash backup caused delay in Somer Thompson search
3-12-2010 Florida:
Backup of trash trucks, lack of space at a Clay waste station led to authorities’ decision.
GREEN COVE SPRINGS — Somer Thompson’s body may have been found at a Clay County trash site rather than a Georgia landfill if not for a decision to end the local search primarily because of a backup of trash trucks, records and an interview with the county manager show.
An agreement by Alan Altman, Clay’s director of environmental services, and sheriff’s deputies combing the trash site on Oct. 20 ended the search, County Manager Fritz Behring said. That prevented an immediate opportunity to find the truck that picked up Somer’s body, learn the truck’s route and possibly narrow the location where she was killed and dumped.
Investigators later tried to identify the specific trash truck after Somer’s body was found Oct. 21, two days after she disappeared. The Sheriff’s Office said that search, which they called a potential key to helping solve the case, was complicated because the body had been mixed with tons of trash transferred from the Clay site to the Chesser Island Road landfill in Folkston, Ga.
A further complication: Behring said there are no known records of which trash trucks were unloaded into which of the tractor-trailers that were hauled to Georgia the next day.
Trash is picked up daily from around the county and taken to the Rosemary Hill Solid Waste Management Facility, also known as a transfer station. The trash is normally dumped in a building, searched briefly for anything that’s not household debris and then loaded into large truck trailers. Those trailers are then hauled to Folkston, GA.
Police have said they know which tractor-trailer drove Somer’s body to Georgia. Authorities have not said whether the smaller trash truck that first picked her up has been found, though investigators sought specific records two weeks ago for one of those trucks.
Somer, 7, disappeared while walking home from school on Oct. 19. Sheriff Rick Beseler credited a detective with coming to him early the next morning and suggesting that Dumpsters and trash trucks be searched for her body and items she was carrying.
Beseler assigned detectives to follow the trucks. The search at Rosemary Hill began about 9 a.m. on Oct. 20. Trash already transferred to Folkston was also searched.
Altman met with a deputy assigned to the county’s solid waste division about 3 p.m. “to discuss how we could effectively process the rest of the trucks that were waiting on site to be dumped,” according to a sworn statement taken by the Sheriff’s Office.
Altman estimated it would be another 8 to 10 hours to search the 20 waiting loads and that the transfer building at Rosemary Hill was not big enough to hold them all at once.
The loads were dumped onto the floor of the building, picked up by a front end loader and transferred into nine trailers that were stored overnight at the facility. The trailers were then driven to the Georgia landfill Oct. 21. Somer’s body was found that afternoon.
Behring said Wednesday he believes Altman’s concerns about the backup and need for more space were legitimate.
“I think he [Altman] made the best decision given the situation at the time,” Behring said.
Altman declined to comment for this story. Beseler also declined to comment, saying he didn’t want to compromise the unsolved case. Diena Thompson, Somer’s mother, also declined to comment.
Johnny Davis, an Orange Park trash truck driver, said Wednesday he was in the long line of trucks waiting to dump at Rosemary Hill Oct. 20. Davis said trucks routinely come and go within minutes after dumping in a transfer building. He was told the backup was caused by authorities searching each load for evidence in Somer’s disappearance.
Davis, 59, said he saw a group of people, including some deputies, leave the building in the afternoon, shed their boots and drive off. Davis said he took that as a sign Somer had been found elsewhere. He said he was puzzled after later learning Somer hadn’t been found at that time.
“If they would have kept on searching they probably would have found her before they found her in Georgia,” Davis said.
Although no arrests have been made, Beseler has named a person of interest in the case. ..Source.. Jim Schoettler
February 14, 2010
Neighbors: 'He Only Came Out When the Kids Came Out of School'
2-14-2010 Florida:
ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- Directly across the street from the home FBI agents searched Thursday, a "for sale" sign points to frustration.
"I moved out of here because of this," said neighbor Sandra Russell.
Russell and her sister Connie Torres moving because they say Jarred Harrell who had lived in the house that was searched, scared them. "I watched that house constantly because something just told me there's something not right with it," Torres said.
Police arrested Harrell Thursday at his new home in Meridian, Miss. He faces 29 child porn charges.
He does not face any charges in connection with Somer Thompson's disappearance, but "we are also naming Harrell as a person of interest in the abduction and murder of Somer Thompson," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said Thursday.
