Jessica Lunsford is Dead According to Sheriff.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:27 pm

Jessica Lunsford is dead. Sheriff just said couey admitted killing her. more to follow.

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:38 pm

lady cop wrote: Jessica Lunsford is dead. Sheriff just said couey admitted killing her. more to follow.
god damnit.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:44 pm

the home where he had been staying is taped off, so she's on the property somewhere it seems. this is hard to fathom since the sheriff's posse and dogs covered the area thoroughly. and the relatives who facilitated his leaving the state on a bus under an alias need to be charged as accessories!

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:46 pm

Godiva Girl wrote: What a sad tragedy, I was just talking about this with my mother earlier today, their is a sex offender living in the condominium building next to us and 2 more living in this 5 block subdivision. We were discussing getting a German Sheperd. I think I'll call the dog breeder after dinner.

A German Shepherd would be an excellent choice. they are incredibly devoted to the safety of their family, and in particular of 'their' children.

the real solution to this problem is to put repeat criminal offenders behind bars, and throw away the key. sex offenders have an incredible, mind-boggling recidivism rate. it's time society stopped offering 'do overs' to these monsters. it happens over and over and over again - released sex offender kidnaps child, molests, kills. over and over. why do we put up with it? first offense is one thing - repeat offenses? NO NO NO! why was this man free?

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:52 pm

Godiva Girl wrote: He was free because we have an ass backward legal system
i'm very pleased to be in agreement with you here. we incarcerate pot smokers, who are single-mindedly driven to snack. we release sex offenders and murderers who are single-mindedly driven to harm innocent people. it is maddening.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:54 pm

there is video being shown of couey in a bar on monday, drinking a beer, smoking and laughing...it is repellent to view. he has a big grin on his repulsive face, knowing he has murdered an innocent baby.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:09 pm

Godiva Girl wrote: A child molester and a killer of a little girl, when he gets to prison are the inmates going to have fun with himnah, he'll be housed with other child molesters and baby-killers...it's called "classification".

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:16 pm

lady cop wrote: nah, he'll be housed with other child molesters and baby-killers...
And a damn shame that is, too. Maybe some "vigilante" type will get to this sick **** before he gets there. :-5

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:19 pm

DAMN.. DAMN.. BASTARD!!! I HOPE HE TELL HOW HE DID IT.. JUST MAKES ME SAD..!! :-1 :-1

"John Couey admitted to abducting Jessica and subsequently taking her life," said Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy. "We've built a very methodical case. I've got my man."

Sheriff's deputies cordoned off an area near the home where John Evander Couey, 46, a registered sex offender, had stayed in Florida.

Couey was arrested in Georgia Thursday on a probation violation for failing to notify officials that he was moving, a requirement for sex offenders. He had waived extradition back to Florida on that charge.

Jessica Lunsford disappeared from her home Feb. 23.

At one time, Couey lived across the street from Jessica's home. He left Florida on or about March 4, about a week after her disappearance. Police said he told relatives that police would be looking for him.

Authorities said Couey was passing through Georgia on his way to Tennessee. He left Florida after telling relatives that police would be looking for him.

Couey's criminal record includes charges of fondling a child under the age of 16, but records don't show how the case was resolved. He is said to be cooperating with detectives questioning him about the disappearance three weeks ago.

Jessica's father said he's never seen Couey.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:21 pm

he's now on a suicide watch, and will remain so until florida picks him up. he'll be housed alone and watched every minute. here's his worthless life in a nutshell. County Sheriff's Office

'PERSON OF INTEREST'John "Johnny" Evander Couey

White male

Born September 19, 1958

5 feet 4 inches, 125 pounds

Blue eyes, gray hair

Goatee

Tattoos on right arm

Criminal history:

Outstanding warrant for violation of probation charge stemming from a 2004 arrest for possession of marijuana under 20 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Arrested multiple times on various charges, including burglary, carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly intoxication, driving under the influence, indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, fraud, insufficient funds and larceny.

Arrested in 1991 on charges of a sex offense, fondling a child under the age of 16.

Registered sexual offender in Citrus County.

Has absconded more than once.

Driver's license suspended for 99 years.

Source: Citrus County Sheriff's Office

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:27 pm

Hmphf...Another shining example of one of society's great contributors.

Yeah, definitely, let's keep this worm on suicide watch. We don't want him getting off that easily. Let him consider a lethal injection for a few years.

