FL FL - Jennifer Odom, 12, Blanton, 19 Feb 1993

[Skully]

They wrapped it up this afternoon, nothing found.

http://www.hernandosheriff.org/appl...130619_Search for Evidence at Lake Jovita.pdf

 

[Skully]

http://www.baynews9.com/content/new...icles/bn9/2013/6/19/investigators_chasin.html



Interesting article.....

 

[Skully]

Then rolls the truck into the lake where his parents own property.

Idk. The whole thing is weird. I hope they find the truck.

Sounds kind of risky doesn't it? I mean if you own a blue truck and LE is looking into anyone with one, and they run a check against DMV records, don't you have to explain where your truck went too? And it would be a big risk to dump it into your own back yard lake, what if someone sees you? Maybe it is in a lake, just not that one.

 

[Skully]

Found this on sunbiz http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/Co...fac-41eb-b2ea-302ea2eba423/kieferalfred/Page1

Intesting. Hunt Club? That makes me think he knew the area.Strange name for a hunt club.


Edit- note the year it was dissolved 1993.

You know that date of dissolving the company is weird, they had the company for 22 yrs and 7 months and then just end it. I put in the address of the site they were diving at and the address of this Hunt Club in google maps and you have to drive right past Jennifer's bus stop. I am sure many people drove past it every day, but I am just throwing it out there. So it is not anything big but something I think about.

 

[Skully]

I was also thinking about that long drive from Jennifer's home to where her body was found and it seems so long a way to restrain a person if LE think she died at the horse trial. But then it hits me, maybe he had access to a knock out drug. I never thought that is where she died, I always felt like he took her to a remote house he had access too, but LE thinks she died soon after she was taken. I read or heard that they think she died on that trial. If that is the case, she was alive on that ride to the trail. If she knew him, maybe she would be scared but never think he would kill her and didn't try to get out of the truck along the way, but if she were drugged, that makes it easier to get to where you are going. Makes you think.

 

[Skully]

I went back the last few days and read this entire thread and the dream thread. After the Lake Jovita search and the release of a person's name that they questioned and owned the house at the lake, I think my video ride is wrong. I don't think he took St Joe's to Lake Iola road, I think he took a right at the bus stop and went north, then at Tipton he went to Triliby then West onto Church road and then Spring Lake aka County Line, to where he dumped her body. I want to make that ride. Her stuff is still out there, I can't get it out of my head that there is evidence that is out there waiting to be found. Maybe I just can't stand the fact that someone got away with her murder. After the one today in JAX FL, I am madder than a wet hen. :stormingmad:

 

[HernandoCtyUnsolved]

I have kept up on this thread for over a year now but this is my first contribution. I am a Hernando County resident and like many others, I'm haunted by this unsolved case. I used to think this was just a crime of opportunity, that the perp was a stranger, grove or migrant worker, something along those lines.

But just as authorities seem to believe, this case reeks of an inside job. Someone within the family's circle that Jennifer knew well enough to leave without a struggle. Someone that knew the abduction would go largely unnoticed amidst the bustle of workers in the grove in February. Someone that knew the geography of the area well enough to dispose of her body and her personal effects in two very remote locations.

I think we all sat with baited breath last week as they searched Lake Jovita behind Al Kiefer's house. The guy is definitely worth a second look, especially with his family's history so tied to the area through the citrus industry and the fact that he apparently dated Jennifer's aunt in the past. All it takes is one sick, twisted sociopath to carry something like this out and then live under the radar and under our noses all along.

I leave you with this.. I had the opportunity to live in Holland for a year while in the Navy and through social media I have kept in touch with many friends over there. When Jennifer's murder reached it's 20th anniversary a few months back, I posted the story and got a quick reply from a friend over there. Here's what she said about a similar case in her very own town:

After a young girl's rape and murder had gone unsolved for 17 years, detectives made over 3500 men in the girl's town and surrounding villages submit DNA and fingerprints in hopes of finally cracking the case. And wouldn't you know it, because of this, they got him.

Now if only we could cut through all the red tape over here and finally get a match on those fingerprints that were inside Jennifer's bookbag, or a link to some DNA evidence they may have been with-holding all these years. Thanks for your time everyone and I look forward to future posts on this case.

 

[Skully]

WELCOME Hernandocountyunsolved!

Thank you for the post. I check everyday for a view or someone who remembers this case. I agree with you that is was an inside case. In the beginning, I knew only what was in the papers and I thought, must be a migrant worker, I mean that makes sense, they had opportunity, means and motive, but the more I read and dug, the more I see that he knew her and her family.

Al Kiefer is worth a second look, but why? That is my question, what made them look at him? That truck is probably long gone and any other evidence that they need, but I keep the hope that the person will mess up and HCSO will get him. It took 10 yrs to get John List, but they did. I don't see why we can't get DNA and prints from locals, I have heard of it in other states here and it worked. Cost would be my guess. I would do fundraising for that. Anyway glad you finally posted and happy you keep up with the thread.

 

[carbuff]

The fingerprint thing only works if they have reason to think the person was local, is still in the area, and they haven't collected his prints from another source. If, for example (I don't know whether this is the case) all the prints on the book bag were from people who might have had a reason to handle the bag, then a mass screening isn't going to tell them anything.

In the US it has to be voluntary, as well. You can't force people to give up that kind of information if they aren't suspected of a crime. (And it didn't work very well in the Molly Bish case. No results, lots of neighborhood resentment, several people no longer cooperating with LE because of the way it was handled.)

