SOMER RENEE THOMPSON - 7 yo - Clay County FL

School dismissal at Grove Park Elementary would have been different
on any other Wednesday. But when the last pencil was put down, the last
bell rung on this day, heading home was a serious matter. It wasn't just 2:30 p.m. It
was 48 hours after the 2:30 p.m. when 7-year-old Somer Thompson started
her walk to her family's Horton Drive home and never arrived. "Our
days here are not normal right now," Principal Lynda Braxton explained
earlier from inside the school. "...We're trying to make the kids feel
needed and feel like their life is secure." Amber Alert fliers
lined dashboards in the cars of many parents who queued up along Miller
Street to pick up their children. Stacey Clark had hers in her Jeep
Cherokee right next to the school identification card with her grandson
Noah's name on it. The first-grader had called Somer his girlfriend and
liked to bring her drawings home from school. Noah had a question for his grandma the night before, after a school day when he said teachers told him to "pray a lot." "Is she ever gonna come home?" Noah asked about his classmate. On
Wednesday, very few students walked home from the school. Those who did
were with parents, volunteers, or a clot of other kids. There were no
peals of laughter, just a somber shuffling past searchers who were
handing out missing-person fliers. Pickup trucks with Navy and police
personnel jammed in the back joined the procession along Gano Avenue as
helicopter rotors beat the blue sky overhead. Park swings and
tennis courts along Somer's way home were empty as people who lived
elsewhere, people who never met her, stood in the streets where she was
seen last to spread the word about finding her. Dave Anderson,
27, manned the corner of Bay Circle East for hours after making his own
stack of fliers. The Jacksonville man had a silver pin fastening two
ribbons to his shirt. One was cranberry, the other pink. "These are the last two colors that she was wearing," he said of the symbol another volunteer gave him. Crossing
guards at the intersection of Debarry Avenue handed out fliers to cars
that slowed for the four-way stop - the last place Somer's siblings and
friends saw her about 2:45 p.m. Monday. Authorities think she
may have hit another child with a backpack and run off alone after
someone teased her. It was close to a place where deputies had a report
of a recent abduction attempt, one they've since said they don't
believe was related. Farther down Debarry, where the woods on
one side of the street get deep and the fence on the other side of the
street gets tall, only cars made the rest of the trip toward Somer's
home after school Wednesday. Near the corner of Post Oak Court,
large posters for Somer adorned another fence as Tonya Jennings kept a
close eye on grandchildren who are playmates of the missing girl. "We
have told them it's a very bad thing, and that's why we insist on being
out here," Jennings said of the reasoning she gave her 8- and
9-year-old grandkids about watching them play outside. Jennings
said it would be a familiar sight on another afternoon to see Somer
walking along the street, skipping and happily spinning in circles, as
the 7-year-old came into view of her own block in the near distance. And
while the scene in front of Somer's Horton Drive home was anything but
normal Wednesday, something did fit with what might happen after a
child's walk home on any other school day. Neighborhood
children, including Somer's 10-year-old sister, Abby, came together as
friends. They handed out fliers and collected donations from people
passing by in cars. They also signed a message board for the 7-year-old
that a neighbor put out. And like pint-sized cheerleaders waiting for a
different kind of homecoming, Abby and two other friends rallied in the
name of hope. "Clap, clap, clap for Somer," said the fifth-graders as they all stood in a line. And
as they put their hands together, for a few moments, their sweet
singsong broke the tension of a day after school that was anything but
normal. Hanging on a tree behind the trio was a reminder that a
first grader hadn't made her usual walk from Grove Park Elementary that
afternoon. "Please Bring Somer Thompson Home," a sign said. "We Miss Her!"

Sam Thompson said Thursday he's so
angry, he has no words to express his feelings over the death of his
7-year-old daughter Somer, found dead Wednesday in a trash dump in
southern Georgia.

