So sad, what is wrong with people

[chelsea]

My heart just breaks for Jessica Lunsford, why in the world would anyone do this to a innocent child. My thoughts go out to her and her family.

http://www.thelouisvillechannel.com/news/4300504/detail.html (story here)

Jessica Lunsford's Father To Visit Search Site
Authorities Say Registered Sex Offender Has Confessed

POSTED: 8:03 am EST March 19, 2005
UPDATED: 8:05 am EST March 19, 2005

HOMOSASSA, Fla. -- Deputies say the father of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford will visit the site where authorities are searching for her body.

Authorities say Mark Lunsford also plans to speak to the media.

Searchers appear to have been digging a pit behind the former residence of a registered sex offender who has allegedly admitted killing Jessica Lunsford.


The Florida 9-year-old disappeared from her bedroom on Feb. 23.

Citrus County authorities say John Couey has admitted abducting and killing Jessica. He's also said to have told authorities where her body could be found.

An area near the trailer home of Couey's half-sister has been cordoned off. It's about 150 yards from the home Jessica shared with her father and grandparents.

Paramedics carried away large brown bags but it's not clear what they contained.

"John Couey admitted to abducting Jessica and subsequently taking her life," said Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy on Friday. "We've built a very methodical case. I've got my man."


Dawsy said John Evander Couey, 46, confessed to investigators after flunking a lie-detector test. It was then, the sheriff said, that Couey admitted to abducting and killing the girl.

The sheriff said Jessica's body had not been found, but Couey gave them a general area to search.

Sheriff's deputies cordoned off an area near the home where Couey had stayed in Florida. The home, which belongs to Couey's half-sister, is 150 yards from Jessica's home.

Couey was arrested in Georgia Thursday on a probation violation for failing to notify officials that he was moving, a requirement for sex offenders. He had waived extradition back to Florida on that charge.

Jessica was last seen Feb. 23 when her grandmother tucked her into bed. When her family went to awaken her for school the next morning, she was gone without a trace. Police said a door at the home was unlocked and one of the girl's dolls was missing. She lived with her father and grandparents and was a third-grader at Homosassa Elementary School.

Couey left Florida on or about March 4, about a week after her disappearance. Police said he told relatives that police would be looking for him.


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[Cataholic]

May he enjoy the very special Hell he will burn in.

[chelsea]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7190457/ (Here)

Police find Jessica Lunsford's body
'She's home now,' girl's dad says; sex offender held in slaying

The Associated Press
Updated: 12:10 p.m. ET March 19, 2005

HOMOSASSA, Fla. - The body of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was found early Saturday, a day after officials said a registered sex offender confessed to kidnapping and killing the girl.

Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said Jessica’s body was found during an overnight search in a densely wooded area, only about 150 yards away from the home the girl shared with her father and grandparents.

'She’s home now'
Jessica’s father, Mark Lunsford, visited the search scene shortly after sunrise and gave a brief, emotional statement to reporters.

“Everyone heard me say, time after time, that she would be home,” Lunsford said, his eyes hidden behind dark black sunglasses. “She’s home now.”

John Evander Couey, 46, confessed to kidnapping and killing Jessica after taking a lie-detector test Friday in Georgia, Dawsy said. She disappeared from her bedroom more than three weeks ago.

“We’re en route to bring him back home,” said Dawsy, who added that he wants Couey to face the death penalty.

“This guy is not a quality person, by any means. ... He’s truly a piece of trash,” the sheriff said.

'Bunch of druggies' also charged
Dawsy said that four other people were charged in connection with the case, three of them with obstruction for failing to notify police when Couey allegedly told them he had committed a crime. A fourth, the sheriff said, was picked up for questioning in the case but was charged only with failure to pay child support in an unrelated matter.

Dawsy called the four “a bunch of druggies” and said he would urge prosecutors not to allow them to plea-bargain for reduced sentences.

The body was found in the area around the trailer home of Couey’s half-sister.

Crews worked through the night in temperatures that dipped into the low 40s. Bright search lights were erected around the perimeter, and several candles left from a late-night vigil burned nearby.

A stream of official vehicles came and went throughout the pre-dawn hours, and a state mobile forensics unit left the scene about 3:30 a.m. — about the time Jessica’s body was found and taken to nearby Leesburg for examination.

Mark Lunsford has said the family did not know Couey, who was arrested Thursday.

“He may have interacted with Jessica,” Dawsy said. “But there is no relationship between Couey and this family.”

'He will pay'
At a news conference late Friday from Ohio, the girl’s mother, Angela Bryant, repeatedly made the same vow: Couey, she said, “will pay.”

“This man’s hurt too many people,” she said through tears. “He’s hurt too many children. And one of them is my daughter. He took her life from her and she didn’t deserve it. He will pay. He will pay. For hurting them children out there and my daughter, he will pay.”

Jessica, a third grader, was last seen when she went to bed in her home Feb. 23. She was discovered missing the next morning, with the door unlocked and her stuffed animal gone. The clothes she had laid out for school were still in place, and her shoes weren’t missing.

More than 100 police and volunteers, with help from bloodhounds and helicopters, searched the area about 60 miles north of Tampa for days following her disappearance. Jessica’s family made emotional appeals on national television for her safe return.

Sex offender disappeared
Detectives grew interested in Couey while interviewing all registered sex offenders in the area. They tried to contact Couey at his home in Homosassa five days after Jessica disappeared and discovered he no longer lived there.

When investigators followed up with the half-sister, she denied that Couey had lived with her. But another relative confided to a detective that Couey sometimes stayed at the home.

Authorities said Couey left Florida on or about March 4 after telling relatives that police would be looking for him. He was arrested in Augusta, Ga., on a probation violation for failing to notify officials that he was moving, a requirement for sex offenders. He was awaiting extradition to Florida on Friday.

Couey has an extensive criminal record that includes 24 arrests for burglary, carrying a concealed weapon and indecent exposure. In 1991, he was arrested in Kissimmee on a charge of fondling a child under age 16. Records don’t show how the case was resolved.

During a house burglary in 1978, Couey was accused of grabbing a girl in her bedroom, placing his hand over her mouth and kissing her, Dawsy said. Couey was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was paroled in 1980.

:(

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by Cataholic
May he enjoy the very special Hell he will burn in.

Ditto...:(:(:( Poor little girl, and her family. My heart breaks for them. :(

[Corinna]

This is why sentincing should as it is stated 10years not 2. this is one of the things I get on a soap box on.

[tortuga55]

Ok girl goes missing and the person next door starts digging a hole in the back yard. That would seem very suspicious.

So sad for the family. Another reason sex offenders should sit in jail.

[chelsea]

You can check to see where the registered sex offenders live in your county by doing an online search, the one that I viewed even gives their last know address. I didn't realize just how many sex offenders live in my county, scary. :eek: