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

[trimmonthelake]

Brandi,I knew you would like that photo.   

[jill]

A letter to TES from Somer's father



To: TES Members – Florida
From: Rich Giles
I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to each of you who were able to participate in the recent search for Somer Thompson in Orange Park. The email requesting your assistance was sent the evening of October 20th for a search the following morning. Not much advanced notice, but you responded without hesitation. I realize that many of you took time away from work and other commitments to be there and that is admirable.
Although the outcome of this case was not what we had all prayed for, be assured that the effort put forth by each of you allowed the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to utilize their available man-power to concentrate on following leads, conducting interviews and other investigative activities.
I had the opportunity to speak with several members of law enforcement, the U.S. Navy, and residents of the Orange Park community and each expressed two things; first a true appreciation for your efforts and second the question of how it is we continue to do this realizing that the outcome may be tragic. My response to this was simple; “we all have our reasons and it’s what we do”.
Grieve the outcome and keep Somer and her family in your prayers, but rest well knowing that your actions continue to have a tremendous positive impact on your character and the professionalism of our Florida membership and the entire TES organization.
Again I thank each of you for a job well done!
Rich

http://texasequusearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Somer-Thompson-Thank-You.pdf

Catching up today.

Rich Giles is not Somer's father. Samuel Thompson  is.

As far as I can see, Rich Giles is a (possibly retired) police detective from Leesburg.

Hi Brandi! but at the top the letter says a letter to TES from Somer's father but it says FROM: Rich Giles and at the end of the letter it says "Rich"...to me, it sounds like the letter was written from Rich to TES..see my confusion? it really doesn't matter, it is all in interpretation...

as I posted earlier, Rich Giles is a leader of TES in Central Florida.  Yes, he's a retired Leesburg detective.

And it appears that this is a thank you letter that Rich wrote to his TES team that searched for Somer.

[jill]

Initial police report at this link.  (sorry if already posted):

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2009m10d23-Read-police-report-from-Somer-Thompson-case

[jill]

A letter to TES from Somer's father



To: TES Members – Florida
From: Rich Giles
I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to each of you who were able to participate in the recent search for Somer Thompson in Orange Park. The email requesting your assistance was sent the evening of October 20th for a search the following morning. Not much advanced notice, but you responded without hesitation. I realize that many of you took time away from work and other commitments to be there and that is admirable.
Although the outcome of this case was not what we had all prayed for, be assured that the effort put forth by each of you allowed the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to utilize their available man-power to concentrate on following leads, conducting interviews and other investigative activities.
I had the opportunity to speak with several members of law enforcement, the U.S. Navy, and residents of the Orange Park community and each expressed two things; first a true appreciation for your efforts and second the question of how it is we continue to do this realizing that the outcome may be tragic. My response to this was simple; “we all have our reasons and it’s what we do”.
Grieve the outcome and keep Somer and her family in your prayers, but rest well knowing that your actions continue to have a tremendous positive impact on your character and the professionalism of our Florida membership and the entire TES organization.
Again I thank each of you for a job well done!
Rich

http://texasequusearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Somer-Thompson-Thank-You.pdf

Catching up today.

Rich Giles is not Somer's father. Samuel Thompson  is.

As far as I can see, Rich Giles is a (possibly retired) police detective from Leesburg.

Hi Brandi! but at the top the letter says a letter to TES from Somer's father but it says FROM: Rich Giles and at the end of the letter it says "Rich"...to me, it sounds like the letter was written from Rich to TES..see my confusion? it really doesn't matter, it is all in interpretation...

as I posted earlier, Rich Giles is a leader of TES in Central Florida.  Yes, he's a retired Leesburg detective.

And it appears that this is a thank you letter that Rich wrote to his TES team that searched for Somer.

maybe Rich included the thank you from Somer's dad with his own thank you to his team, but this pdf didn't include that?

[cookie]

Thanks Trimm, I just pray Somer didn't suffer to much 

I pray she didn't either.The thoughts of how frightened and alone she must have felt drive me crazy.   

me too Trimm....breaks my heart!

[islandmonkey]

They are not going to announce that they suspect anyone of these creeps. That would just give them the heads up to run. It's called false sense of security. Your right, it may not be the 80 that live near by, but there are 160(give or take a few) that live in a 5 mile radius. I live here, so I am well aware of the SOs in the area. My children also go to this school.

