Person of interest in Somer Thompson case

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler announced on Thursday evening that a person of interest is being questioned in the 2009 abduction and murder of an Orange Park girl.   Jarred Mitchell Harrell, 24, lived in the area where Somer Thompson is believed to have been abducted on Oct. 19 as she was walking home from school.  Harrell was arrested by U.S. Marshals Thursday morning in Meridian, Mississippi, where he faces 29 counts of possession of child pornorgraphy.

Authorities are searching two homes in Lauderdale County, Mississippi and in Calahan, Florida, respectively.   A search conducted on Thursday morning at 1152 Gano Avenue in Orange Park, where Harrell formerly resided, has already yielded evidence which led authorities to name him as a person of interest in the case. Harrell is being held on a $1 million bond.

"We have been very careful to protect the integrity of our investigation by not releasing details that could be detrimental to the successful prosecution of our case," Sheriff Beseler during a news conference on Thursday.

Thompson was last spotted in front of 1080 Gano Avenue, just a few blocks from her home  ( see map below). The 7-year-old Somer disappeared and her body was later discovered in a Georgia landfill 50 miles away, where trash from her neighborhood was dumped.

The reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Thompson case rose to $64,000 in November.  Two nonprofit organizations, the Jacksonville-based Justice Coalition and CrimeStoppers, are offering rewards of $48,000 and $16,000, respectively.

No one has been charged in her death, and authorities have said they have been busy processing evidence and sifting through thousands of tips in the case.

Last month, in a written release from the Clay County Sheriff's Office, investigators said a large quantity of evidence remained and investigators  were still waiting on test results to come back and were hopeful the results would point them in the right direction.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said the investigative team, known as "Team Somer," has been staying in communication with Somer's mother, Diena Thompson, and her family, keeping them up to date on the work being done. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Marshal Service are also continuing to help in the investigation with agents assigned to the team.  

According to Harrell's arrest report, in August he was kicked out of an Orange Park apartment after a roommate thought he had stolen a cell phone.

Harrell left behind a computer, and the roommates said they searched it because they thought Harrell had been using it to look at child porn, the report says. The roommates said they did find porn involving young girls and turned the computer and discs over to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office on Aug. 10. The materials were sent to state investigators, who confirmed the contents.

It is unknown when Harrell moved into the Orange Park house that was searched Thursday, or when he left the neighborhood.

Dawn Nuss, 39, whose 8-year-old daughter Christina used to walk home with Somer, said her daughter told her that Somer used to stop at the house and pet a white dog. No one would ever come out of the house. Sometimes Somer would run ahead of the children walking home and hide in a ditch.

"I thought this was the safest place to allow my children to walk home," she said.

Before the arrest was announced, the Somer's mother said she didn't want to get her hopes up that a break had been made in the case.

"I'm not speculating on anything. I don't want to get my hopes up and I don't want to get my hopes down," she told The Florida Times-Union. "I'm going to put my faith in God."

After the news conference, Thompson's attorney, Michael R. Freed, released a statement that said Thompson and her family are "monitoring the latest developments in the investigation." The statement said that she was not prepared to speak publicly about the case Thursday.

P.J. Simms, who has lived in the neighborhood 17 years, said she hopes authorities find what they are looking for.

"I just hope they find what they were looking for because it has been a long time coming. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened. It's broken our hearts," she said. "You used to see 40 to 50 kids out here every day, now there's always somebody with them."

Simms said she knew Somer because she used to baby-sit for the girl's friend. "She was a sweetheart, just very loving. She always wanted to be a part of everything. I hope and pray to God that this is it so we can finally let the kids play."

Associated Press Writers Lisa Orkin Emmanuel and Suzette Laboy in Miami also contributed to this report.