A child's body was found today in a Georgia landfill just
across the Florida state line where 7-year-old Somer Thompson disappeared two days ago.
Police trying to
determine if the body is 7-year-old Somer Thompson.
More PhotosIt is "not conclusive yet this is Somer, but all indications
sort of point in that direction," said Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla.
"We all need to say a prayer for
Somer's family," Crist said.
Police found the body of a young white child at a dump in Flokston, Ga.,
the terminus of a garbage route that collects refuse in Orange Park, Fla., the town where Somer vanished Monday afternoon
while walking home from school.
Authorities have not yet positively identified the body.
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said it was a "matter of routine course" in a missing person case that police "begin
following garbage trucks" and search nearby landfills.
7-Year-Old Found 50 Miles North of Florida Abduction Site
Somer Thompson's body has been found. Somer Thompson, 7, missing since Monday, was found in a Georgia
landfill. This was 50 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida, where she was abducted. Somer Thompson was found
partially clothed.
Serafin Gomez has
written an article on Fox News.com titled "Police ID GA Body as Missing FLA Girl."
So far the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation has indicated that pending an autopsy nothing will be released as far as specific cause of death or
even identification which technically contraindicates the report. Somer Thompson was identified by clothes that she was wearing
as well as a birthmark.
Apparently she was walking from school which in her case was a mile-long
walk. She did not make this walk alone.
She was walking with a small group of children and got into a fight with
another child and left the group walking ahead of them. Her older sister tried to get her to stay with the group to no avail.
When the group arrived at home they discovered that Somer had not arrived.
Somer Thompson
apparently was viewed being kidnapped by witnesses. She was taken away screaming. No one was able to intervene effectively.
Somer's death is a side effect of the public school system's ("No Child Left Behind") failure to effectively and
safely get kids to school in the face of massive budget cuts.
I cannot comprehend the type of mind
it takes it takes to do something like this.
I have to question allowing young children, even in a group, walking a
mile to school on their own.
Back in 1956 I was walking to school and it was about a mile. There were
cars that would occasionally slow down and try to get you to come in. We were taught to "hold hands and scream and run."
My point is that even 50-plus years ago which was harmless compared to today, we were taught, no drilled, about survival.
While there is acknowledgment about danger of abduction there doesn't seem to be the seriousness about the situation.
Historically we don't examine dangerous situations until someone is harmed. Today it seems we don't acknowledge dangerous
situations.
Somer Renee Thompson Report a Tip
Search Teams Scoured Florida For
Signs Of Somer
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Somer, 7, was last seen in Orange Park, Fla.
Florida police searched for days for 7-year-old Somer Renee Thompson,
who disappeared Oct. 19, 2009.
Somer left Grove Park Elementary School, where she was in 2nd grade, at
2:50 p.m. that Monday, and was walking home from school with her twin brother, 10-year-old sister, and some friends.
Cops say Somer and another child got in an argument and Somer ran ahead of them. At some point the kids lost sight
of her.
Somer's siblings arrived home safely at about 3:05 p.m. expecting to find her there, but no one
would report seeing her alive again.
Her mother's boyfriend, Sean Patton, was at the house and asked the children
where Somer was. They said she walked off.
Sean and the kids searched for Somer for an hour. When Somer's mother
called, Sean told her Somer had not made it home.
She left work immediately and spoke to a Sheriff's deputy to report her
daughter missing.
Somer's father lives in North Carolina.
The Clay County, Fla. Sheriff's Office
issued an AMBER Alert and launched an investigation and began searching the area near where Somer was last seen.
Cops said the search for Somer was their primary focus. The effort involved all resources available, including divers,
a helicopter and search dogs.
On the morning of Oct. 20, 2009, the search expanded, first to a 3-mile
radius and later to five miles.
"This is an all-out search," Clay County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Dan Mahla
said. "It's go-time for us we're searching anything and everything we can."
As of 3 p.m. on
Oct. 20, 2009, police had received about 150 leads. At that time they had followed up on about 80 of the leads, so far.
"There's any number of things that could've happened so we're hoping for the best but we're working it as if
it were a crime scene right now," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said at a news conference on Oct. 20, 2009.
Police interviewed 57 sex offenders and sexual predators within a three-mile radius. They then expanded that search
area to a five-mile radius to include 37 more, which included some homes in the Jacksonville, Fla. area.
On Oct. 21, 2009, police said they had searched the homes of 58 sexual predators in a five-mile radius with some
of the best K-9 teams in the state and found no sign of the girl.
Teams searched every backyard and
went inside most houses in the area.
"We did everything and went everywhere that a 7-year-old would be," Sgt.
Joey Jett of Clay County Sheriff's Office said.
Police called in various branches of the military to help with the search,
but still had no leads in the case.
No one had seen Somer and no one saw anyone pick her up.
Cops considered Somer an endangered missing child and suspected foul play.
Rumors surfaced
that there was an attempted abduction in that area 10 days before Somer's disappearance, but cops were not sure if the incident
was related.
A witness saw a little girl talking to someone in a car, and asked her if she knew the person.
The girl said she did not, and that the person had asked her to get in the car.
When the witness
turned around, the car was gone. Cops didn't focus on this, but acknowledged that it occurred.
"It was the hardest phone call I've ever had to make in my life, and I
hope I never have to make another one like that," Clay County, Fla. Sheriff Rick Beseler said.
Missing Child's Body Discovered In Ga. Landfill
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Cops say Somer disappeared on her way home from school.
The "all-out search" for Somer came to an abrupt halt when police announced the discovery of a young child's body
in a Georgia landfill Oct. 21, 2009.
Based on a distinctive birthmark and a description of the child's clothing,
the body was identified as that of missing 7-year-old Somer Thompson.
Somer disappeared on Monday, Oct.
19, 2009 while walking home from school.
Detectives followed garbage trucks from Somer's neighborhood to the landfill,
just over the Georgia border.
Cops say the body
was in one of them.
An autopsy was performed by the Georgia medical examiner, who was able
to positively identify her through medical records.
Cops notified Somer's mother of the discovery.
"Needless to say she was devastated. It was the hardest phone call I've ever had to make in my life, and I hope I
never have to make another one like that," Clay County, Fla. Sheriff Rick Beseler said.
Family, Friends And Supporters Lay Somer To Rest
Hundreds of friends, family and supporters gathered around Somer's mother, Diena Thompson as she grieved at a vigil
on Wednesday night.
The crowd sang Somer's favorite song, "You Are My Sunshine."
"I love her and I'll miss her and she's a twin and I don't know how it's going to affect him, but I know how it's
affecting me," Diena said.
A public viewing for Somer was held Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, at 5 p.m. and
a public funeral service was held Tueday at 11 a.m.
The family asked that the graveside service and burial be kept private.
Several people offered to help her family with funeral costs.
Somer's mother thanked searchers,
police and supporters for all of their help in a letter released to the media.
"I have no words
to describe the level of support that my family and I have received from the people I do not know, from friends and neighbors,
from local military personnel and their commands, from advocate groups and from law enforcement personnel from the local to
the national level. To all of you, I say again, Thank You," Diena wrote.
"I have never felt the embrace of
a community, until now."