Wow two cents~I bet you are having to answer alot of tough questions from confused and scared children. I too was shocked at the number of SO's in that area and if Geraldo thinks there is no problem, I suggest he move to that area and enroll his youngest child there and see how scared he is everytime she steps out the door

Hugs IM

[no rose colored glasses]

Hello monkeys,

Is this just a single house with a single driveway, i.e. could someone have hidden her in the car while the kids were out "looking" for her, before the neighbors even knew she was missing?

That's a good question, it appears that way, I would have to look at the pic of the house again.

[JessStar]

They are not going to announce that they suspect anyone of these creeps. That would just give them the heads up to run. It's called false sense of security. Your right, it may not be the 80 that live near by, but there are 160(give or take a few) that live in a 5 mile radius. I live here, so I am well aware of the SOs in the area. My children also go to this school.

Wow two cents~I bet you are having to answer alot of tough questions from confused and scared children. I too was shocked at the number of SO's in that area and if Geraldo thinks there is no problem, I suggest he move to that area and enroll his youngest child there and see how scared he is everytime she steps out the door

Hugs IM

IM, you know Geraldo's motto--"Do as I say, not as I do." 

[islandmonkey]

They are not going to announce that they suspect anyone of these creeps. That would just give them the heads up to run. It's called false sense of security. Your right, it may not be the 80 that live near by, but there are 160(give or take a few) that live in a 5 mile radius. I live here, so I am well aware of the SOs in the area. My children also go to this school.

Wow two cents~I bet you are having to answer alot of tough questions from confused and scared children. I too was shocked at the number of SO's in that area and if Geraldo thinks there is no problem, I suggest he move to that area and enroll his youngest child there and see how scared he is everytime she steps out the door

Hugs IM

IM, you know Geraldo's motto--"Do as I say, not as I do." 

Well, he has done some work I love......in fact my personal favorite was watching him getting knocked on his arse by the hurricane storm surge

[cookie]

A letter to TES from Somer's father



To: TES Members – Florida
From: Rich Giles
I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to each of you who were able to participate in the recent search for Somer Thompson in Orange Park. The email requesting your assistance was sent the evening of October 20th for a search the following morning. Not much advanced notice, but you responded without hesitation. I realize that many of you took time away from work and other commitments to be there and that is admirable.
Although the outcome of this case was not what we had all prayed for, be assured that the effort put forth by each of you allowed the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to utilize their available man-power to concentrate on following leads, conducting interviews and other investigative activities.
I had the opportunity to speak with several members of law enforcement, the U.S. Navy, and residents of the Orange Park community and each expressed two things; first a true appreciation for your efforts and second the question of how it is we continue to do this realizing that the outcome may be tragic. My response to this was simple; “we all have our reasons and it’s what we do”.
Grieve the outcome and keep Somer and her family in your prayers, but rest well knowing that your actions continue to have a tremendous positive impact on your character and the professionalism of our Florida membership and the entire TES organization.
Again I thank each of you for a job well done!
Rich

http://texasequusearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Somer-Thompson-Thank-You.pdf

Catching up today.

Rich Giles is not Somer's father. Samuel Thompson  is.

As far as I can see, Rich Giles is a (possibly retired) police detective from Leesburg.

Hi Brandi! but at the top the letter says a letter to TES from Somer's father but it says FROM: Rich Giles and at the end of the letter it says "Rich"...to me, it sounds like the letter was written from Rich to TES..see my confusion? it really doesn't matter, it is all in interpretation...

as I posted earlier, Rich Giles is a leader of TES in Central Florida.  Yes, he's a retired Leesburg detective.

And it appears that this is a thank you letter that Rich wrote to his TES team that searched for Somer.

maybe Rich included the thank you from Somer's dad with his own thank you to his team, but this pdf didn't include that?

that is what I am thinking too...there must be a second letter from Somer's dad that is not attached..not a big deal but it is confusing I thought...oh well...at least someone else saw my dilemma on this.,.. and I am not too much of a wackadoodle...

[Kat_Gram]

Gano and Debarry are also a cut-through between to major roads. Kinglsey and Wells Road. There is alot of cut-through traffic that travels these streets every day.

NRCG - Enter 1706 Horton into the FDLE DB. There are 160 SOs, not the 90 they are talking about within a 5 mile radius. It scares me to death knowing that that many are so close by.