Somer, 7, was abducted in October on her way home from school in Orange Park and her body was found days later in a Georgia landfill. The case is unsolved.
The sisters started moving out weeks ago, and were greeted Friday with the stunning news. "I was devastated. I freaked out. All my friends started calling me. This is your neighbor," Russell said. "He would sit outside about the time the kids would come home and he would wash his car."
In Callahan today, neighbors near the house searched yesterday in connection to Harrell's arrest said they didn't know the people who live there well, that they kept to themselves and hadn't lived there very long.
Investigators searched through the house for several hours, though nobody answered the door today and the house appeared empty. ..Source.. Erich Spivey Dave Wax
February 13, 2010
Attorney General's Office: No Indication Harrell Was Connected to Somer Case
2-13-2010 Florida:
Florida's Attorney General's office says Clay County authorities made no effort to fast-track the child porn investigation of the man now named as a person of interest in the kidnapping and killing of Somer Thompson.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office was made aware of possible child pornography on a computer owned by Jarred Harrell, 24, on August 10th. By September 25th, the Attorney General's Cyber Crimes unit had the computer to assist in forensic analysis.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General says that work began on October 9th and was completed November 12th.
Seven-year-old Somer Thompson was last seen walking home from Grove Park Elementary School October 19th.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office never asked for the analysis of Harrell's computer to be fast-tracked or made a top priority, Sandi Copes with the Attorney General's office told WOKV.
Copes says had a request been made it likely would have been honored and could have cut down the time for analysis to less than a week.
"I can tell you that as it relates to Jarred Harrell's computer, it was not discussed as it relates to the Somer Thompson case," Copes said
"I have the utmost confidence in the team working these cases and know--for a fact--that everything that could be done was done in regards to completing the Harrell child porn investigation and it was done in a timely manner and as quickly as the law allow," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said in a written statement, in part due the reporting by WOKV.
"An investigation into any allegation of child pornography possession involves far more than simply establishing that a computer contains the illegal phots or movies. Detectives must be able to prove how it was acquired, who had possession and when," the statement continues.
In the police report released Thursday night by Clay County officials, deputies describe in vivid detail the types of video and images found on Harrell's computer.
"There was a large quantity of child erotica and pornography," the report says. "The forensic analysis also revealed that there were 15 images of child pornography that had been deleted from the computer."
Harrell was never publically named a person of interest in the Somer investigation until Thursday night and law enforcement in Lauderdale County, Mississippi tell WOKV Harrell has been living in Meridian in recent weeks.
"It certainly appears from the description in the police report that the materials were illegal," WOKV legal analyst Mark Rubin says. "And if they were, the question should be asked why it took so long to make an arrest."
The Clay County Sheriff's Office won't comment on the Somer Thompson investigation and what link there may be between Harrell and the murdered seven-year-old.
"To infer that the Harrell child pornography investigation somehow languished is unfair and inaccurate," Beseler concluded.
"If it turns out that this individual is in any way responsible for Somer Thompson's death, and it's premature to make that assumption at this point," Rubin says, "it is obviously an egregious situation and one that might have been avoidable." ..Source.. By Jared Halpern, Reporter
Jarred Harrell's Aunt: Officials are Questioning the Wrong Man
2-13-2010 Florida:
MERIDIAN, Miss. -- In an interview at her Meridian home, Kriss Mizelle, Jarred Harrell's aunt, told First Coast News Harrell is a gentle young man who "couldn't hurt a flea." However, locals in the small town are talking about two things: the arrest of Jarred Harrell and the snowfall.
Harrell, 24, has been named a person of interest in the disappearance and murder of Somer Thompson. He was arrested Thursday in Meridian on 29 counts of child porn. The Clay County Sheriff's Office said the pornography crimes occured in Clay County.
READ THE ARREST WARRANT: WARNING -- VERY GRAPHIC DETAILS -- NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN
Harrell was initially scheduled to make an appearance in court on Friday morning, but a large amount of snow delayed that.
Mizelle said the family has been inundated with questions.
"It looked like a bee's nest around here. It was the very furthest thing from my mind that my nephew was in any kind of trouble," said Mizelle.