Somer Thompson

"The
tears have dried up and I am so angry I can't express in words,"
Thompson said Thursday from his home in Graham. "They disregarded my
child like a piece of trash."Authorities said Thursday morning
they believe a body found under trash in a landfill is that of Somer
Thompson, who vanished on her walk home from school in Orange Park,
Fla., on Monday.It's what Thompson said he feared ever since Somer disappeared -- the abduction and murder of his little girl."There
are some really sick people in this world," Thompson said. "I forgive
you now, but there is no measure of punishment that you deserve. Expect
the same death my daughter went through."Thompson said he has
been unable to travel to Florida due to injuries he suffered in a
recent car crash, but he said he is flying to Florida Friday to prepare
for Somer's funeral.Thompson's three children live in Florida with their mother."Without
my family and friends, and my church and my faith, I don't how I would
take another breath," Thompson said. "I don't know how I would do it
and it would be the same for anybody. The human body is not designed to
deal with this kind of pain."Donations for Sam Thompson and his
family in Alamance County were being accepted from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at
Southern Alamance High School on Southern High School Road in Graham.

An aunt of a Florida girl who disappeared Monday says the family is
"torn up" over news that a body believed to be the girl's has been
found in a landfill.Laura Holt says there's nothing worse that a
person can do than "to kill a child and dump her in the dump like a
piece of trash." Holt says whoever killed the 7-year-old doesn't
deserve to live.The body was found in a Georgia landfill about
48 miles from the Jacksonville suburb where Somer Thompson vanished on
her way home from school. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler says the
tentative identification was based on clothing and a birthmark.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation plans an autopsy today.The
sheriff says investigators have questioned more than 70 registered sex
offenders in the area, and that process is continuing. Florida
Department of Law Enforcement records show 161 offenders live in a
5-mile radius of Somer's home.

Authorities are calling the death of 7-year-old Somer Thompson a homicide.Clay
County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Mary Justino said dental records
confirmed that the body of a small girl found in a Georgia landfill is
that of the child reported missing Monday.Somer vanished on her mile-long walk home from school in Orange Park, Fla., a suburb of Jacksonville.She lived there with her mother. The girl's father, Sam Thompson, lives in Graham, N.C.
Justino did not say how the girl was killed, but she said the girl's death was
a homicide. She said authorities have not located a suspect.A
mobile forensic unit was looking for evidence at a home at 1080 Gano
Ave. near where Somer was last seen by other children. The home, which
was the site of a fire months ago, is vacant, Justino said. The
homeowners gave permission for the search.An autopsy was
performed Thursday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Savannah
after the body was found near the Florida state line.
Investigators followed garbage trucks leaving the neighborhood where the child disappeared to the Georgia landfill.
Somer's father and other family members were "torn up" after hearing the news,
aunt Laura Holt said. She hopes authorities will find her niece's
killer.

The sadness was still there, a heavy, overwhelming force. It could
be seen in the tear-streaked faces of those drawn Thursday to the house
where Somer Renee Thompson lived,
leaving flowers, notes, stuffed animals, candles and even a Hannah
Montana balloon at a nearby impromptu memorial to the dead 7-year-old
girl. A box of tissues sat on a utility box nearby, for anyone who needed them. But
anger was just below the surface, a mighty anger at the person or
persons who police say snatched and killed a child whose life should
have run a much longer, happier course. "I'd kill him with my
own two hands, and it would be righteous," said Kenneth Young, who
lives a half-block away. "I know we're a country of rights, but where's
her rights? Where's her family's rights? Where's the neighborhood's
rights?" Stacy Apostol came from her home on Jacksonville's Westside with two of her three children. "I hope the guy who did it drives by here and sees all the support, to know that we would kick his butt," she said. Young
said he and his 12-year-old daughter knew Somer, who was one of a group
of neighborhood children of mixed ages who would play outside. She was
outgoing and enjoyed life, he said, and was "joined at the hip" to her
twin brother. Young's daughter cried all night and asked her
father how she could handle this sadness. He said that when he doesn't
know the answer to a question, he can usually fake an acceptable reply
until he gets the real answer. Not this time. "I told her I
don't have an answer. I can't explain to you how this happened, why it
happened," he said. "All I could say is, there's evil in this world,
and it's all around us." Thursday afternoon, there was a nonstop
traffic jam near the house, located on a corner lot in a middle-class,
leafy neighborhood of cul-de-sacs and single-story homes. A teenage
girl leaned from the window of a passing SUV, a purple ribbon around
her wrist. She called out: "We love Somer." Volunteers passed
out purple ribbons to passing drivers and collected donations in
buckets. One driver overshot the people with buckets, then stopped and
simply handed a $20 bill to a passing pedestrian. For the family, she
said. Apostol couldn't sleep Monday night after hearing of
Somer's disappearance, and at 2 a.m. wanted nothing more than to get
flashlights and go look for her. She said she called Jacksonville
police, but they told her they weren't taking volunteers at that time. "I
couldn't sit there no more," Apostol said. "It was getting colder and
colder, and they said she didn't have a jacket - this little baby
doesn't have a jacket, and she's cold, and she wants her mom." Casey
Page, 15, a freshman at Orange Park High School, rode his bike to the
memorial across the street from the Thompson home to leave a poster.
Somer's death is all anyone talked about at school, he said. One teacher cried all day. Even the kids who act like they don't care about anything couldn't keep up that pose that day. Some students even said they wished it had happened to them instead of to Somer. "People don't want a little girl to end like this," he said. "She's supposed to live until she's 60 or 70."

