Posted on 03/01/2005 6:28:07 AM PST by MisterRepublican
HOMOSASSA, Fla. — The full-scale search for a missing 9-year-old girl ended its final day as law enforcement officers turned to child abduction experts for help.
Investigators and hundreds of volunteer searchers have uncovered little evidence during five days of scouring the rural area where Jessica Lunsford disappeared, and the full-scale search was suspended Monday afternoon.
"To continue this, we would be spinning our wheels," said Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy.
Instead, law enforcement officers were turning to 20 experts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help crack the case. They planned to focus on a three-quarter mile radius area around Jessica's home.
Jessica's father described the change as a second phase of the investigation. After making a plea for her safe return while choking back tears, he expressed confidence that his daughter would come home.
"Just drop her off. I'll come get her," Mark Lunsford answered when asked what he would say to whoever had Jessica. "I know whoever has got Jessie, they have to have a heart."
He also expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support. "It's been overwhelming, the people that have shown up," he said. "It makes me feel real good to know everyone's trying to help me out."
Lunsford said he remains convinced that his daughter did not leave home voluntarily even though authorities have uncovered no evidence she was abducted. He said it's unlikely Jessica was lured away.
"She just didn't go with strangers," Lunsford said. He said authorities also are looking for a stuffed purple dolphin missing from his daughter's room.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
First the dad and Jessica's cousin made a brief appearance, then Greta questioned Mark Fuhrman.
Mark was very somber and said the case didn't smell right. He said it was "wet" out that night/morning and the absence of footprints or carpet tracks was odd. He said the scene didn't lend itself to an abduction, etc. No sign of forced entry. Nothing out of place. He didn't hesitate to show his suspicious that the child wasn't forcefully taken from the home. Dog didn't bark and the toy dolphin missing were Red Flags.
Biden agreed with him.
Greta agreed with both of them...it's "odd".
The panel were abit uncomfortable saying these things, but OTOH they are professionals.
sw
If the intruder did that, there would have been footprints and dirt on the carpet, which were absent.
BTW, the Grandparents have said that if someone had driven up they would have awakened from the noise.
You can see why LE are having a difficult time with this. She just vanished.
sw
I didn't know that. Hmmm.
All of it breaks my heart.
Mark Lunsford, Krystal Kirkland (a cousin) and Mark Furman were on Greta.
Furman spoke with some common sense.
His points:
It just does fit right.
An unlocked door.
The father is with his girlfriend.
2 sleeping adults.
The complete lack of forensics.
He had heard it was damp, yet no footprints.
Someone knew he would not be home.
If I had to guess, I would say the probability of Mark Lunsford using meth was high. That does not make him a killer. But it defines the company he keeps.
Here is my theory.
(I know first hand about meth, as my son is fighting a meth addiction.)
I suspect there is a high degree of meth use in their neighborhood. Meth users will do anything, steal from anyone for their meth. Long time users lose any moral frame of reference they have. Meth is their life. Since they do not sleep for days (or weeks), they are quite the night animals and roamers.
I think someone the family knows took Jessica. The motive was not an abduction, but robbery. As I said, meth users would steal from Jesus Christ himself to pay the dealer. It had to be someone Jessica loved and trusted, otherwise there would have been signs of a struggle.
Maybe that person was visiting earlier, unlocked the front door knowing what he planned to do that evening.
It would explain the dog not barking loudly.
Perhaps the dog & woke Jessica. "What are you doing here?"
Now the intruder is really in a corner. He can't tell her not to tell anyone. In his mind, he is left with one option-get her out of the house so she cannot tell. She goes easliy because it is someone she loves and trusts. "Here honey, take your dolphin."
We know the rest of the story...
I thought the cousin's affect was strange tonight. Her eyes wandered excessively. The story she told about asking Jessica to go hiking seemed out of place.
Her face had that blank look that only someone who has lived with a meth user knows. It did not look like she was trying to "put on a brave face." Her eyes were blank.
I am not saying she did it. But I would look at her and her friends very closley. When my son was using, her was dating a girl who had me fooled. I thought she was good for him and even encouraged that relationship. Turns out, she was a bigger user than she was. They are masters of deception and will betray anyone.
That's my theory and I promise, the only one I will offer.
If this is the case, then she may very well be alive. I know what you mean by Meth users, they can lie with a straight face, and are very convincing.
I'm hoping the very silent Grandfather is the key to finding the child.
My heart goes out to you and your son. Regards, sw
One more part of my theory and then I'm done LOL!
Grandpa has not been seen in a while and there has been speculation. I admit, I am guilty of suspecting Grandpa.
But the cops are not stupid. They read these boards. They know what people are saying and speculating. When Grandpa's brother died and people started whispering, perhaps LE saw an opportunity. Keep Grandpa our of sight, let people talk and maybe someone will get sloppy.