She said she understands the fear in Jacksonville and the need for answers in the tragic disappearance and murder of Somer Thompson.
But Mizelle said officials are questioning the wrong man.
"Anybody can take a mug shot and sling it up on a television set. This man was arrested for this, this man is suspected of this, this man was living here. Well, so were countless other people."
Mizelle said the reason for Harrell's arrest is shocking, but said others had access to her nephew's computer. Regardless, she said he is no killer.
"I do not believe with all of my heart. I do not believe it was my nephew. At all, I just do not."
Mizelle said she is speaking out because Harrell's immediate family is shell shocked by all the media attention. She said they are afraid whatever they say will be twisted.
Harrell is originally from Lucedale, Miss. but lived in Meridian. He was homeschooled before moving to Florida. Police say he lived in a home on Gano Ave., which was just one block west from where Somer Thompson disappeared.
His family said Harrell just moved back to Mississippi a few weeks ago.
Harrell will face an extradition hearing in Mississippi next week. He is currently being held on a $1 million bond in the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Meridian.
Somer disappeared on her walk home from Grove Park Elementary Oct. 19. Her body was found a few days later in a Georgia landfill. ..Source.. Taren Reed Courtney Gaver
February 11, 2010
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
Man named person of interest in Somer Thompson's death
2-11-2010 Florida:
ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- Authorities have arrested a man they are calling a person of interest in the kidnapping and killing of a northeast Florida girl whose body was found in a landfill after she vanished on her way home from school.
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said Jarred Mitchell Harrell, 24, who had lived in the girl's neighborhood was arrested in Mississippi Thursday on 29 charges of possession of child pornography. Harrell has not been charged in the death of 7-year-old Somer Thompson. The arrest warrant said he was being held on $1 million bond. Officials at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility in Mississippi said they didn't know if he has a lawyer.
Harrell, who was arrested in Meridian, Miss., had lived until recently in a home near Somer Thompson's. Authorities searched that house Thursday. Deputies and an FBI forensics team were seen searching its front yard with rakes and shovels. The sheriff's office restricted access to at least a block around the home, which is in a neighborhood filled with tidy, ranch-style houses.
Beseler, who announced the arrest during an evening news conference, said a vehicle had also been searched.
Somer vanished Oct. 19 as she was walking home from school, sparking a search that lasted for two days. Investigators sorted through more than 225 tons of garbage at a landfill some 50 miles away, across the state line in Georgia, before their worst fears were realized: Sticking out of the rubbish were a child's lifeless legs.
Authorities have checked into thousands of tips in the case in the nearly four months since, but no one has been charged in the killing.
According to Harrell's arrest report, in August he was kicked out of an Orange Park apartment after a roommate thought he had stolen a cell phone. Harrell left behind a computer, and the roommates said they searched it because they thought Harrell had been using it to look at child porn, the report says. The roommates said they did find porn involving young girls and turned the computer and discs over to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office on Aug. 10. The materials were sent to state investigators, who confirmed the contents.
It is unknown when Harrell moved into the Orange Park house that was searched Thursday, or when he left the neighborhood.
Dawn Nuss, 39, whose 8-year-old daughter Christina used to walk home with Somer, said her daughter told her that Somer used to stop at the house and pet a white dog. No one would ever come out of the house. Sometimes Somer would run ahead of the children walking home and hide in a ditch.
"I thought this was the safest place to allow my children to walk home," she said.
Before the arrest was announced, the girl's mother, Diena Thompson, said she didn't want to get her hopes up that a break had been made in the case.
"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," she told The Florida Times-Union. "I'm going to put my faith in God."
After the news conference, Thompson's attorney, Michael R. Freed, released a statement that said Thompson and her family are "monitoring the latest developments in the investigation." The statement said that she was not prepared to speak publicly about the case Thursday.
P.J. Simms, who has lived in the neighborhood 17 years, said she hopes authorities find what they are looking for.
"I just hope they find what they were looking for because it has been a long time coming. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened. It's broken our hearts," she said. "You used to see 40 to 50 kids out here every day, now there's always somebody with them."
Simms said she knew Somer because she used to baby-sit for the girl's friend.
