GUILTY AR - Jersey Bridgeman, 6, raped & murdered, Bentonville, 20 Nov 2012 #1

[STEADFAST]

Police said Jersey was inside the abandoned house at the time of her death. . . .

DesaRae is shown in a photograph with this story holding a child identified by neighbor Dariel Eubanks as Jersey. The photo is from Thomas’ Facebook page. Another photo on this page, also from Thomas’ Facebook page, shows him holding the child. He says on his Facebook page he works at an E-Z Mart.
Police on Tuesday were in an E-Z Mart near Jersey’s house, interviewing employees.

http://5newsonline.com/2012/11/20/police-investigate-childs-death/


Jersey's mother has had primary custody of her since the divorce and Jersey was living with her at the time of her death. http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas...girl/-/8897460/17514464/-/xg2ch4/-/index.html

​

 

[Lois Lane]

The Bentonville Police Department could name a suspect in the homicide of a 6-year-old Bentonville girl as early as tomorrow, Chief Jon Simpson told reporters Wednesday. “I feel confident that we have the resources that we need, that we’ve taken the steps that we needed to take as quickly as possible,” Simpson said. “The answers to all of our questions are within reach.”

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2012/nov/21/second-day-homicide-investigation/

Unfortunately, nwaonline is subscription only for the full article. I'll see what I can find elsewhere.

 

[Lois Lane]

BENTONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
908 Southeast 14th Street
Bentonville, Arkansas 72712

PRESS RELEASE
[Missing Child/Homicide Investigation]
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Contact: Chief Jon Simpson
(479) 271-3170

Bentonville, AR Tuesday morning, November 20th, 2012, at 6:43 AM the Bentonville Police Department received the report of a missing 6 year old female. The child was reported to be missing from her home at 608 SE A Street. A neighborhood search resulted in the discovery of the child’s body within a vacant house at 704 SE A Street at 6:53 AM. The missing child has been identified as Jersey Bridgeman. The child’s body was delivered to the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday and an extensive investigation into the death was initiated. Detectives worked throughout the evening to complete three search warrants and collect evidence. These items of evidence are currently being delivered to the Arkansas State Crime Lab. This investigation is currently ongoing and active and will continue without pause until its completion. Previously gathered information is being evaluated, new leads are being examined, and numerous persons are being interviewed. At this time, Medical Examiner and Crime Lab results are pending. To maintain the integrity of this investigation, certain details related to this case (or related to the addresses or persons associated with this case) are currently not available for public release.

Press Release from the Bentonville PD.

Link to the downloadable Press Release:

http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas/northwest/-/8897460/17485812/-/891p94/-/index.html

 

[LarkBunting]

What a sweet, adorable, precious little girl she was! Seeing her pictures made me even sadder for her. I would LOVE a little girl, and some people choose to abuse, neglect, throw their little girls away...or, knowingly (IF that's what happened here) allow shady predators around their kids. WHY?
Also, am I mistaken, or are J's siblings in the custody of child services right now? Not mom or relatives, but state custody? Is this normal in child murder cases, or is something else going on here?

 

[STEADFAST]

What a sweet, adorable, precious little girl she was! Seeing her pictures made me even sadder for her. I would LOVE a little girl, and some people choose to abuse, neglect, throw their little girls away...or, knowingly (IF that's what happened here) allow shady predators around their kids. WHY?
Also, am I mistaken, or are J's siblings in the custody of child services right now? Not mom or relatives, but state custody? Is this normal in child murder cases, or is something else going on here?

I don't think anything has been reported about custody of Jersey's younger sibling. There is nothing to indicate that child protective services have gotten involved at all. The children who were taken away from Jersey's father's custody last year when he was arrested were not her mother's children. I don't know whose children they were. Jersey was visiting him at the time of his crime, but he did not have primary custody of her.

 

[Lois Lane]

Interesting.

The trailer located between the child's home and the vacant house where her body was found was occupied. The trailer was searched today along with the two houses.

Police questioned the man living in the trailer Tuesday.

http://5newsonline.com/2012/11/20/police-investigate-childs-death/

 

[Lois Lane]

I don't think anything has been reported about custody of Jersey's younger sibling. There is nothing to indicate that child protective services have gotten involved at all. The children who were taken away from Jersey's father's custody last year when he was arrested were not her mother's children. I don't know whose children they were. Jersey was visiting him at the time of his crime, but he did not have primary custody of her.

The children taken by DHS last year were the stepmother's (Jana Suzanne Slinkard aka Jana Bridgeman.)

