Somer Renee Thompson #1 10/19/09 - 10/29/09

[3btgmom]

Hello everyone, I am new to this and probably won't post much but have been following along since Somers' Amber Alert showed up. I am mom to 5 kids and 2 of them are twin almost 8 yr old girls. I cannot imagine how horrible this whole thing would be if I were in this position. I have read just about everything in many areas on your site and wanted to say that in general you all are awesome people. In reading I have seen very little comments in the form of bashing considering the amount of posts there are and everyone should feel very proud of that and all that you folks do with this site.    I would like to ask how do or would the people of this country go about changin laws in regards to this type of violence against children? I am not sure how it gets started so thought someone would be able to point me in the right direction. I think 1 time you hurt a child like this that is it your done. 3 strikes my butt. No mercy, death is the only way I see of ridding the country of scum that would hurt a child in this way. I also know that there will always be another to take the place of the ones who are put to death but all action is better than what we now have in place to protect our children.
But if and until death is how these low life are taken care of I found this about a GPS like thing to track your kids and it really seems like it is or could be the key to protecting your children a little bit more above what we can do as parents. The amber alert GPS.  amberalertgps.com     I am a single mom and finances are always very tight as I do not recieve any support for the twins. But when income tax rolls around I will have 2 of these GPS for the girls. I know that nothing will ever take the place of a watchful eye but we all know we can't be there every second of every minute of every day, maybe this gadget could help fill in the gaps.  You all seem like wonderful people and are doing a great service if you want to call it that, you keep up the great work. God will surely have a special place for folks like you.

[2NJSons_Mom]

Welcome, 3btgmom!!! 

[luvmyboys]

So since they are not releasing her. What are they gonna do about the burial. Sorry I am just confused I guess

[Brandi]

3btgmom:

Welcome to the cage!

[3btgmom]

Thanks for the welcome. As I said in 1st post you are all great people. You all do so much through this site. I still remember how I felt when Adam Walsh was taken. I had just had my first child 20 days before and it was my birthday. I was emotional due to just having a baby and then that happened. I was a wreck. I could not imagine how I would have handled something like what the familys go through and pray that I never know. My prayers to all the families over the years and sadly those prayers go with those who in the future may have to face this kind of tradgedy. Praise to everyone who so unselfishly gives of their time to help whenever and however they can. I pray that the person who commited this horrible act will be caught very soon.

[Kat_Gram]

I think none of us know how we would react if we were in Diena's situation.
The only real thing concrete that has set my hinky meter to a 10 is this " Kyle" person who called a radio show.
The garbage came from that neighbourhood, no one saw a damn thing after she ran ahead, except for Kyle. They gave several persons lie detector tests and let them go. They can't arrest based on a lie detector test. But they can sure narrow their future focus. LE isn't going to say a word until an arrest is made, that's my guess. In the Annie Lei case, they had the guy in their sights until they had finished their work. And they had him cold.

Kat--
Did they actually report the garbage came from that specific neighborhood? Or just the OP general area? DeBarry is actually a well-known cut through to get to many restaurants and a mall and many, many other businesses and neighborhoods. I hadn't heard if they said it was residential garbage or commercial.

I believe in one of the press conferences they said it was a mixture of residential and commercial.

I might have put my own understanding on that. It was that they identified the trucks that would have come from the area. I know they were analyzing the trash that was with her to get a location. I am sorry, I must have made an assumption.

[Kat_Gram]

Sorry, I had to really think about why I thought the trash came from her own neighbourhood. It wasn't in anything I read or heard, it was just something
I had in my mind and I am not sure where it came from.

[klaasend]

Sorry, I had to really think about why I thought the trash came from her own neighbourhood. It wasn't in anything I read or heard, it was just something
I had in my mind and I am not sure where it came from.

I thought I had read they were pinpointing the location and had narrowed it down to the neighborhood but not the specific house/bin?

[Brandi]

Sorry, I had to really think about why I thought the trash came from her own neighbourhood. It wasn't in anything I read or heard, it was just something
I had in my mind and I am not sure where it came from.

I thought I had read they were pinpointing the location and had narrowed it down to the neighborhood but not the specific house/bin?

That is what I heard too, Klaas.

Also that they had narrowed it down to which truck it was, IIRC.

[klaasend]

Brandi - yes, I remember the truck part as well. 

[Miki Monkey]

This is just tragic, yes another one of our babies has been taken from us but at least the news travels fast and in this case I think it will help a lot.