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

She knew her killer. and the killer knew the family and vice versus.
She was an extremely attractive young girl. And someone developed an obsession/fantasy towards her because of it. He used his connection with the family to kept him close to the girl.

I would tell the LEOS, to get a hold of the Alaskan officials and see if they have any cases check the MOs.

 

[HernandoCtyUnsolved]

Carbuff: I am in agreement that canvassing the locals for DNA, etc. will never happen. Unfortunately, IMO this is one of the few techniques left that could shed new light on the case. ::

I moonlight doing a paper route here in Hernando County and have to drive by the murder locations of two unsolved cold cases (Jessica Odom and Richard Leo March) every night around 3am. It's beyond creepy some nights.

I'm going to continue digging on Kiefer. Here's a snippet from the article last week when they were searching his house/lake:

Al Kiefer Jr., 66, was questioned in the case.

A member of a prominent Dade City family that ran a downtown pharmacy and other businesses, he owns the house where authorities were searching Tuesday.

He now lives in Anchorage, Alaska, but said talk of the investigation seemed to be on everyone's lips when he came down to visit in April.

Reached by phone, Kiefer recalled the interrogation but declined to discuss details without an attorney.

"I know that they came in and asked different things," he said, "but that's just between me and them."

:: Sure doesn't dispel suspicion in my mind. Until next time guys.

 

[HernandoCtyUnsolved]

Kiefer was a barefoot water skier since way back.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...m5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y1oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6531,4262642

Jennifer was 'champion barefoot water skier' as referenced in many articles.

http://tampabaytimes.fl.newsmemory....ge=06192013tbt011t.pdf.0&id=art_1.xml&device=

Quite a coincidence. The barefoot water skiing community in sleepy east Pasco county couldn't have been that large. I'm certain that he had plenty of contact with Odom with this connection.

IMO the writing's on the wall. Lack of physical evidence has pigeon-holed law enforcement from making an arrest all these years.

 

[Skully]

I see where he could have had interaction or an opportunity to be around Jennifer, but it was a small town. She was very active in lots of things, 4H, water skiing, her church, school activities and lots of family and friends. I think LE has something more than just opportunity but like you state, no hard evidence to charge anyone. He dated the Aunt, so he may have been around for family meals or holidays, that would make him at least aware of Jennifer and maybe her routine. He lived close enough to drive past the bus stop if he had business in or around that area too. I wish there was a way to find out if he owned a blue truck because that was the goal of the dive team off his back dock area. I know they have to follow every tip they get, and that was one of them. Good find on the article. I don't have access to newspaper achieves, but maybe it is a good investment. Thanks for posting this.

Oh, BTW, the route he would have taken to the Hunt Club psychical location from his home, goes directly past her bus stop. I don't know if the Hunt Club was a place they ever met at or did business at, or if it was just a address used for the LLC purpose. But he ended up living near that location a few yrs after Jennifer's murder.

 

[Skully]

I was thinking about AK last night, and if he worked or owned a pharmacy, wouldn't he have to have his prints on file for the DEA? Or why can't they just ask him for a DNA sample? I don't know if they have any DNA in this case, but I do read that samples of something are sent for comparison each year and I know the FBI sent of some kind of samples. It could be sweat, or something like that, but why not just ask AK?

 

[carbuff]

I was thinking about AK last night, and if he worked or owned a pharmacy, wouldn't he have to have his prints on file for the DEA? Or why can't they just ask him for a DNA sample? I don't know if they have any DNA in this case, but I do read that samples of something are sent for comparison each year and I know the FBI sent of some kind of samples. It could be sweat, or something like that, but why not just ask AK?

Even a DNA match probably wouldn't be enough to justify an arrest if he dated Jennifer's aunt and visited the house. His DNA could have been there naturally without any guilt. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like there's any real evidence, only speculation, and I imagine similar cases could be built against several people.

 

[HernandoCtyUnsolved]

I think we need to look beyond physical evidence at this point.

Here's where I'm at: Reeling in all circumstantial evidence and eliminating the other plausible theories. I'm aware that with this comes personal speculation based on a lot of digging and studying the facts of the case. IMO, there will never be an arrest or conviction. But we can still try to figure it out.

 

[Skully]

The family has stated many times that Jennifer wouldn't go with a stranger, and she was told to drop her stuff and run if ever approached by a stranger. They have wondered if it was some one that had dinner at their home, so they think it was someone that knew them. Okay, AK would have known them, but what story could he have given her at that time, to get her into that truck? The Aunt was not dating him at the time of Jennifer's kidnapping. She dated him in the past, I don't know when, but she was not dating him at the time of Jennifer's kidnapping.

 

[Skully]

I have questions, if anyone local to Pasco/Hernando knows it, please chime in.

4H clubs in 1990's were the clubs divided up by girl/boy? Or was it one club, boys and girls working together and competing? Who worked with the 4H clubs (adults) with the kids?

Did the local pharmacy deliver? Would there still be records of any delivery or employees? I thought that maybe someone stopped by and offered a ride to the top of the road because they had a RX delivery for someone. Or perhaps they wanted to borrow something related to a common activity, like skiing. That would be a way to get someone to just get in a truck and not think anything of it.

 

[carbuff]

I don't think 4H was ever divided by sex, anywhere. It was one of its appeals

 

[HernandoCtyUnsolved]

Look who helped this young aspiring barefoot water skiier out.

http://www.barefootwaterskier.com/i...user_op=view_printable&PAGE_id=11&lay_quiet=1