Keep your kids close. It must be a frightening situation for everyone.
..
In the Lunsford case, John Couey did not show up in the initial list of potential close by SO's. He was in a data base, but further away. It was only when they enlarged the circle and tried to contact him and couldn't that they discovered that he had relatives across the street from the Lunsfords and had been there at the time Jessie went missing.

[jill]

Gano and Debarry are also a cut-through between to major roads. Kinglsey and Wells Road. There is alot of cut-through traffic that travels these streets every day.

NRCG - Enter 1706 Horton into the FDLE DB. There are 160 SOs, not the 90 they are talking about within a 5 mile radius. It scares me to death knowing that that many are so close by.

Keep your kids close. It must be a frightening situation for everyone.
..
In the Lunsford case, John Couey did not show up in the initial list of potential close by SO's. He was in a data base, but further away. It was only when they enlarged the circle and tried to contact him and couldn't that they discovered that he had relatives across the street from the Lunsfords and had been there at the time Jessie went missing.

good point, KatGram.

btw, just wanted to remind ev1 that there is supposed to be a 4 pm ET briefing.

This is the link that Klaas posted for this morning briefing:

http://www.news4jax.com/index.html

[Brandi]

4PM briefing live:
http://www.news4jax.com/video/15505198/index.html

[SunnyinTX]

A letter to TES from Somer's father



To: TES Members – Florida
From: Rich Giles


huh? Somer's fathers name is Thompson....
did I read this wrong?

Rich Giles is a member of TES, not Somer's dad.

Sorry...youa re correct...that's what I get for doing more than one thing at a time....it was still a nice letter and thank you for the volunteers....sorry for the mistake.

[SunnyinTX]

Again sorry for the mix up...I received the letter via email and didn't check it to make sure....I was in a hurry and doinf several other things....SORRY

[Tracygirl]

Thank you for posting the police report. So sean is not the boyfriend, he is a friend? I thought he was the boyfriend.

They don't have anyone closer to home that says they saw somer?

[luvmyboys]

ok i am sitting here watching and listening very close..and i do believe with all my heart..that they do know exactly who did this..and i also want to ad that i completly understand that they keep on saying that they don't yet..but i really think she knows who did it with out a doubt...jmo

[Brandi]

4PM briefing live:
http://www.news4jax.com/video/15505198/index.html

My notes:

Mary Justino gave the conference. Said there have been ~900 leads and all but ~200 have been followed up. They are working on those 200  now.

She stated the funeral arrangements. Somer's body still in GA with the coroner. Waiting on Diena's instructions.

They continue narrowing down the garbage but have not been able to tell where which has come from. No dumpster has been narrowed down as to where her body came from. They do know which truck brought it in though. The truck driver has been interviewed.

Backpack not found yet, to her knowledge.

Family has had a detective acting as a liaison with the family since Monday night. Diena already considers this person a family friend.

She asked people to sign up to Offender Watch on their website to be notified when someone moves into their neighborhood.

They are following up on someone listed on the police report.

My note: I am guessing this is the RSO Clayton William Graham which I saw on the police report and thought it VERY odd he was listed there.

[JessStar]

From the 4:00 presser:

Have 900+ leads so far, followed up on all but 200, and are actively pursuing the 200

They are encouraged by the progress, but don't stop calling in tips.

Detectives are working around the clock.

Wont talk about specific evidence.  Wont say if they have DNA

Wont comment on reports of a white van because they will not comment on something that might become evidence and corrupt the investigation.

They do not have anyone in mind at this point as a suspect.

Sources close to ABC news (a reporter said) that the home they are searching is the murder scene.  LE will not confirm that, and said they are not that far along in the investigation yet to make that determination.

But LE acknowledged the home they are searching is a crime scene.

They are still searching the landfill and sifting through garbage.

They have not yet found Somer's back pack.

They are looking into whether transients or homeless people used the burned out home.

They have not narrowed down the dumpster where little Somer's body was likely placed.  But they have narrowed it down to what truck brought the garbage to the landfill.

They are looking for evidence at the home that a body was there, which is why they are using the heavy equipment.  But she hasn't been told whether any such evidence has been found there.

They are not at liberty to speak about the cause of death.  She doesn't think the parents have been told cause of death.

[Northern Rose]

O/T  Missing Cole County Missouri Girl Found Murdered

ST. MARTINS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - Police say they have found body of missing 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten. Authorities say she was found murdered in the woods. The Cole County, MO girl has been missing since Wednesday. The Associated Press says police have a juvenile is in custody.