"She was a sweetheart, just very loving. She always wanted to be a part of everything. I hope and pray to God that this is it so we can finally let the kids play." ..Source.. TAMARA LUSH
February 2, 2010
Somer Thompson murder investigation is not a "cold case," Sheriff's Office says
2-2-2010 Florida:
ORANGE PARK – While Somer Thompson’s face may have disappeared from the nightly television news broadcasts, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation into the Orange Park girl’s murder remains very active.
A 15-member “Team Somer” detective unit dedicated to catching whomever is responsible for the first-grader’s murder continues to work inside a small office at the Sheriff’s Office Orange Park substation on Blanding Boulevard.
“The Somer Thompson case remains an active investigation … not a ‘cold case’,” says a Sheriff’s Office statement released Monday, Feb. 1. “Our investigators remain determined and are optimistic that Somer’s killer will be identified and arrested.”
Somer disappeared on Monday, Oct. 19, as she was walking to her Debarry Avenue home from Grove Park Elementary School. The little girl's body was found two days later in the Chesser Island Road Landfill near Folkston, Ga.
Investigators have not released any details on how the girl was killed and have not indentified any suspects in the case.
On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office also gave the media a brief glimpse inside the room where detectives are going over the 4,477 leads received so far.
Detective Dan Mahla spoke briefly to reporters as they visited the room Monday, Feb. 1, but he took no questions about the investigation.
Mahla pointed out the plastic boxes with file folders each containing 500 leads. Hundreds of “neighborhood canvas” forms –filled out by detectives who spoke to residents in Somer’s neighborhood -- sit in boxes along one wall.
Large aerial maps showing the Orange Park area where the girl went missing and where her home is located also hang on the wall at one end. At the other end is a large banner with Somer’s picture and chalk boards where pertinent information is written.
Reminders of Somer are everywhere that Team Somer works, starting with the entrance to the robbery/homicide room where there hangs a wooden plaque made by detective Eddie Howell has the girl’s picture and small purple ribbon on it.
Stickers and banners with Somer’s name or slogans urging that people not forget her case also can be seen throughout the room.
Members of Team Somer include the Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FBI, U.S. Marshal’s Service and Naval Criminal Investigative Services.
The girl’s disappearance sparked a search involving hundreds of volunteers. After her body was found, hundreds of people attended a memorial service for her and lined Kingsley Avenue and Blanding Boulevard the next day as her funeral procession passed by. The case received nationwide attention and Somer’s mother, Diena Thompson, has made several appearances on national television to comment on the case, most recently on NBC’s Today Show in January.
The Justice Coalition is offering a $48,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Somer’s murder. First Coast Crime Stoppers also has a $16,000 reward for an arrest in the case, bringing the total for both reward funds to $64,000. To donate to the Crime Stoppers reward fund or report any information, call 866-845-TIPS.
Justice Coalition donations can be made by calling (904) 783-6312, or at Ameris Bank, either at 888 Lane Ave. in Jacksonville or 4835 Town Center Parkway on Fleming Island. Use account number 3123504437.
Anyone with information about the case can call the Clay County Sheriff's Office’s toll-free number at (877) 227-6911. ..Source.. Clay Today staff
January 5, 2010
Parents Frustrated Somer Thompson's Killer Hasn't Been Caught
1-5-2010 Florida:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Life has moved on in Somer Thompson's neighborhood, but some things have changed.
Purple ribbons still hang on Somer's school, and Crime Stoppers signs, asking for new information, are everywhere. Somer's memorial, still in front of her Orange Park home, is smaller but the neighborhood has not forgotten the hunt for justice.
"It would be nice for them to get the people that did this," said 10-year-old Cole Bello.
Cole said his life has changed forever.
"We just can't go running down to my friend's house. We have to wait for somebody to come out here and watch us," he said.
The Bellos have a few new rules and the kids said that's just fine with them. "I'm scared if I'm out front by myself, they might grab us," said 8-year-old Grace Bello, Cole's sister.
Grace and Cole's dad, Aaron Bello, said if his kids are outside, he is with them.
Two and a half months after Somer was murdered, Bello said parents are still on edge. "I think there is a sense of frustration that we can't figure out who has done this," said Aaron Bello.
Testing is still underway at the lab on a large amount of evidence, police said.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office said it is not unusual that the results are taking so long to come in because of the amount of evidence and the type of testing.
"I know the longer it goes on, the less likely we are gonna find out who did it," said Bello.
