Jerry D

From Yahoo News: Story

By MIKE BRANOM, Associated Press Writer

HOMOSASSA, Fla. - The news this small community feared finally came Saturday: Police had found the body of 9-year-old Jessica Marie Lunsford, more than three weeks after she was snatched from her bedroom.

Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said Jessica's body was found during an overnight search near a mobile home close to the house where she lived with her father and grandparents. A registered sex offender confessed Friday to the kidnapping and killing and told authorities where to look for the missing girl.

Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, visited the search scene shortly after sunrise.

"Everyone heard me say, time after time, that she would be home," he said, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. "She's home now."

Jessica's safe return had become a preoccupation in this rural town of about 2,500 people, hundreds of whom had volunteered to scour the area in search of her. Word of the body's discovery spread as the sun rose, and at the end of her street well-wishers began building a makeshift memorial of candles, flowers and teddy bears.

"The last three weeks it's been hard to sleep, hard to eat," said Kim Bidlack, who taught the youth church class Jessica attended before vanishing Feb. 23. "It's so hard to explain how this makes you feel. We're so heartbroken over Jessie, but then you have so much bitterness to the person who would do this."

John Evander Couey, 46, confessed to kidnapping and killing Jessica after taking a lie-detector test Friday in Georgia, Dawsy said. Police said he was arrested Thursday in Augusta, Ga., on a probation violation for failing to notify officials that he was moving, a requirement for sex offenders.

At the time of the abduction, Couey was staying in a mobile home about 150 yards from Jessica's house with his half-sister and three others.

"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."

Couey, who has not yet been charged in Jessica's abduction or slaying, has been under a suicide watch at the Richmond County Jail in Georgia, sheriff's deputy Susan Herring said.

The four people living in the mobile home were also charged, three of them with obstructing police for failing to notify authorities when Couey allegedly told them he had committed a crime. The 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 three charged with obstructing police were Dorothy Dixon, 47, who is Couey's half-sister; Madie Secord, 27; and Matthew Dittrich, 31. The man charged with failure to pay child support is Gene Secord, 35.

The body was found near the trailer home, but Dawsy refused to give details of where it was discovered or how Jessica was killed.

Mark Lunsford has said the family did not know Couey.

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

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."

Jessica, a third grader, was last seen when she went to bed after attending church. 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.

Hundreds of 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.

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I literally cried when I saw this on the news. I hope that this twisted bastard gets everything that's coming to him.

I remember when I was a kid, in New York and New Jersey, I would play with my friends all day, and my parents never had to worry, but this poor little girl was kidnapped right from her own home and then murdered. I don't understand how someone could do something like that to an innocent child, and it sickens me to think of what her family must be going through right now.

Quarterley

Sad.

The Survivor

Very sad.

I hope the guy gets what he deserves.

roswellain_chick16

They never seem to - not in my opinion anyway

*Ana*

This broke my heart. That's exactly the kind of thing that I don't and I'll never understand.

In Fair Verona

It's so heartbreaking. A little girl should be able to feel secure in her home. Not just feel, she should be secure. There shouldn't be sick bastards breaking into their bedrooms. I hope this guy will pay the price, like everybody in the article said, he's scum.

TokyoNiGHTS

Last Monday some NBC channel actually recorded that guy in a bar smiling. They were showing that quite a bit when the story broke about the guy admitting he killed her.

I think there needs to be much harder laws against sex offenders. Even repeat offenders just get around 6 or so years. That's not enough when you consider that most of these people continue doing it. I know it wouldn't really be possible, but I wouldn't mind seeing them be put away for good just after 1 offense. Whatever happens, it should be much longer than what it is now.

Semmer

I agree. These people are so heartless to begin with that it's hard to make then feel any pain....emotional or physical, that can make up for what they've done. For it doesn't change the fact that he killed her no matter how he is punished.

AuburnGrad

It's cases like this that really make me think twice about ever having children. I can't imagine what it must be like being a parent knowing there are people out there who will do something so horrific. While this isn't the first and unfortunately probably will not be the last, the fact that a child can be taken out of the safety of his or her own room is incredibly frightening. Add on top of that, her body was found just a few yards from her own home...it's just heartbreaking.

Mio

That is so sad. And what is even sadder is that they left the door unlocked. Not even in the "safest" areas can you trust anyone.

-Kelly-

Poor kid