I don't think she was abducted by anyone driving a car or passing through, if she had been in a car she would have been removed from the area and disposed of in a safer place. I think fortunately the search began so fast that the perp couldn't hide the body, dig a hole or otherwise dispose of her in plain sight. Even at that night there was so much activity that it would have been a huge risk to hide her anywhere but where he/she did. A public dumpster would be the most logical, where dumping garbage would be unremarkable, plus someone from the area because they would know the day the trash was picked up.
The haste with which she was dumped is significant as it appears from the reports that no time was spent in concealing her, thus allowing LE to see her legs visible amongst the trash. It seems so opportunistic with little or no thought of what the consequences would be, nor how fast the community would respond to the abduction of Somer. Lastly, having thrown this little child into the dumpster, like garbage, they may well have thrown their own garbage on top to hide her, I hope they did, because this is what could really nail them.
I am sooo tired of all this, our babies are being snatched away from us with absolutely no problem by perps without fear of reprisal or repercussions.

People who kill our children should never ever be allowed to walk free for the rest of their miserable lives, which should be spent among the general prison population.

[Brandi]

twocents:

Since you are in the neighborhood, and kind of offered, would you mind checking to see if the renovation at 1080 Gano Avenue has resumed? At your convenience, of course.

I am curious if it has.

[trimmonthelake]

Welcome,3btgmom!   

[trimmonthelake]

http://jacksonville.com/community/my_clay_sun/2009-10-26/story/large_crowd_expected_for_somer_thompsons_funeral
Large crowd expected for Somer Thompson's funeral
Clay detectives still working on 200 leads in girl's death

    * By Dana Treen
    * Story updated at 6:28 AM on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
ORANGE PARK – Arms large and small wrapped consolingly around the shoulders of Somer Renee Thompson’s family as they sat near her casket at a viewing Monday for the Orange Park girl.

At 5 p.m. hundreds of people waited outside the First Baptist Church of Orange Park to go inside, where the 7-year-old girl’s body had arrived two hours earlier and was surrounded by floral bouquets of mostly purple accented by reds and whites and pinks. A signed poster stood on the floor.

Monday was a week since the community was rocked by her disappearance as she walked home from Grove Park Elementary School. Then a second bombshell fell when her body was found in a Georgia landfill two days later.

Monday, parents brought children and waited as the procession moved along church aisles, then signed guest books before giving the family hugs.

Hal Runnfeldt lives outside Orange Park and brought his 11-year-old son, Kyle, to the viewing after the two talked about the service on the way to school Monday morning.

He said what happened to Somer brings home the need to be protective.

“It’s not fair but it’s the reality,” he said. “So much has happened, from the hope to the reality.”

At one point, Somer’s mother, Diena Thompson, left the hall with her boyfriend for a break in the greetings, Pastor David Tarkington said.
“They’re here,” he said to the procession. “We’re just trying to make sure they are safe.”

Photos of the first-grader flashed on screens overhead in the worship center. Another portrait photo stood on the closed brown wood casket.

Many of the mourners did not know the family but were deeply affected by the week’s events.

“This is the first time in the nine years that I’ve lived here that something like this has happened,” said Leah Davis. “Now that is taken from us. That is a very uncomfortable feeling.”

An autopsy has determined how Somer died and what the cause was but that information is not being released. Authorities have also finished searching a vacant house partway between the school and Somer’s home and near where she was last seen.

For days, parents visited an ever expanding memorial of stuffed animals and candles across from the girl’s home. There, they told their children a “bad man or a bad woman” had done this or that other children were bringing favorite toys to leave in her memory.

The memorial that was maintained by neighbors for nearly a week was dismantled Sunday night. The intent was to then tag the toys with Somer’s name and distribute them in the community.
Today, Tarkington will officiate at an 11 a.m. memorial service that will be open to the public prior to a private graveside service and burial at Jacksonville Memory Gardens in Orange Park.

The community outpouring has been so great it was unknown if the 1,500-seat capacity and overflow area at First Baptist’s worship center would be adequate. Officials with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office are anticipating crowds in the magnitude of those who turned out for the return of downed pilot Scott Speicher.

The route between the church and cemetery will be closely controlled, authorities said.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said Monday that having a child abducted and murdered is the “worst case scenario that can come along in a sheriff’s career” and has had a powerful impact on detectives.

“I’ve never seen such focus on a case,” he said. “That’s what it’s going to take to solve this.”

By early afternoon Monday, 1,500 leads had been fielded. Detectives were still working 200.

Beseler said while investigators were fortunate to have found Somer’s body quickly, patience will be needed.
“I don’t want people to think that just because we don’t have a suspect in custody after a week that means this case is not going to be solved,” he said. “We have got a tremendous amount of evidence. We have a tremendous amount of leads.”