Peg · Post by **Peg** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:19 pm

Another case where our judicial system has failed miserably at the cost of a life of an innocent child. If I were her father or grandparents, I wouldn't give our judicial another chance to fail miserably. This family has been accused over and over again of an act so unspeakable. The trial, judge, and jury were all over the place including here in the garden convicting and codemning this family. The actual person who may have done it, who has a criminal record worse than any of them, was said many times here not to have been suspect. Just goes to show we need to not judge and not to expect our judicial system to keep monsters like this behind bars. Why not ask Jessica's family what they think of the justice system now.

kmhowe72 · Post by **kmhowe72** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:40 pm

It's a sad day. I am going to hug my kids a little longer and harder tonight. In here own house. I like to know how he got in. How he had access to her. The grandmother should feel guilty. Where's her mother? Ah, the answer gone for 8 years . I don't think she cared that much either way. What's wrong with mother's like that. I just want to puke everytime I hear a story like this. :-1

This guy makes my skin crawl. He is under a sucide watch. Why bother let him do himself in. Save the state from doing it for him. Their is a forum. Jessicamarielungford.com going on.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:15 pm

kmhowe72 wrote: It's a sad day. I am going to hug my kids a little longer and harder tonight. In here own house. I like to know how he got in. How he had access to her. The grandmother should feel guilty. Where's her mother? Ah, the answer gone for 8 years . I don't think she cared that much either way. What's wrong with mother's like that. I just want to puke everytime I hear a story like this. :-1

T
The grandmother should feel guilty? Are you freaking daft? I want to puke when I read this type of ignorant crap.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:44 pm

kmhowe72 wrote: Their is a forum. Jessicamarielungford.com going on.....

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:02 pm

three people in a white toyota cressida are being sought in relation to Jessica's murder. don't know details yet. ...house/yard lit up, sheriff office searching for body...sat. 0900 family will hold press conference.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:07 pm

chocoholicmommy wrote: So he must have used the dolphin to stifle her screams and thats why its gone and no one heard anything? How terrible. People at work were crying tonite when they heard. This story touched so many hearts. I was really hoping someone kidnapped her and she was coming back ok......
I just printed up a list of the known sex offenders in this area with their offense and arrest record. I intend to pass it out to those immediately around me. We are not vigilantees, so I have no intent to incite, but our kids roam for acres and acres out here an I want the parents to be aware if they see one of these guys too close to wear our children are. But still, I hope we all keep eyes out for the man who is a predator, but looks normal and decent.

Here in my county, two different men, at least have tried to abduct girls, either on the way to school, right near the school grounds, or walking from the store in town. It seems like every day I hear of a new attempted rape or abduction.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:08 pm

This bastard was a ticking time bomb.. he did the exact same thing before, only this time he killed.. We are not protecting our most vulnerable citizens children. I'm ill that this continues to happen. He was a registered sex offender... he should have never been out. :-5 :-5 We have the skills, we have the tools and we still aren't doing it right..

I hope this useless human tells exactly how he did this awful crime. I want to know how he got into the house. How he stalked her, how her set his trap...SO WE CAN STOP THIS..

I HOPE LAWS ARE CHANGED AND SOON THESE PREDITORS HAVE TO BE STOPPED. :-1

kmhowe72 · Post by **kmhowe72** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:14 pm

Don't call me ingorant. If the grandmother and the rest of them were watching her more closely, didn't leave the door unlocked .(that's been reported in the press.) Then maybe she would still be alive. That's my opion and you have know right to insult me.

I don't insult you and your opions.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:21 pm

you know Carla, we're never going to stop it. there will always be sick murderous pedophiles and as long as children are allowed to live and play and go to school, and sleep behind doors and windows that aren't barred, and live the normal innocent lives that they do...there will always be some creature from our worst nightmares to steal them. it can happen to the best of parents and the worst of parents. and if every known pedophile were locked up tomorrow...there would soon be a new crop.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:22 pm

kmhowe72 wrote: Don't call me ingorant. If the grandmother and the rest of them were watching her more closely, didn't leave the door unlocked .(that's been reported in the press.) Then maybe she would still be alive. That's my opion and you have know right to insult me.

I don't insult you and your opions.
Your opinion was ignorant. The grandmother is not responsible for this crime if the perp commited it. Leaving the door unlocked does not make her culpable. Sometimes people make mistakes. I know living out in the country has given me a false sense of security at times, this goes for most of my neighbors, as well, and I reckon there are times that the door is not locked if I trust that my husband has checked the locks. The man should never have entered the home. He is the one at fault, not her.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:34 pm

LADYCOP,

I know your right, and it is such a catch 22.. I still think there are things we can do a bit better that may save some of our innocent children from these preditors. There just has to be tighter laws regarding these animals.. We just can't assume it will continue no matter what we do, we have to keep trying..

I SAY BRAND THEM ON THERE FOREHEADS FOR ALL TO SEE, THESE ANIMALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS PROTECTING THEM. OUR CHILDREN NEED PROTECTING.. I'M JUST EXTREMELY SAD AT THE OUT COME OF THIS, I KNEW SHE WAS PROBABLY DEAD.. JUST SICKENS ME.. :-1

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:42 pm

See, I like privacy. Some nights I leave the doors shut. I rely on my dogs to wake me, plus we have an alarm system. This is so rare (child abducted from room at night), I don't feel I should have to change that.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:52 pm

I think the most important thing to remember is they are PREDITORS they stalk their prey just like animals. They are planning, watching, and spend most their time figuring out how and when to abduct our children.