Investigators left about 1 a.m. Friday morning, but the abandoned house is still a crime scene with 24-hour police protection.
Three police officers are on each end of the house and crime scene
tape still keeps everyone away. Gano Avenue, a major roadway through
this neighborhood, is still blocked off, with a Florida Department of Law Enforcement unit parked in the street.
Just after 11:30 p.m. Thursday, crews brought in a digging machine
from the State Fire Marshall's Office to dig at various parts of the
property and to lift heavy objects, according to officials. This is the
area where 7-year-old Somer Thompson was last seen. FDLE agents are
working overtime at the home, searching for evidence.
Dressed in protective white suits, several agents from the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement sifted through a dumpster several blocks
from Somer Thompson's home.
"On this side, it's pure pandemonium," said neighbor Andy Carlson.
Andy Carlson watched the search with his sons. He said it's strange seeing this type of thing in his neighborhood.
"I'm not used to all these cops all over the place," added Carlson.
Investigators collected evidence and also searched inside the vacant
home at 1080 Gano Avenue. Police say the home has been empty for
several months since a fire.
Carlson says the home was being renovated: "You can see in the windows, it's gutted. It just has two by four framing."
A woman, who did not want to be identified, asked investigators to search this vacant home and
dumpster on Monday night.
She says, "I'm upset. It's like, should I have looked, should I have gone in the dumpster?"
Meanwhile, neighbors hope Somer's killer is found soon and wonder if any clues are inside the home.
"I really hope there is not somebody in this neighborhood that could do that to a child," said Carlson.
Somer's mom said she knew the home on Gano Avenue was vacant, but
added that she never had any concerns about the home until now.
Somer disappeared on her walk home from school Monday afternoon.
Detectives searched a Georgia landfill Wednesday afternoon and a
child's remains were found.
At a Thursday morning news conference, investigators confirmed that
the remains found were that of missing 7-year-old Somer Thompson.
Investigators are currently searching the home on Gano Avenue and say they plan to search well into the night.

Police are asking anyone with information about this case to call 1-877-227-6911.

(CNN) - Investigators in Georgia are combing through a "tremendous mountain" of garbage at a landfill, searching for clues to the slaying of 7-year-old Somer Thompson, a sheriff's spokeswoman said Friday.

Authorities found the Florida girl's body Wednesday in the landfill near Folkston, about 55 miles north of Orange Park, Florida, where the girl was last seen by her siblings.

Some possible evidence has been removed from the landfill, but authorities won't describe what they found, said Mary Justino of the Clay County Sheriff's Department.

She said other investigative teams are focusing on the area where the child apparently was last seen. Justino said witnesses, including some children, saw her on the sidewalk in front of a vacant house that is being renovated after a fire.

Police have no suspects, she said.

"We know the cause of death. Our focus is on we want to preserve the integrity of this investigation and are not releasing any information that in the long run would prevent us from prosecuting and convicting the person who did this to Somer," Justino said at a news conference.