Very confusing going by JanaDavid Bridgeman's Facebook page that is still available, but it's pretty clear they are not the children of Jersey's mother.

 

[LarkBunting]

Got it!
From the nwahomepage link:

"The victim was released to the custody of her biological mother by the Department of Human Services. Two other children in the home, girls ages three and nine, are in ADHS custody."

Okay, so this quote has to do with the children being removed from Jersey's father's home following the dresser chaining incident. I misread and assumed the two other kids were her siblings. My bad.

 

[tlcya]

this article says she was living with a relative at this address. does that mean she was not with her mother? more questions. :banghead:

I beieve she and her mother have been residing with the maternal grandfather at that home.

 

[wfgodot]

So I'm guessing that today's arrest on the failure to register charge means they've got their suspect even if they haven't named him as such yet. Yes? No?

 

[mck16]

I beieve she and her mother have been residing with the maternal grandfather at that home.

Okay, so this quote has to do with the children being removed from Jersey's father's home following the dresser chaining incident. I misread and assumed the two other kids were her siblings. My bad.

This was confusing to me as I thought Jersey was in her father's custody but after the event she was taken away and given to her mother. People have posted though that she was just visiting her father. jmo

 

[tlcya]

So I'm guessing that today's arrest on the failure to register charge means they've got their suspect even if they haven't named him as such yet. Yes? No?

No real way toknow.

They have their suspect or this RSO who was ubregistered came to their attention during the neigborhood sweep.

Wonder if the arrested ubregistered RSO is the same male resident they questioned at the trailer.

Time will tell.

 

[tlcya]

OT stupid tablet, sigh.

 

[borndem]

Well, nursebeeme, I just gotta say it:

Love Your Avatar!!
Gobble, gooble!!

:turkey::turkey::turkey::turkey::turkey::turkey:
Happy Thanksgiving, Sleuths!!
​

 

[borndem]

So sad. May she rest in peace.

Another Little Angel in Heaven. There are so many, so many...

 

[borndem]

If the home where the body was found is vacant it is possible they believe a neighborhood resident (say an RSO, for example) would know about and make use of the abandoned/vacant property.

Ewwww, tlcox. Never thought about that angle. <smh> Things could have gotten out of control, and the worst happened. That makes my skin crawl & makes my blood boil. Yep, that's definitely a possibility. It sounds as if the neighborhood was dense enuff for folks in the neighborhood to know about it. OTOH, anyone in that neighborhood could have taken her there. Was she out of the house & somebody saw her? Had someone been watching her & went in and kidnapped her? Or, or, or...

 

[STEADFAST]

I beieve she and her mother have been residing with the maternal grandfather at that home.

I don't think so. It looks to me from their facebook pages like the maternal grandfather lives in Bella Vista (just north of Bentonville) with his wife.

I think the "relative" is the mom, and the other two people who moved into the house on SE A Street were the younger sibling and the mom's boyfriend, whom she met in September and who soon indicated on facebook that he considered himself a father figure to the two children.

 

[STEADFAST]

This was confusing to me as I thought Jersey was in her father's custody but after the event she was taken away and given to her mother. People have posted though that she was just visiting her father. jmo

There are links below to quotes from the news media that Jersey's mother got primary custody of her in the divorce, which happened, obviously, before he married Jersey's stepmother.

Referring to the abuse incident:

Divorce records show Jersey Bridgeman's mother, DesaRae Bridgeman, had primary custody of the girl.​

Read more: http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas.../17514464/-/xg2ch4/-/index.html#ixzz2CueKuY3L
​

 

[Lois Lane]

No real way toknow.

They have their suspect or this RSO who was ubregistered came to their attention during the neigborhood sweep.

Wonder if the arrested ubregistered RSO is the same male resident they questioned at the trailer.

Time will tell.

Ditto.

 

[Lois Lane]

Jersey Bridgeman's body was found in a nearby vacant house about 10 minutes after she was reported missing Tuesday morning, Bentonville Police Chief Jon Simpson said.

Police in the city about 215 miles northwest of Little Rock are treating her death as a homicide, but they have not said how the girl died or released the names of any suspects. Simpson said autopsy results are pending.

More than 100 people gathered to mourn the child at a candlelight vigil Tuesday at the Children's Advocacy Center of Benton County near Bentonville, the center's executive director, Beverly Engle, said.

"There was a unique quality about Jersey," she said. "A little old soul, but such a delight."

http://m.fox16.com/display/574/story/8643423972579c1448301c9b1d5fa816