It the split second that can be the difference, or a word they speak, or a command they give to children that make them go with these MONSTERS.. :-5 We can teach our children about this in every detail... they need to be able to sense a situation immediately.. remember they are children their instinct are not like our... they trust adult first, and some times that can be a very dangerous thing to do. :-1

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:56 pm

Don't worry, Carla, I teach my kids to not trust adults as well as not to conform. Thing is, you can only do so much without destroying their childhood and instill a lifetime of fear and anxiety into them.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:09 pm

Good for you Beth... keep teaching them. You are correct we can't have them totally afraid of eveyone and everything.. I just wish we as a nation would tighten the law on these MONSTERS. We give them to damn many chances and they do it again almost every time.. that is wrong.. they can't be cured and they won't change. I had such a care free childhood. I only wish our kids today could have their sweet innocence as long as possible..

legaleagle · Post by **legaleagle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:25 pm

CARLA wrote: This bastard was a ticking time bomb.. he did the exact same thing before, only this time he killed.. We are not protecting our most vulnerable citizens children. I'm ill that this continues to happen. He was a registered sex offender... he should have never been out. :-5 :-5 We have the skills, we have the tools and we still aren't doing it right..

I hope this useless human tells exactly how he did this awful crime. I want to know how he got into the house. How he stalked her, how her set his trap...SO WE CAN STOP THIS..

I HOPE LAWS ARE CHANGED AND SOON THESE PREDITORS HAVE TO BE STOPPED. :-1

Lady Cop has a rational point. You will never stop every crime of this type and you can't lock everyone up who you THINK might do this (and other serious violent crimes). You'd probably end up locking up half the state (exaggeration I know but...). Grandpa would probably be in jail as well yet he apparently has been OK for years.

I am also unsure that what this guy did in the past would have put him on the list anyway. Seems like this guy was a career burglar more than anything else. His record includes an indecent exposure rap but that could be for urinating on a street corner while drunk and kissing a girl while burglarizing a house.

No doubt this guy is a problem but I'm not certain at all that he would have been identified as a high risk violent sex offender and kept incarcerated based simply on his past record. Most states now have career criminal statutes in place now where habitual offenders are locked up permanently (3 strikes, career criminal - whatever you want to call it). Florida has tough laws and executes people regularly yet the crime continues. We already have enough laws in place going forward. I believe under todays statutes with as many convictions that this guy has for burglary if committed in the '90s, he would not be on the streets but not because of his sex offenses per se but for his "career" criminal activities.

I don't think any sort of additional legislation could have stopped what happened here. As for not locking your doors at night, you have to be stupid not to. With the mobility that people have today, distance is no longer a problem for the criminal. If David Letterman with his ranch far out in the wilds of low crime Montana isn't safe, no one is safe. Last time I looked, Florida had one of the highest crime rates in the United States. How can you think you are "safe" anywhere.

Also, I believe that I read that Grandpa said the door was locked so I am still wondering about how this all happened and hopefully we will hear the details on how he (and others???? Lady Cop says they are looking for 3 others in a white Cressida) managed to pull of this kidnapping if in fact the door was locked. This had to have been planned. It certainly does not look like a crime of opportunity on the surface if we have multiple people involved.

I also don't get the fact that they are looking for the body 200 yards away. Think we need some new cadaver dogs there. Some one must have done one hell of a job burying her there yet no one can see disturbed ground and did it in the middle of the night as well. I don't think this story ends with just Couey's involvement. What is the connection with these other people?? Why her in a high risk set of circumstances compared with apparently a large number of young girls in the area who could have been grabbed off the street at any time.

We do need to hear the rest of the story.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:35 pm

i am disturbed that i have not seen dogs brought into the scene tonight. further, the dogs were all over that area before. is this dirtbag lying about her body location? i don't know why he would if he has confessed. i have a lot of confidence in Sheriff Dawsey, perhaps the dogs are there and we haven't seen them. i have heard nothing about the lying half-sister, is that one of the people in the cressida? his enablers are accessories if they helped him abscond. i am calling MY SO comm center to see what they are getting for APB and BOLO. and i don't mean to be coy, but if it's confidential then i have to leave it that way.

legaleagle · Post by **legaleagle** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:58 pm

CARLA wrote: Good for you Beth... keep teaching them. You are correct we can't have them totally afraid of eveyone and everything.. I just wish we as a nation would tighten the law on these MONSTERS. We give them to damn many chances and they do it again almost every time.. that is wrong.. they can't be cured and they won't change. I had such a care free childhood. I only wish our kids today could have their sweet innocence as long as possible..