"For that reason at no point will we discuss cause of death, the manner in which she died or any other details regarding what was done to this child"



http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/

Clay County investigators have found the trash truck used to carry
Somer Thompson's body to a Georgia landfill and are getting close to
learning where that trash came from, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Mary
Justino said this afternoon.
Justino said the trash truck driver is one of many individuals
interviewed by detectives for information, but she gave no other
details about him, the truck or the route it took. Trash in the area
where Somer disappeared Monday was picked up the next day, taken to the
Rosemary Hill Landfill in Green Cove Springs and transferred to a
landfill in Folkston, Ga.
The body of the 7-year-old Orange Park girl was found Wednesday, two
days after she disappeared while walking home on Gano Avenue from Grove
Park Elementary School. She was with her brother and sister when she
left them and vanished.
"We are making progress into narrowing down not only the contents
of that garbage, but where it came from," Justino said. "Can we say
definitively yet that we have detailed evidence from the garbage that
leads back directly to the neighborhood, not yet."
Investigators know how Somer Thompson died based on an autopsy done
in Savannah Thursday, but they are keeping those details secret to
protect the investigation, Justino said. Somer was initially identified
through a birthmark and clothing she was wearing when her body was
found Wednesday in a Folkston, Ga., landfill.
Funeral arrangements made today will involve opportunities for the
public to pay their respects, while the family's privacy will also be
ensure.
A public memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the
First Baptist Church of Orange Park, 1140 Kingsley Ave. Graveside
services and burial will be private, but there will be a procession
from Kingsley Avenue to Blanding Boulevard to the property of
Jacksonville Memorial Gardens.
A public viewing will be at the same church from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday.
Somer's mother, Diena Thompson, declined to talk to reporters when she came home from the funeral home about noon.
More than 50 Clay detectives and state and federal agents continue
to chase leads in the case. About 900 tips have been called in, with
more than 200 still being pursued, Justino said.
Justino said she has inquired with investigators about a registered
sex offender whose name and address in Orange Park is listed on the
incident report that was written after Somer was reported missing.
The 36-year-old man was involved the sex assault of a female minor
in Texas in 1992, records show. He also served about a year in prison
after a 2003 conviction in Polk County of failing to register as a sex
offender in Florida. It's unclear why his name appeared in the report
about Somer, since there is no connection to him mentioned in the
narrative. The report was made public Thursday night. The Times-Union
has been unable to contact the man.
Justino also said she has heard and inquired about reports of
neighbors being asked by investigators about a white van connected to
the disappearance, but she declined to comment further on that
information.
"We have no interest in corrupting this investigation by releasing information that may become evidence," she said.
Clay County investigators have found five sexual predators and
offenders being sought for questioning in Somer's slaying and have no
reason to believe they or the 85 others in the area were
involved, Justino said.
Investigators returned today to a house at 1080 Gano Ave. in the
block where Somer was last seen before vanishing Monday. They are
collecting evidence from a house, large trash bin and the grounds. That
effort began Thursday afternoon and now involves members of the same
team of FBI forensic investigators who've been seeking clues in the
Folkston landfill.
Evidence removed from that scene and the landfill are being given
top priority at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory in
Jacksonville, Justino said.
Scores of people continue to visit and contribute to a growing
memorial of stuff toys, signs and balloons outside the family's home on
Horton Drive. A prayer circle formed about 1:30 p.m.
Somer's father, Samuel Thompson, and his sister, Laura Holt, are
planning to come to Orange Park this weekend from their home in North
Carolina, Holt told the Times-Union this afternoon.
Thompson said he's been unable to make the trip because he was
recently hurt in an accident and didn't have the money or
transportation to come from his home in Graham, N.C. But Holt said a
local business donated a handicap-accessible van to them today and they
should be arriving Saturday or Sunday. Thompson and Somer's mother,
Diena Thompson, are getting divorced.
"I don't know how I'm going to make it through it," Holt, 43, said of the funeral. "This was the most precious child."
Thompson, 41, was busy receiving the van and would comment
later, Holt said. He is the father of Somer, her brother Samuel and
their sister, Abigail, 10. He and Somer's mother are going through a
divorce. The obituary written from the mother's side of the family and
sent to the Times-Union does not include his name.
In hopes of generating more interest, Sheriff Rick Beseler plans to
go on the television show "America's Most Wanted" Saturday night after
being contacted by the host, John Walsh.
"Even though this is five days later, we are not letting up,"
Justino said this morning. "Our agency is working feverishly today just
as we will every day until we locate the person or persons responsible."
Somer disappeared while walking home from Grove Park Elementary
School with her brother and sister. The siblings said she separated
from them after she and her sister had words about a fight Somer had
earlier in the day at school.
The siblings last saw her walking west on Gano Avenue at Solomon
Street into a crowd of children. Another witness told deputies she saw
Somer about a block from that spot at Grove Park Road.
As for the area sexual predators and offenders, authorities have now
talked with all 90 that live within 5 miles, Justino said. Those
meetings have included property searches and discussion with family.
Investigators have not ruled out anyone in the case, but have no reason
to believe at this time that any are involved, Justino said.
Justino did not say if police had any suspects.
When asked about a traffic stop of a beat-up van made this morning
on Kingsley Avenue just south of where Somer disappeared, Justino said
she had no indication it was connected to the case. The vehicle was
seen later at the Sheriff's Office substation in Orange Park.