The only consolation in this is that if it was someone Jessica loved, her chances may be somewhat better than we think. God, I hope so.
He is doing well, but it is a struggle for all.
I still do not trust him as far as I can throw him and keep everything of value locked up.
Well your right about the drug use in that neighborhood ..I have heard in the past from a 100% trusted source that meth has been tried ...don't know if it was a habit or not ,but from another source saying ( it deffineately is a habit after even trying it) Makes you wonder why some people at a supposedly knowledgeable age would use drug's knowing how addictive they are.
Hmmm , so now we have "speculated" that drug money may be involved ....Wow this is getting really complicated ..But I feel that this could very well be the answer.....her disappearence could have been totally staged,would account for NO CLUES LEFT BEHIND ....Does anyone happen to know ..if there is an insurance policy on someone ..how long must someone be missing before there are any rights to the funds??
From a post at cybersleuths.com :
"Jessica has a cousin, older, married, lives in the same neighborhood. Kristy Kirkland. This cousin got busted 8/2004 for possession of 20gs of pot. Busted again shortly thereafter for failure to appear. Her husband got popped 12/2004 for domestic violence, cutting off a 911 call, and cruelty to animals (slamming a dog's head into a tree).
At the house at the time were two children: 2 and 9. I don't have an age for Kristy, but she does not look old enough to have a 9yr old, and in the police report that describes the incident, the two children are not identified as hers. I believe the 9yr old was Jessica Lunsford.
So, if you're looking for suspects, you'd probably find a house full of them over at Cousin Kristy's house."
Interesting....
Cookie
Hi Varina,
The grandfather is supposed to have a polygraph test either tonight (Weds) or tomorrow, according to a broadcast I viewed online at Tampa's channel 10 news (don't have the URL).
The sheriff sure isn't wasting time -- he's got people from the state, the FBI, missing children's organizations, and so forth involved in this.
I hope it's not the grandfather who took her. I'm terribly afraid that the local cousin's husband or one of his friends whom Jessie might know, is involved.
The sheriff said that the profiler told him to look close to home -- meaning school, church, family, friends, neighbors, and so forth.
I wonder if they've ruled out the mother, or someone taking Jessie on her behalf? Would Jessie go with someone who promised to take her to her mother, or who said her mother was waiting for her outside? Maybe. It doesn't even have to involve her mother, come to think of it. A person could lie about that and lure a motherless little girl out of the house.
I know my daughter, who is Jessie's age, wants me around all the time. Jessie certainly sees her friend's relationships with their mothers, and she probably yearns for a mom of her own.
I think it was also at cybersleuths.com that I saw a link to a NC criminal history website. A man named Archie Lunsford had an arrest record for a couple of DUIs and some kind of physical assault (not sexual), but it dated back to 1972. I think it's the grandfather only because his name is Archie, and the family has ties to NC. There was nothing more recent on the NC record. But that doesn't mean the man doesn't have a criminal history in FL.
Of course, LE has already checked that out. I figure nothing came of it because if it had, they would have grabbed the grandfather right away instead of waiting a week to polygraph him.
I'm praying for Jessie and her family, too. I sure hope this has a happy ending.
Cookie
I read the post you mentioned. The poster certainly seemed to know what he was talking about. He referenced the police report (although there were no direct quotes or anything to docement what he said was true.)
I wish I knew a few more details. (Like I am going to solve this in my PJ's LOL!)
Where is the husband now? In jail? Did he bond out? If so, was a condition of his bond requiring he stay away from the house and Krystal? Does he have a prior record? Was he living at home in December?
If he is out of jail and not in the home, where is he staying? Close by? How close does Krystal live to Mark? Walking distance?
Was what happened in December a normal occurence for them? It sounds like he was in a rage--the rage of a tweaker.
Krystal was busted for failure to appear. That in and of itself speaks volumes. Does she have a prior record?
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that this was not the act of a sexual predator. I may be wrong about the meth, but I am convinced it is in some way drug related.
| Location | Population | Reg. Offenders |
| Citrus County, FL | 126,458 | 207 |
| Delaware County, PA | 550,000 | 260 |
| Homosassa | 2300 | 50 |
Answers to some of my questions :
from
http://www.sheriffcitrus.org/Webpages/fpDailRepo.htm
using their search engine.
BTW--I hope my last post to you did not read as a "You are so wrong!" post.
I did not mean it that way at all. Sometimes once it is posted, it reads nothing like we think it. Been there done that many times.
None of us know, really. We speculate and base our speculations on our own frame of references. I thought at first it was a sexual predator until somethings started nagging at me, based on my own family's experience.
But as someone mentioned, Jessica's safe return is the only important issue right now.
I'm sure what those listings you posted are but here is the link to the 'neighbor out back'.
http://www3.fdle.state.fl.us/sexual_predators/OffenderFlyer.asp?keys=6575
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.