Jessica Lundsford....

[Steff]

There's been a development in the Jessica Lundsford case - 9 year old girl missing in Florida for the past 3 weeks. They have a person of interest in custody - a man who has a criminal record of a sexual nature - and the home where the man lived (across the street from where the little girl lived) has been surrounded with crime scene tape. PC scheduled for 6:15...

 

 

for Jessie and the entire Lundsford family.

[Steff]

John Couhey (sp?), the sex offender, admitted to abducting her and killing her.

[Goldmember]

:headshake

 

1 bullet, all it takes, wait this scumbag isnt good enough for that, i hope they put the sick f***ing bastard in general population... :fyou

 

 

rip jessica...prayers go out to her dad and grandparents...

Edited March 19, 2005 by Goldmember

[JUGGERNAUT]

http://jessicamarielunsford.com/

 

That was a very emotional week for me. I had lost a kid during the 500.

She had left her cell phone behind at a merchandise stand & just took off into a sea of humanity. I ran as fast as I can to catch her leaving the rest behind. I made it to the stand but when I questioned them they said she never came back.

 

I went out of my mind. I alerted the cops there & the care center.

One cop told me to keep walking the crowd, another told me to go check the stands, & finally another said it's been an hour you should go back to the lot & see if she's there.

 

I told the family that's what I was doing. They waited in line to board the bus while keeping watch for her. I ran about 2 miles around the airport to the lot. Nearly fell in a ditch several times. I finally made my way back to the van & she was there waiting. I broke to pieces. Couldn't break away from the hug. Heart seemed to beat forever. Scared out of my mind the whole time.

 

I radioed the rest & we had to wait for them about 45 minutes. It took that long on the buses & such. I asked her how long she had been waiting. She said maybe 30 minutes. I asked her why didn't you go back to the merch desk? She said it was too crowded & she gave up. She just waited on the side to see if it would die down. I asked if she had seen me? She said no. I swear based on her description she couldn't have been more than 100-200ft away! I was going insane upon hearing this!

 

In the end I thanked her repeatedly for being smart enough to get in line for a bus to get back to the lot. But I reminded her never to do that again.

Phones are replaceable. You are not. There is no possession you own that is worth more than you.

 

During the process of finding my little girl there was reports of a 9 yr old missing as well. When the Jessica story broke 3 days later I nearly cried again. But when I found out it wasn't related to the 500 I felt better.

We watched & prayed for Jessica every night.

 

I just read it on Yahoo.

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylh=X3oDMTEwdnZjMjFh...us/missing_girl

Words can not describe what I'm feeling. This girl feels like one of my own because of what I went through. I feel blessed.

[The Critic]

WOW, Jugg, I'm glad she was okay. I'd go completely out of my mind if I couldn't find my daughter for any amount of time.

 

This asshole who killed Jessica is the worst variety of scumbag. Destroyed so many lives for no reason at all....death is too kind for that jagoff.

[JUGGERNAUT]

I'm very angry right now. It's not enough for me that this pc of trash & his drugged out kin suffer severe consquences. The law needs to change.

 

There is a major difference between someone who pisses on a tree after a ball game because he's drunk or can't hold it & someone who molests children. One is a slob, the other is a molester.

 

Molesters should be tagged. Period. They should never be allowed back into society without a GPS tag for life. No exceptions. When they have a need for extended leave from the home they must alert authorities & receive permission first. If they do not alert authorities for extended leave beyond that & are not detected in their home grounds when they expected to return they will be in violation of the law & subject to house arrest for some months.

 

That's the only way to deal with these people. First Carly Brucia during last yr's 500 & now Jessica. I can't go to the 500 any more w/out having to deal with grief.

 

Reason & logic has left the bldg for me right now. I picture myself in a padded room with this garbage beating the living s*** out of it. Beating him to the point of my own exhaustion. There's a voice in my mind yelling mercy & compassion but my rage is beating the s*** of that to.

 

I was ill-prepared for this news today.

[The Critic]

Right there with you.

No punishment is too harsh for trash who harm kids.

[YASNY]

As a father who has lost a child ... well, I lost my son due to an accident. If someone would have taken him from me, I'm afriad I would have had to kill the son of a b****. It would have f***ed up my life and the life of the rest of my family, but I know what I felt.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Please excuse my need to pour out in this thread. No one in the family knows about this yet & I'm in no state to tell them. So this is my only outlet right now. I'm not being the first to break this news.

 

I can't explain in words what I'm feeling right now. I'm trying to rationalize how this can be affecting me so much having never even driven that far south on I-75. These people are complete strangers to me.

& yet my God I can't hold back the water. I feel so pathetically weak right now.

 

Honestly we were clinging on to hope for her. Our greatest hope came from the announcement the Teamsters offered an award less than 3 days after she had been missing. We felt whoever was with her would fear the Teamster's enough to give her back. We just never felt it would end like this. So close to her home.

 

I hope the state of FL & the nation has learned something. When a child is missing search around the homes of those charged with molestation first.