Police "remain encouraged at the progress" of the investigation into
the killer of 7-year-old Somer Thompson, but do not have a suspect yet.
Details of the cause and manner of death or whether there has been DNA evidence
collected that points toward a killer were not released at an afternoon
news conference in the interest of preserving the investigation, said
Mary Justino, Clay County Sheriff's Office public information officer.
Police have made "progress into narrowing the contents of the
garbage" at Chesser Island landfill in Folkston, GA. The first-grader's
body was found Wednesday afternoon at the landfill, which is the
dumping site for trash from Somer's neighborhood.
The Thompson family does not have the remains of Somer at this
point, Justino said. An autopsy was done Thursday in Savannah, GA at
the Medical Examiners office, but the Clay County Sheriff's Office has
a liaison that communicates with the family.
"We have had someone with them the entire time since Monday," she said, calling the autopsy a priority at the M.E.'s office.
She reiterated funeral plans next week for Somer, some of which will be open to the public. Jacksonville
Memory Gardens is handling the arrangements. Justino also praised
parents in the neighborhood for staying vigilant in protecting their
children.
"They have taken the safety of their families into their own hands,
which is great," she said, adding that many have changed their routine
and route to school.
"Until we have an arrest, I think that's a smart move," said Justino.
Earlier today, she announced that police have interviewed all known
sex offenders living close to the area where Somer vanished Monday, and
said they do not suspect them in the murder.
Investigators finished interviewing the 90 sex offenders living within a five-mile radius of the area where Somer disappeared.
"We feel certain at this time we do not have any suspects who are
members of that group," Justino said at a morning news conference.
She confirmed police have no persons of interest or suspects in the
case. "There is no information about a suspect one way or the other."
Police have taken evidence from a house at 1080 Gano Ave. where
witnesses last saw Somer Monday, and from the landfill where her body
was found; they continue to work both scenes.
Police say the home has been empty for several months since a fire.
They are "interviewing any and all persons" who either worked or lived
on or near the site, but they are not searching at random, Justino
said.
Evidence has been transported from the house on Gano and the landfill to labs run by the CCSO, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Jacksonville, and the Medical Examiners Office in Savannah, GA, are all being used for analysis.
"We have collected evidence at the landfill," Justino said. "It is a tremendous mountain of garbage."
The television show "America's Most Wanted," which focuses on
unsolved crimes, will feature the Somer Thompson's case tomorrow
evening. The media, "only helps focus attention on this family,"
Justino said.
She also said that many businesses have offered their services to
the Thompson family for the funeral of Somer. The family was meeting
with business owners this morning.
Investigators left the abandoned house around 1 a.m. Friday, but it remained a crime scene with 24-hour police protection.
Three police officers are on each end of the house and crime scene
tape still keeps everyone away. Gano Avenue, a major roadway through
this neighborhood, is still blocked off, with a FDLE unit parked in the
street.
Just after 11:30 p.m. Thursday, crews brought in a digging machine
from the State Fire Marshal's Office to dig on various parts of the
property and to lift heavy objects, according to officials.
"On this side, it's pure pandemonium," said neighbor Andy Carlson,
who watched the search with his sons. He said it's strange seeing this
type of thing in his neighborhood.
"I'm not used to all these cops all over the place," added Carlson,
who said the home was being renovated. "You can see in the windows,
it's gutted. It just has two by four framing."
Somer's mother said she knew the home on Gano Avenue was vacant, but
added that she never had any concerns about the home until now.
The first-grader disappeared on her walk home from school Monday
afternoon. Detectives searched a Georgia landfill Wednesday afternoon
and a child's remains were found. At a Thursday morning news
conference, investigators confirmed that the remains found were that of
Somer Thompson.
Investigators are currently searching the home on Gano Avenue and say they plan to search well into the night.
Police are asking anyone with information about this case to call 1-877-227-6911.