Police said they haven't lost hope. The case is far from being cold and detectives are still focused on finding Somer's killer. ..Source.. Taren Reed Jackelyn Barnard Ann Butler
November 19, 2009
Detectives Follow-up on 4,200 Somer Thompson Leads
11-19-2009 Florida:
ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- Investigators have received 4,200 leads in the Somer Thompson case and are working to follow up on all workable tips.
Detectives said they are waiting on lab results, hoping that some of the evidence will lead in the right direction.
"Waiting on lab results is part of this process," said Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler on Wednesday. "The results can take weeks to return and cannot be rushed or hurried because this is information that will point us in the right direction and tell us where to go."
Beseler said the case if far from being cold. He said it remains hot with emerging leads and pieces of evidence.
Agents from the FBI, Florida Department of law Enforcement, U.S. Marshal Service, and .the Naval Criminal Investigative Service assigned locally continue to investigate with their expertise and manpower.
An Orange Park office working diligently on the case hung a poster to keep their goal in sight. The poster was created internally by the investigative team and several are displayed in offices and hallways as a constant reminder.
Somer Thompson disappeared in late October, and her body was found in a landfill days later.
A website was created to remember Somer. It's filled with messages and pictures of her life.
During a conversation last week, Somer's mom, Diena, said she's not giving up hope, and will continue to search for her daughter's killer.
If you know anything about this case, you can call the designated tip line is 1-877-227-6911. ..Source.. Taren Reed Ann Butler
November 12, 2009
FL- In Somer Thompson case, rumors become a big problem
11-12-2009 Florida:
by Dana Treen
Bloggers spread stories, and ruling them out takes valuable time away from the investigation.
As with any high-profile case, the intense search for a killer in the slaying of 7-year-old Somer Thompson has generated rumors and speculation that can be costly and a frustrating distraction to investigators.
Once, after a swirl of suspicions about a blue Nissan’s possible connection to the case were found to be untrue, calls about the vehicle continued in the Clay County case, Sheriff Rick Beseler said.
“We got 79 additional tips about the blue Nissan after we already said we were not looking for it,” he said.
Other false alarms included a connection to a sex offender arrested in Georgia and suspicions generated by mistakes in a police report.
“You spend a lot of time and energy chasing leads when you have completely eliminated them,” Beseler said.
Rumors, often magnified by bloggers who become attracted to crime cases, usually steal valuable time that could be spent in the field, said Bruce Herring, director of the Institute of Police Technology and Management, which contracts with the University of North Florida and provides law enforcement agencies with instruction.
“Most of it is negative,” he said of the impact.
Not always, though. Perpetrators as well as the curious read those entries, he said.
“Tidbits come that lead to a bad guy once in a while,” Herring said.
That means it can be risky to ignore tips.
And high levels of exposure keep the public’s attention focused on the case.
A flood of calls
Roughly 3,375 tips have poured into the Clay County Sheriff’s Office since the Orange Park girl disappeared Oct. 19 as she was going home from Grove Park Elementary School. The first-grader’s body was found two days later in a Georgia landfill.
No arrests have been made.
The report of the blue Nissan, which had been linked to an apparent abduction attempt of a 5-year-old girl a little more than a week before Somer disappeared, drew wide interest. A woman who believed she foiled the kidnapping was part of a Sheriff’s Office news briefing where she recounted helping the crying girl who said she was being lured into the vehicle.
The suspicions were dismissed when detectives later learned the Nissan was being driven by an officer with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who stopped after thinking the girl had nearly been struck by a car.
But the calls didn’t stop and Beseler worries the confusion could lead to something being missed.
“Potentially someone could have real information and say, 'Oh, they are not looking for a black van; they are looking for a blue Nissan,’ ” he said.
Quashing rumors
In another case that has gripped Northeast Florida, investigators decided to ignore rumors they knew were untrue, but found it important to quickly quash the fast-growing ones.
The Putnam County disappearance of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings in February generated wild speculation, including a claim that her body had been found. Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said that allowing that to go unaddressed would have been irresponsible.
“We had to respond,” Greenwood said in an e-mail.
Haleigh, whose sixth birthday was in August, remains missing.
In the Clay County case, a mistake on a police report set off one wave of suspicion.
The day Somer disappeared, a deputy who was among those who responded to the missing girl’s home was called away to an unrelated armed robbery. He arrived at the second scene and caught four suspects, Beseler said. When the officer wrote the report, he forgot to change the address on the call, resulting in armed robbery arrests mistakenly tied to the Thompson home.
“The public sees that and goes ballistic,” Beseler said. “People on blogs and all over the country were writing all these theories. We worked and tried to put that rumor out for several days.”
The nature of the case has also meant attention has been focused on sex offenders. One of those men, who worked on a renovation crew months earlier at a house near where Somer was last seen as she walked home, has been interviewed. Another, whose name was on the initial police report after a woman thought she spotted him near Orange Park, was in Texas. When he discovered he had incorrectly been mentioned in the case, he nervously went to authorities there to say he was not near Florida.
Arrest in Georgia
Speculation has come from other places as well.
When Georgia authorities arrested a sex offender from Florida who had moved to Albany, they notified the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
In the Oct. 26 arrest, the man — whose crimes in Florida were in Hillsborough County — was charged with attempting to entice a child. Beseler said the man is not a suspect in the Somer case.
Herring, who has worked on other high-profile cases, said as cases drag on the potential grows for investigators and the agency to be accused of being inept or covering something up.
“Early on, you have a whole lot of public opinion in your favor,” he said. That support can disappear later.
“The public starts to get impatient,” he said.
Last week, a crisis-management team within the department began offering services to employees who may feel overwhelmed.
“I’m still optimistic — very optimistic — we are going to solve this case,” Beseler said. “Will it be in a couple of days? No.” ..Source..
November 8, 2009
FL- Deputies Search For Somer's Tote Bag, Lunch Box
11-8-2009 Florida:
by CF News13.com
ORANGE PARK -- The Somer Thompson case made national headlines Saturday night as it aired on 'America’s Most Wanted.'
During the program, two sketches were shown. Clay County deputies believe the tote bag and round lunch box with a pink pig design belonged to the 7-year-old.
Witnesses say they think she may have had the items with her when she was last seen walking on Gano Avenue.
Investigators say neither items have been found.
So far, authorities have received nearly 3,000 tips in Somer's case, but no arrests have been made.
The Orange Park girl disappeared two weeks ago on her walk home from school.
She was found during an exhaustive search of a landfill 50 miles away, where trash from her neighborhood is taken over the Florida/Georgia border.
If you have any information on the case, call (877) 227-6911, or e-mail CART@claysheriff.com. ..Source..
November 1, 2009
FL- Somer Thompson was found -- but why not Haleigh Cummings?
10-31-2009 Florida:
Investigators quickly discovered Somer Thompson's body, but factors explain why Haleigh Cummings remains missing
ORANGE PARK - Across the street from where 7-year-old Somer Thompson lived in suburban Orange Park, a memorial grows in the shade of an old oak.
Friends, family and strangers leave candles, flowers, prayer cards, teddy bears, balloons and short, hopeful notes: "You're OK now. God got U Baby" and "You are my Sunshine" and "Justice for Somer."
Profound sadness surrounds the place, but so does a certain sense of closure: Somer Thompson lived here. She is gone now. Somebody did a horrible thing to her, but many others loved this girl.
Fifty miles south in rural Satsuma, there is no closure.
In February, 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings' disappearance captured national attention. Now a billboard along U.S. Highway 17 flashes Haleigh's face every few seconds at drivers passing through town and provides a number to call with tips.
But unlike Somer, whose body was discovered in a Georgia landfill two days after she disappeared, Haleigh has never been found.
Missing-children's experts involved in both cases say the cooperation of Somer's family and her community coupled with some creative and aggressive detective work by the Clay County Sheriff's Office led to the girl's discovery.
At the same time, some say inconsistencies in the account given by the last person thought to have seen Haleigh late Feb. 9 has hindered the efforts of investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
The difference between the cases is one little girl being found and put to rest near her home — and a series of fruitless searches through woods, lakes and fields that have turned up no body after nearly nine months.
"In Clay County, they said, 'You know, we've got a little girl missing. Let's go to work,'" said Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, who is familiar with both cases. "They've got a family that's being honest. They've got a community that's being honest. They got right in on it, and they just did a tremendous job."
