Search Teams Scoured Florida For Signs Of Somer

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Somer, 7, was last seen in Orange Park, Fla.

Florida police searched for days for 7-year-old Somer Renee Thompson, who disappeared Oct. 19, 2009.

Somer left Grove Park Elementary School, where she was in 2nd grade, at 2:50 p.m. that Monday, and was walking home from school with her twin brother, 10-year-old sister, and some friends.

Cops say Somer and another child got in an argument and Somer ran ahead of them. At some point the kids lost sight of her.

Somer's siblings arrived home safely at about 3:05 p.m. expecting to find her there, but no one would report seeing her alive again.

Her mother's boyfriend, Sean Patton, was at the house and asked the children where Somer was. They said she walked off.

Sean and the kids searched for Somer for an hour. When Somer's mother called, Sean told her Somer had not made it home.

She left work immediately and spoke to a Sheriff's deputy to report her daughter missing.

Somer's father lives in North Carolina.

The Clay County, Fla. Sheriff's Office issued an AMBER Alert and launched an investigation and began searching the area near where Somer was last seen.

Cops said the search for Somer was their primary focus. The effort involved all resources available, including divers, a helicopter and search dogs.

On the morning of Oct. 20, 2009, the search expanded, first to a 3-mile radius and later to five miles.

"This is an all-out search," Clay County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Dan Mahla said. "It's go-time for us we're searching anything and everything we can."

As of 3 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2009, police had received about 150 leads. At that time they had followed up on about 80 of the leads, so far.

"There's any number of things that could've happened so we're  hoping for the best but we're working it as if it were a crime scene right  now," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said at a news conference on Oct. 20, 2009.

Police interviewed 57 sex offenders and sexual predators within a three-mile radius. They then expanded that search area to a five-mile radius to include 37 more, which included some homes in the Jacksonville, Fla. area.

On Oct. 21, 2009, police said they had searched the homes of 58 sexual predators in a five-mile radius with some of the best K-9 teams in the state and found no sign of the girl.

Teams searched every backyard and went inside most houses in the area.

"We did everything and went everywhere that a 7-year-old would be," Sgt. Joey Jett of Clay County Sheriff's Office said.

Police called in various branches of the military to help with the search, but still had no leads in the case.

No one had seen Somer and no one saw anyone pick her up.

Cops considered Somer an endangered missing child and suspected foul play.

Rumors surfaced that there was an attempted abduction in that area 10 days before Somer's disappearance, but cops were not sure if the incident was related.

A witness saw a little girl talking to someone in a car, and asked her if she knew the person. The girl said she did not, and that the person had asked her to get in the car.

When the witness turned around, the car was gone. Cops didn't focus on this, but acknowledged that it occurred.

Missing Child's Body Discovered In Ga. Landfill

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Cops say Somer disappeared on her way home from school.

The "all-out search" for Somer came to an abrupt halt when police announced the discovery of a young child's body in a Georgia landfill Oct. 21, 2009.

Based on a distinctive birthmark and a description of the child's clothing, the body was identified as that of missing 7-year-old Somer Thompson.

Somer disappeared on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 while walking home from school.

Detectives followed garbage trucks from Somer's neighborhood to the landfill, just over the Georgia border.
Cops say the body was in one of them.

An autopsy was performed by the Georgia medical examiner, who was able to positively identify her through medical records.

Cops notified Somer's mother of the discovery.

"Needless to say she was devastated. It was the hardest phone call I've ever had to make in my life, and I hope I never have to make another one like that," Clay County, Fla. Sheriff Rick Beseler said.

Family, Friends And Supporters Lay Somer To Rest

Hundreds of friends, family and supporters gathered around Somer's mother, Diena Thompson as she grieved at a vigil on Wednesday night.

The crowd sang Somer's favorite song, "You Are My Sunshine."

"I love her and I'll miss her and she's a twin and I don't know how it's going to affect him, but I know how it's affecting me," Diena said.

A public viewing for Somer was held Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, at 5 p.m. and a public funeral service was held Tueday at 11 a.m.

The family asked that the graveside service and burial be kept private. Several people offered to help her family with funeral costs.

Somer's mother thanked searchers, police and supporters for all of their help in a letter released to the media.

"I have no words to describe the level of support that my family and I have received from the people I do not know, from friends and neighbors, from local military personnel and their commands, from advocate groups and from law enforcement personnel from the local to the national level. To all of you, I say again, Thank You," Diena wrote.

"I have never felt the embrace of a community, until now."

Somer's Body Discoved In Ga. Landfill