Investigators in North Florida said
they are still searching a vacant house in connection with the slaying
of a 7-year-old Orange Park girl.Somer Thompson disappeared on Monday while walking home from school. Her body was found Wednesday in a Georgia landfill.
At
a news conference on Friday, authorities said investigators with the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement were searching for clues at a
vacant home near where Somer was last seen. Clay County Sheriff's
Office spokeswoman Mary Justino said the FDLE crime lab is looking for
evidence a body has been at that house. Investigators
with FDLE also sifted through a trash bin Thursday night at a vacant
home where Somer was last seen. In protective suits, investigators used
black lights and searched every inch of the home looking for evidence."They
have worked late into the evening and have meticulously started the
process, going through the location and transporting any evidence that
is located to the crime lab in Jacksonville," Justino said.Officials
have also said investigators have interviewed more than 160 sex
offenders in the area around Somer's home and school, and while all of
them have so far been cleared, officials said that could change.Justino
said the Sheriff's Office will not release the child's cause of death
in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation.The Clay
County Sheriff's Office has 50 detectives split between Somer's
neighborhood and a landfill in Folkston, Ga., where she was found. More
than 200 tons of trash is taped off, and it could take weeks to find
key pieces of evidence.Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler is not ruling out that this slaying only involves one person, and they are following each lead."As of this morning, we have received a total of 810 leads into our tip line," Justino said.A
total of 231 leads are currently being investigated. There are no
suspects yet, and investigators said they're not saying what they may
have found."We are open to any and all information about people who in any way are connected to that location," Justino said.Outside
of the Thompson home a banner that once read "Amber Alert" now says
"Justice for Somer." Dozens of people continue to stop by a memorial
dedicated to the girl and stand in silence.
There
will a viewing for Somer at the First Baptist Church in Orange Park
from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday and a memorial service at the same
church at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Both of those events are open to the
public. The graveside service at burial will be at Jacksonville Memorial Gardens and is private.Grove
Park Elementary School was quiet on Friday due to a teacher planning
holiday. Still, some parents are considering making new plans for their
children."It's terrifying," Leo Stock said. "I don't know if I
would like him to continue going to this school. It's heartbreaking.
I'm almost at a loss for words."Both Crime Stoppers and the
Justice Coaltion is collecting money to go toward the reward for
information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a suspect in
this case. They can be reached at 1-866-845-TIPS and 904-509-4034.
There is currently a $30,000 reward.Anyone who has any information on the case is asked to call the Clay County Sheriff's Office at 1-877-227-6911.