On Tuesday, Somer was buried at Jacksonville Memory Gardens near her home. The discovery of her body has the community frightened, but also confident her killer will be found.
But in Haleigh's case, investigators initially thought the child had been abducted from the Satsuma double-wide of her father, Ronald Cummings. By mid-August, about the time Haleigh would have turned 6, they were publicly expressing doubt that a stranger had taken Haleigh. And investigators noted that Misty Cummings "continues to hold important answers in the case." At the time of Haleigh's disappearance, Misty Cummings was Misty Croslin but later married Haleigh's father. They have since divorced.
Tests have shown Misty Cummings to be deceptive when answering questions about Haleigh's disappearance.
"From very, very early on, we stated publicly there were inconsistencies in Misty's story about what happened that evening," said Putnam Deputy Sheriff Hancel Woods, adding that investigators continue to work the case daily, as they have handled nearly 6,000 tips.
While praising the team investigating Somer's case in neighboring Clay County, Woods said the two cases have many differences, and nothing at this point suggests they might be related.
"Obviously there are similarities drawn due to geographic proximity and the girls' ages, but each case stands on its own," Woods said.
Crucial differences
Though Clay detectives have received widespread praise for finding Somer so soon, experts say Putnam officials have done their job well, too.
"Putnam County [investigators] did everything right," Miller said this week. "Unfortunately they didn't have a damn thing to work with."
Investigators working on the Somer Thompson case had the pressure of time slipping away with each hour Somer was missing. But they were prepared. Several months earlier, they had trained for just such a scenario: a child who went missing after school.
They had started searching Somer's neighborhood quickly, including the trash coming out of the Grove Park neighborhood, where the girl was last seen walking home from school early last week, according Clay Sheriff Rick Beseler.
But one detective, Bruce Owens, came to work early the morning after Somer was reported missing and noticed "dumpsters were being picked up" in the neighborhood, Beseler said.
"Bruce said to me that morning, 'We need to get on those dumpsters,'" Beseler said. "I said, 'I want a deputy on every garbage truck.'"
Orange Park's trash is brought to a local transfer station before being hauled up to a Georgia landfill, where the child was found. If Beseler's team had not tracked the trucks — and their contents — as soon as they did, he said it would have been much harder, perhaps impossible, to ever find Somer and valuable evidence.
"She might have been under too much debris," he said. "... In any abduction murder case, your crime scene is wherever the body is found. Time and the elements cause degradation of any forensic value."
Beseler, who is still awaiting forensic testing done in the wake of Somer's discovery, added, "It has had to unnerve the person who did this that we found her body so quickly."
By late this week, about 50 detectives from the Sheriff's Office, FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service were working the case.
The crucial discovery of Somer's body so soon may provide a wealth of "forensic evidence," including possible fingerprints, fibers and DNA samples, said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"You have the ultimate evidence of the crime scene," Allen said. "... While it is a tragedy and an outrage, it does provide substantial evidence for a positive ending. You've got somewhere to start."
He called the sheriff's decision to rapidly follow the trucks "brilliant" and a tactic that will likely be followed by other law-enforcement agencies in the future.
Woods, in Putnam County, said investigators searched the landfill as part of Haleigh's investigation as well. Such searches are routine parts of missing-child and suspected-abduction cases.
"I personally was inside a dumpster, searching that morning," Woods said. The "meticulous" landfill search came a little later, but that's because trash pickup in the area did not occur immediately after Haleigh was reported missing as it did in Somer's case, he said.
'Somebody knows'
Allen emphasized that cases such as Haleigh's, in which the child is not found within days or months, should not be forgotten.
"The reality in each of these cases is: Somebody knows," Allen said. "Somebody knows where Haleigh Cummings is. It's really important that we not let the world forget."
"The key to this case is us getting that one tip, that one lead from someone who knows something," Woods said.
Meanwhile, back at the memorial for Somer at the corner of Debarry Avenue and Horton Drive in Orange Park, Kaliyah Allen, who lives near the Thompson home but does not know the family, said the investigators working the case appear to be handling it well.
"I think they're doing the best they can without exposing too much information and hurting their case," she said. "They're building a case. Honestly, I think they're doing a good job." ..Source.. by Anthony Colarossi Sentinel Staff Writer