When you are searching for a missing child innocent until proven guilty is meaningless to me. Someone doesn't get charged with molestation unless there is probable cause. That is enough for me to warrant searching their homes first. As logic & reason return to me now that's the first thing that comes to mind. They spent 9 long days searching for Jessica & it took 3 weeks to start searching the grounds of listed sex offenders near her home. That seems pretty whacked.

Edited March 19, 2005 by JUGGERNAUT

[YASNY]

I feel so pathetically weak right now.

 

Do not be ashamed that you are "feeling." That's what let's you know that you are alive and have a heart. Don't ever give that up.

[JUGGERNAUT]

I'm ok now. I have a very resilient nature. I'm prepared now for when the rest find out. I'm keeping it quiet til then. I want to thank Steff for creating the thread so I could face this news before them.

 

It's weird. I logged in today with a mission. I was going to check how often Garland falls behind hitters & comment about it in lieu of his performance yesterday. From the moment I saw the thread until now I had forgotten that.

 

For any would be or present parents or guardians please heed this advice:

It's natural as they get older for you to want to allow them to grow responsibly. Three years ago we had colored rubbebands threaded into a chain so that every kid was linked to us. Including some that weren't ours.

But as they got older we didn't want to do that any more. We felt education & discipline would replace that need.

 

I gave them all the talk of what to do in case of separation. I'm very thankful to her & God that she followed it to the letter. But my talk was not the best. I learned that it would have been better for her to ask a kiosk attendant or a security person the location of the care center & to report that she was lost. Under those circumstances they would have used the bullhorn to announce her name. That's what they did when I went to the care center.

 

I can say this much. The colored bands worked in the past. Don't be afraid to use them. But when a child reaches a certain age where they can take on more responsibility it's more important they know what to do then to chain them to you.

 

I'll go to that Garland thing now. Thanks for listening.

[kapkomet]

I'm ok now.  I have a very resilient nature.  I'm prepared now for when the rest find out.  I'm keeping it quiet til then.  I want to thank Steff for creating the thread so I could face this news before them.

 

It's weird.  I logged in today with a mission.  I was going to check how often Garland falls behind hitters & comment about it in lieu of his performance yesterday.  From the moment I saw the thread until now I had forgotten that.

 

As much as some give you a hard time, me being one of them once in a while, I give you a lot of credit here. Hang in there. It's incredibly emotional when things like this happen. Thanks for sharing your stories here.

Edited March 19, 2005 by kapkomet

[JUGGERNAUT]

It's worth updating this thread. Get ready for a shocker.

Couhey (arrested 26 times) actually held a teaching role in that county & had come in contact with Jessica as a 3rd grader.

 

It seems like a no-brainer to check against this stuff but there are teacher's unions & the issues of profiling which make it difficult to legislate & enforce.

Though I have to believe something will get moving this time around.

This is quite different than Carly Brucia. He was not a teacher.

 

Can you believe that during the process of his being hired as a contract teacher no

one at FL board of education did a background check? No one in the teacher's union

bothered to check him out either?

Edited March 23, 2005 by JUGGERNAUT

[Steff]

It's worth updating this thread.  Get ready for a shocker.

Couhey (arrested 26 times) actually held a teaching role in that county & had come in contact with Jessica as a 3rd grader.

 

 

My God... No.. he was not a teacher.

 

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/22/Citrus/S...ed_at_Jes.shtml

 

Suspect worked at Jessica's school

His job at Homosassa Elementary gave him access to students. It is unknown whether he had contact with Jessica.

By COLLINS CONNER and BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writers

Published March 22, 2005

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

HOMOSASSA - For five months, convicted sex offender John Evander Couey worked as a mason's helper at Homosassa Elementary School, where 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford attended class.

 

A mason on the job said Couey had direct contact with students and teachers during the project, though it was unknown whether he had contact with Jessica.

 

Before that, Couey, who was formally arrested Monday in connection with Jessica's death, worked on the Crystal River Middle School remodeling project.

 

"Oh, my God," said School Board member Ginger Bryant. "I can't believe he ever set foot on any of our school sites. I feel yucky. I'm ready to throw up."

 

Jessica's family could not be reached for comment. But the news of Couey's employment came as a shock to Homosassa residents.

 

"How can they allow a pedophile to work on two schools?" said Diane Toto, president of the Homosassa Civic Club. "There is something seriously wrong with the law."

 

There is no law that bars laborers with criminal histories from school construction sites. And there is no state or district requirement that contractors screen laborers before hiring them for school construction projects.

 

The only thing the state checks is whether an employee owes back child support, said the two contractors who hired Couey for the campus work.

 

Builder R.E. Graham, the contractor at Homosassa Elementary, said Couey listed on his employment application that he had been arrested in the past for writing bad checks.

 

Couey worked in Homosassa Elementary's cafeteria building from January to April 2004, Graham said.

 

"He never worked in the remodeling of the school, so he shouldn't have been around any of the children," Graham said. "He worked on my side of the fence."

 

But mason Giles Cannon, who worked with Couey at both schools, said Graham was mistaken. Couey did work in areas where students were present, Cannon said.

 

Graham "wasn't there," he said. "He wouldn't have known."