You had a carefree childhood only because you weren't victimized. Do you really think this stuff wasn't going on when you were a kid? It's always been there, you just didn't hear about it because of the limited national media then - who ever heard about stuff going on in Los Angeles if you were living in Boston thirty years ago- no one.

Also molestation was kept under the rug and not talked about and was not considered in the same serious way as it is today. It was your "funny" uncle not your monster molester relative then. Look at all the offending clergy that just was transferred around again and again as another prime example. Those in charge did not view it as a monsterous crime back then.

Reality is that it does not happen that often (but even once is too many) but everyone hears about it today because media today focuses on the salacious happenings in society and did not 30 years ago and has the communication vehicles to reach every corner of the world almost instantanously. (cable, satelite, mobile remotes transmissions, internet............)

You were just lucky as most of us were simply because of the law of averages - the number of these people is few and the population is large.

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:03 pm

lady cop wrote: i am disturbed that i have not seen dogs brought into the scene tonight. further, the dogs were all over that area before. is this dirtbag lying about her body location? i don't know why he would if he has confessed. i have a lot of confidence in Sheriff Dawsey, perhaps the dogs are there and we haven't seen them. i have heard nothing about the lying half-sister, is that one of the people in the cressida? his enablers are accessories if they helped him abscond. i am calling MY SO comm center to see what they are getting for APB and BOLO. and i don't mean to be coy, but if it's confidential then i have to leave it that way.
there is something weird about this whole incident. i'm concerned that this guy may be a different kind of sicko: one who would claim to confess to a crime he didn't commit, just for the jollies of sending the cops on a wild goose chase.

it's happened before.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:09 pm

anastrophe wrote: there is something weird about this whole incident. i'm concerned that this guy may be a different kind of sicko: one who would claim to confess to a crime he didn't commit, just for the jollies of sending the cops on a wild goose chase.

it's happened before.you remember otis toole who claimed he killed adam walsh? (he probably did) he also claimed about 600 other victims. there are compulsive confessors as you are aware. i can only surmise that the investigators who interviewed him had some fail-safes...but i will tell you , if i wake up tomorrow and there's no body found i will want to know why. he sure didn't take her on the greyhound bus.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:38 pm

I understand that this will continue to happen over and over again. I also think sex offenders have to many chances. This guy had more than just breaking and entering on his rap sheet. He had several encounters with children. One he broke into a house put his hand over the childs mouth and attempted to kiss her, and sexual assult her. That being said I no there many more like him out there each and everyday. Just breaks your heart when a child is killed. :-1

I really want to know how he did it. His half sister is of great interest as well.. More to this story than we know tonight. Hopefully tomorrow we will learn more. Or they may wait till they catch the three other persons of interest they are looking for. I agree something still isn't right .... :-5

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:44 pm

legaleagle wrote: Last time I looked, Florida had one of the highest crime rates in the United States.it does - but as with most heavily populated states, the preponderance of crime occurs in the urban areas; the rural areas of florida are as 'crime free' as most other rural areas of the country.

How can you think you are "safe" anywhere.

indeed.

Peg · Post by **Peg** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 1:01 am

kmhowe72 wrote: Don't call me ingorant. If the grandmother and the rest of them were watching her more closely, didn't leave the door unlocked .(that's been reported in the press.) Then maybe she would still be alive. That's my opion and you have know right to insult me.

I don't insult you and your opions.

And you can tell me that there was NEVER a time you forgot to lock your door? Come on. Why should I go to bed tonight and expect one of my children to be taken from their room in their own, safe home?

Post by **kensloft** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:26 am

Hope the parents can go on but you know what people think about trailer trash. Hope their prayers are answered in the nearest future for the strength to carry on in the face of the adversity that many have lain before them. Especially the murderer.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:47 am

But they aren't trailer trash. They live in a doublewide, many of them are nicer than block houses that are under the $120,000 range. Most people around here do not consider doublewides to be trailers and are considerred affordable housing in an inflated housing market, mainly the bigoted or snobbish types are the ones who cast such a stone. (Funny, someone could live in some poor apartment or poor house in disrepair and call someone who lives in better conditions than they to be trailer trash.) So I doubt most people in my state, at least, who saw this case thought 'trailer trash'. More than likely, they thought they were back woods people, possibly white trash because of his slow talk and record, but I doubt trailer trash.

The killer and his half-sister, if anything, were trailer trash.

I think the Lunsfords will get a lot of community support, especially from the church. I feel awful for them.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:14 am

No, I slept through it. I think I would have been an emotional wreck today if I had seen it. Even my husband was wiping tears away when it was announced yesterday that a man confessed to killing her.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:50 am

Wow. She was that close and they missed her.