Authorities are getting closer to learning where Somer Renee
Thompson's body was initially dumped as they continued Friday sifting
through tons of trash found with her in a Southeast Georgia landfill. Clay
County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Mary Justino said a large trash
truck that took the garbage from the Rosemary Hill landfill in Green
Cove Springs to the Chesser Island Road Landfill in Folkston has been
identified. By locating items with addresses or other information in
the trash from that truck, investigators are hoping to find the smaller
truck that drove the trash from Orange Park to Green Cove Springs. They
could then likely trace the smaller truck's route, Justino said. "We
are making progress into narrowing down not only the contents of that
garbage but where it came from," Justino said. "Can we say definitively
yet that we have detailed evidence from the garbage that leads back
directly to the neighborhood? Not yet." The body of the
7-year-old Orange Park girl was found Wednesday, two days after she
disappeared while walking home on Gano Avenue from Grove Park
Elementary School. A team of FBI forensic investigators from
Jacksonville is working with Clay detectives and Georgia authorities to
search the landfill. Members from the same FBI team got involved Friday
in sifting through trash found in a Dumpster outside a home near where
Somer was last seen. It's unclear what connection there may be between
the two searches. Investigators know how Somer died based on an
autopsy done Thursday in Savannah, but they are not releasing those
details to protect the investigation, Justino said. Somer was initially
identified through a birthmark and clothing she was wearing when her
body was found. Funeralarrangements completed Friday will give
the public a chance to pay their respects while also ensuring the
family's privacy. A public viewing will be from 5 to 8 p.m.
Monday at the First Baptist Church of Orange Park, 1140 Kingsley Ave. A
public memorial service will be 11 a.m. Tuesday in the same church. A
private graveside service and burial will follow, but it will be
preceded by a procession from Kingsley Avenue to Blanding Boulevard to
the Jacksonville Memory Gardens just south of the Orange Park Mall. Diena
Thompson, Somer's mother, emerged from her home Friday night to
tearfully tell dozens of supporters that she wouldn't be able to view
the body. "They are going to give me a lock of her hair, but I'm
not going to be able to see her," said Thompson, 34. "I wanted to tell
somebody that, so maybe it'll make somebody want to say something if
they've seen anything. Anything. Somebody please tell." Thompson's
boyfriend said Friday night that she was too exhausted to give
interviews. A message left for her by the Times-Union was not returned. More
than 50 Clay detectives and state and federal agents continue to chase
leads in the case. About 200 of 900 tips called in by Friday afternoon
were still being pursued, Justino said. Interviews with 90 area sexual
predators and offenders were completed Friday with no suspects
identified. "Even though this is five days later, we are not
letting up," Justino said. "Our agency is working feverishly today just
as we will every day until we locate the person or persons responsible." Hoping
to generate more interest, Sheriff Rick Beseler plans to film a segment
about the case today for the TV show "America's Most Wanted." It's
unclear when that segment would air because the network is pre-empting
tonight's show for the baseball playoff game. Host John Walsh is trying
to convince network officials to air the segment during a commercial
break in the game, but they have yet to agree, Justino said. Investigatorsreturned
Friday to a property at 1080 Gano Ave., in the block where Somer was
last seen by her brother, sister and moments later, a friend. Evidence
taken from the vacant house, large trash bin and the grounds is being
given top priority at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
laboratory in Jacksonville, Justino said. Scores of people
continued to visit and contribute to a growing memorial of stuffed
toys, signs and balloons across from the family's home on Horton Drive.
A number of signs that once asked for Somer's safe return were covered
by other signs asking for prayers for her and her family. The
outpouring of community support also could be seen along the main
strips in Orange Park, with prayers offered for Somer and her family
popping up on marquees outside businesses ranging from the
International House of Pancakes on Blanding Boulevard to the Back Pain
Institute on Park Avenue. Somer's smiling face remained visible
to acquaintances, newly found admirers and strangers. A large poster
advertising the Amber Alert for her still hangs at the busy
intersection of Park and Kingsley avenues. Many smaller fliers still
hang from trees and poles throughout Orange Park. Among those
planning to attend the memorial are Somer's father, Samuel Thompson,
and his sister, Laura Holt. They intend to travel this weekend from
their home in North Carolina, Holt told the Times-Union. Thompson
said he's been unable to make the trip because he was recently hurt in
an accident and didn't have the money or transportation to come from
his home in Graham, N.C. Holt said a local business donated a
handicap-accessible van to them Friday and they should be arriving
today or Sunday. Thompson and Somer's mother have been estranged and
are getting divorced. "I don't know how I'm going to make it through it," Holt, 43, said of the funeral.

Clay County Public Information Officer Mary Justino updated the
public on the search for answers dealing with Somer Thompson's death.
After getting close to 1,100 tips dealing with the case, about 200 tips are still being investigated.
Various law enforcement agencies have contacted over 2,000 people in
regards to the case as well. Of that, 50 have been contacted directly
in relation to the case.
Police have completed their investigation at 1080 Gano Avenue, the
site where the 7-year old girl was last seen. The property owners have
been given control back of their property.
The police have also completed their investigation at the Chester
Island Landfill Site in Georgia, where the girl's body was found. The
GBI, FBI conducted a thorough search of all the garbage that came from
the Orange Park area. That evidence, along with the evidence from 1080
Gano Ave., is now at the FDLE crime labs in Jacksonville.
Special Agent Dominic Pape also spoke about the Blue Nissan which
was seen at the scene 10 days prior to the disappearance of Somer.
He said the car was driven by a FDLE employee. The employee was at a
football game and was leaving the game and saw a small female child
which almost got hit by a car. The FDLE employee drove next to the
child at the time and asked her "Are you ok?" The child replied that
she couldn't find her house, so the officer pulled into a driveway to
help find the mother. The child was able to find her house and let the
FDLE officer know, so the officer left the scene.
Special Agent Pape didn't release the identity of the FDLE employee because he didn't want to be identified.
The Justice Coalition has a new number for any tips and it's at
904-783-6312. People can also call First Coast Crime Stoppers at
1-866-845-TIPS.