 

At Crystal River Middle, Couey worked for Pyramid Masonry Contractors from August 2003 to January 2004, when he walked off the job, said Keith Sommer, regional vice president of Pyramid.

 

"I never actually met the guy," Sommer said. "Until right now, I didn't know he worked for us."

 

Pyramid's project superintendent, Steve Kinzie, said Couey and all other workers on the school site were separated from students by a fence.

 

"We were told - and we told them (the workers) - not to speak to students or faculty," Kinzie said. "Nobody was near the fence. The construction company was real stern about that. They strongly enforced that. They enforced it with us, and we, in turn, enforced it on our employees."

 

School superintendent Sandra "Sam" Himmel said she didn't know of any government agency that screens all construction workers on a school job site. She said she would ask School Board attorney Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick to look into the issue.

 

In the Pasco school district, the bid documents include a statement to be signed by contractors that "they have verified that no one who will be on our school property has been convicted of" sex offenses or myriad other crimes, said Kendra Goodman, the district's purchasing agent.

 

At Homosassa, Cannon said, Couey and he worked in the new media center.

 

"Off and on, we would go to the library, and every time we were there we were mixed with students and teachers," Cannon said.

 

The faculty and students were carrying supplies into the media center while the final construction continued, Cannon said.

 

"And then, when we went into the (old buildings being renovated), Couey was there in the beginning of that. And we mixed with students and teachers," Cannon said. "We were through the whole building" when students were present.

 

Couey "said he was in jail, but he said it was all from drinking and driving and stuff like that," Cannon said.

 

But even that record would have barred him from working on a Pennsylvania school construction site, said Cannon, a Pennsylvania native.

 

"Up North, if you have anything (on your record), you can't work at a school," Cannon said. "They do FBI checks and the regular (local) checks.

 

"That's why they have the prevailing wage up North - to get the right people to do everything."

 

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, only construction workers who have "direct contact with students" must have a criminal background check and a child abuse history clearance.

 

But, Cannon said, contractors "don't want to take the chance," so they screen every worker.

 

"They do it at every job I've been at," Cannon said, "whether the workers are going to be with kids or not."

 

Cannon said many of the workers he met on the school job sites talked about having criminal records.

 

"You hear it here, there and everywhere," Cannon said.

 

Cannon said he laid Couey off because he was "giving us a hard time with everything he did."

 

"He wasn't all there, mentally," Cannon said. "He was kind of going off the wall."

 

 

 

Its really worth checking the facts... :headshake

[Steff]

Bumping this so Jug can read the correction to the BULLs*** LIES he posted.

[JUGGERNAUT]

That is not the way it was reported last night. They reported him having a contract teacher role but did say he was specifically a teacher. Obviously they jumped the gun.

 

I simply reported what was reported at the time. It does not surprise me

that they would jump to that conclusion. Unlike some people I'm a very forgiving person & accept humans to be failable. What probably happened is that when the story first broke the news media read contract & school & assumed a teaching role.

 

As for it being COMPLETE BULLs*** as one purports that's up to the trained mind to decide. The only error was he did not serve in a teaching role. Everything else was on par. He was on contract & had easy access to students in the school. The district is still to blame for not running an extensive background check on any one working at the school including those who are there on contract.

 

Do I think it's a greivous error? No. It does not change the ramifications of the case or what the district should have done. It's an insignificant error.

[Steff]

Bulls***.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Bulls***.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Go bother someone else today I'm tired of being stalked by someone like you.

Put me on your ignore list.

[Spiff]

Bulls***.

 

 

Sheesh, calm down. It was an honest mistake.

[Steff]

Sheesh, calm down.  It was an honest mistake.

 

 

Spiff... for someone who claimed to follow this there is no way it was an honest mistake. That he was a teacher was simply not reported.. not possible.

[Steff]

Can you believe that during the process of his being hired as a contract teacher no one at FL board of education did a background check?  No one in the teacher's union bothered to check him out either?

 

 

Spiff.. this is what pissed me off... the nerve to say they didn't check their facts.. then not check facts and s*** on the school board. It's stupid, irresponsible, and hypocritical.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Spiff... for someone who claimed to follow this there is no way it was an honest mistake. That he was a teacher was simply not reported.. not possible.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I posted that over 13 hours ago based on a Yahoo news link. I should have pasted the link at the time. I'm not sure if it's still there. But honestly I hope you take the time & look at how petty you're being.

 

Did I dispute your post? No. Did I claim that mine was w/out error? No.

Did I claim my source was infaliable? No. Did I admit they & I in that respect made a mistake? Yes.

 

So feeling the need to call someone a liar after that doesn't actually paint a picture of decent human being on your part.

 

Regardless I am curious as to the source so I am looking for it.

[Steff]

Regardless I am curious as to the source so I am looking for it.

 

 

Don't bother, there isn't one. I looked BEFORE I called your bs out.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Don't bother, there isn't one. I looked BEFORE I called your bs out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You need professional help. The only part my post got wrong was the capacity he worked at in the school. That's not bs. That's a mistake. If I were running the new agency that created the link I would have removed it by now. A counselor can help you with your need to be they way you are.

Edited March 23, 2005 by JUGGERNAUT

[mreye]

Can we stop this?