Analysis of evidence sent to forensics labs has not been finished and will take time, Beseler said.

Somer’s casket was closed for the viewing and it was recommended her mother not view her daughter. Thompson has a lock of her daughter’s hair.

“It just probably was better to keep the memory of her alive the last time she saw her rather than her present condition,” Beseler said. “It’s just a recommendation. You’ve got to remember she was in a landfill for a couple of days.”
 
dana.treen@jacksonville.com
(904) 359-4091

[Heart]

Good morning Trimm and All!

Welcome 3btgmom!

[Heart]

Sheriff: We Will Never Stop Looking

By
Rich Jones, News Director
@ October 27, 2009 6:42 AM

As a community prepares to say a final goodbye to Somer Thompson, WOKV is talking to Clay County's Sheriff about the search for Somer's killer.

Rick Beseler says he's focused on tracking down the child killer responsible, and this case is very solveable.

"We will have a positive outcome, and the person or person's responsible will be brought to justice".

His investigators are going through undreds of tips that keep coming into the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

But Sheriff Beseler warns that with hundreds of pieces of evidence, it could take awhile to crack this case.

"It's one that's not gonna be solved overnight like on television in the crime dramas".

Beseler says more than 1,500 tips have flowed into the investigators' tip line, and more than 200 are actively being looked into.

"We will never forget, we will never stop looking, and we will always work on this case until we get a resolution".
http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/10/sheriff-we-will-never-stop-loo.html

[Heart]

Another Florida Tragedy  
   
Monday, 26 October 2009 20:27
By Dr. Duane L. Dobbert, Ph.D

It grieves me to tell you that we have lost another child in Florida. Seven-year-old Somer Thompson was last seen on the afternoon of Oct. 19, running ahead and away from the other children on their mile-long walk from school. Her body was found two days later north of the border in a Georgia landfill. The FDLE CART (Florida Department of Law Enforcement Child Abduction Response Team) for the region was involved, but as the terrible statistic haunts us, only 1 to 5 percent of stranger-abducted children live longer than 24 hours.

Despite the death of the child, I must compliment Clay County, Fla., Sheriff Rick Beseler for "asking for help." The FDLE CART and the FBI were involved and 155 registered sex offenders were interviewed immediately as is the solid CART protocol. Communities that have not implemented a CART, or whose law enforcement commanders are too arrogant to request assistance from other public safety professionals, endanger the children of their communities.

Training school bus drivers to assist by watching for suspicious persons loitering at schools and bus stops is a very successful proactive approach to protecting our children. However, the abduction and death of Somer dictates that communities cannot rely entirely on law enforcement and school districts to protect their children. Community activists, terrified of crime, form neighborhood watch programs. Unfortunately, too many communities are complacent, believing that a child abduction will never happen in their neighborhood.

It is time for society to pull their aggregate heads out of the sand and recognize the reality that child sexual predators do exist and they live in every neighborhood in the United States. Further, a child predator commonly preys upon children outside of their own neighborhoods. Let's not be surprised to find that this child murderer lives in another community, county, or perhaps even the bordering state of Georgia. In closing, I reiterate my pride in the law enforcement agencies that collaborated in this effort, rather than ignorantly not be willing to share the "collar," and invite a group of well-meaning, but untrained nonprofessional volunteers to assist in a criminal investigation.

Communities: Be Activists. Demand to know what is your law enforcement agency's protocol on child abduction and their willingness to ask for additional professional assistance. If a protocol doesn't exist, demand they develop one that meets community approval. If the command officer is unwilling to utilize additional professional assistance from other agencies and jurisdictions, REMOVE THEM FROM OFFICE!

The message is simple: don't watch your children, watch who is watching your children. Further, I am confident that this abduction was not opportunistic, this predator has been watching these children.

http://www.stnonline.com/blogs/safe-at-the-stop/1376-another-florida-tragedy

[peacelove76]

welcome peacelove76, great first post. My heart goes out to your community.

What I would like to know, the property that was being worked on, on google maps it shows large trees in the front yard which caused it to look dark with shadows. At that time of day, mid afternoon would the house be in the shadows or in the sunlight? It also seemed set off the street some.

That is interesting about the storage units. The news lately has said the story of garredo's (spelling) first rape victim and how he assulted her in a storage unit, the perp could have heard this and got the idea. Just thinking out loud. Do you know if they have searched this place or looked into who is renting them?

That is an idea about Garrido--the perp getting idea from him. Also, Silence of the Lambs...(I'm sure many real and fictional cases involve those storage units).I haven't heard if any of those sheds have been looked at or anything. I would imagine LE has thought if it if we have.

As far as the house on Gano, I don't live near enough to drive by on a regular basis so I don't know what it looks like... Have you tried Google Street View? Also the guy on the channel 9 video who talked about "Kyle"--they show a pretty wide shot of the house in that segment.

The thing is, the neighbors and people outside after school that day HAVE to know if construction workers were there or not during those hours. But no one in the media has reported that. On one hand, I'm glad no one is doing anything to mess up the case. On the other hand, where is the investigative reporting? Most of what I have been seeing are interviews done with the family and the reporters keep talking about their own personal feelings, how they teared up, etc. That is not in depth reporting! But again, maybe LE has asked them not to show anything. I don't know....

[peacelove76]

Another Florida Tragedy  
   
Monday, 26 October 2009 20:27
By Dr. Duane L. Dobbert, Ph.D

It grieves me to tell you that we have lost another child in Florida. Seven-year-old Somer Thompson was last seen on the afternoon of Oct. 19, running ahead and away from the other children on their mile-long walk from school. Her body was found two days later north of the border in a Georgia landfill. The FDLE CART (Florida Department of Law Enforcement Child Abduction Response Team) for the region was involved, but as the terrible statistic haunts us, only 1 to 5 percent of stranger-abducted children live longer than 24 hours.

Despite the death of the child, I must compliment Clay County, Fla., Sheriff Rick Beseler for "asking for help." The FDLE CART and the FBI were involved and 155 registered sex offenders were interviewed immediately as is the solid CART protocol. Communities that have not implemented a CART, or whose law enforcement commanders are too arrogant to request assistance from other public safety professionals, endanger the children of their communities.

Training school bus drivers to assist by watching for suspicious persons loitering at schools and bus stops is a very successful proactive approach to protecting our children. However, the abduction and death of Somer dictates that communities cannot rely entirely on law enforcement and school districts to protect their children. Community activists, terrified of crime, form neighborhood watch programs. Unfortunately, too many communities are complacent, believing that a child abduction will never happen in their neighborhood.

It is time for society to pull their aggregate heads out of the sand and recognize the reality that child sexual predators do exist and they live in every neighborhood in the United States. Further, a child predator commonly preys upon children outside of their own neighborhoods. Let's not be surprised to find that this child murderer lives in another community, county, or perhaps even the bordering state of Georgia. In closing, I reiterate my pride in the law enforcement agencies that collaborated in this effort, rather than ignorantly not be willing to share the "collar," and invite a group of well-meaning, but untrained nonprofessional volunteers to assist in a criminal investigation.

Communities: Be Activists. Demand to know what is your law enforcement agency's protocol on child abduction and their willingness to ask for additional professional assistance. If a protocol doesn't exist, demand they develop one that meets community approval. If the command officer is unwilling to utilize additional professional assistance from other agencies and jurisdictions, REMOVE THEM FROM OFFICE!

The message is simple: don't watch your children, watch who is watching your children. Further, I am confident that this abduction was not opportunistic, this predator has been watching these children.

http://www.stnonline.com/blogs/safe-at-the-stop/1376-another-florida-tragedy

Perhaps this recent tragedy will get the school board to do something more for safety. However, I have to say that I doubt bus drivers will be able to pay much attention to the bus stops. Clay county has the 2 mile rule for walking. And for those who DO ride the bus, most bus stops--I'm afraid to report--don't go into the subdivisions. They stay on the main (busy) roads. The kids have to walk to the bus stop which can be up to a mile or more away from their actual home. Then they stand there--unsupervised, in the dark (high schoolers), on busy streets--waiting for the bus. I have alreay reported the potential dangers and made my voice heard. I got nowhere. I am NOT blaming the school system for Somer's death. However, I think they have not been fully concentrating on the kids' safety, either. Yes, there are safety patrols, but only at certain areas near the school. There are none at any bus stops. So (IMO) the bus stops are probably LESS safe.

[peacelove76]

So since they are not releasing her. What are they gonna do about the burial. Sorry I am just confused I guess

They have released the body. She was in the closed casket at the viewing. Most likely only the funeral director saw her poor little body. It is best for the mom not to see her. In Beseler's quote, he said he "recommended" that the family not see her. So that answers my question about whether or not it was due to the case. I wonder if they have told Diena yet the cause of death. The funeral director probably knows. Beseler said something about the body being in the trash...but not an emphasis on the condition of her body due to type of death. That's how I read it, anyway. (Poor little SOmer!)
I want to say, I have SO much respect for ALL types of law enforcement, the medical team, and the funeral directors who have to see stuff like this. It affects them, too. They are human, with kids of their own.