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

Thanks for the links Mr T. I read the 2008 article, that is the newest i have found. I sort of think there were 2 men in this case. If you are driving down a person's driveway, because that is really what it is when you live out here, so close to the home, you want to do this as quick as possible. She was 12, so she would have been hard to keep in a truck and drive. I would think he had help. He drove and the other person snatched her. Of course this is just my imagination of how someone could take a 12 yr old in broad daylight with witness very close, (school bus and kids). Any thoughts on this case???? I want to see if I can post a map of where she was taken and where she was found along with the places the items were recovered. As soon as I get the psychical address, I will post it. Wonder if we could get some others here to help us sleuth this case???? Do you think we would be allowed a Dream/Vision thread since they (Hernando SO) had one person do a reading already???? I think that is great they were so open minded to do this.
 
I will see what I can do. I was surprised to read that NM worked this case. I didn't know Hernando was so open to this. I am happy she was able to give them some insight, if you know what I mean. I moved here in 2000 and had only read what was on the Sheriff's office site. Hernando has a really good LE team. I was really impressed with how large and up to date they are. I had no idea we had our own Forensic unit and swat team. They just recently solved a double murder case this year that was IIRC around 8 yrs old. So I have faith she will get justice one day.

Thanks for the links Mr T. I read the 2008 article, that is the newest i have found. I sort of think there were 2 men in this case. If you are driving down a person's driveway, because that is really what it is when you live out here, so close to the home, you want to do this as quick as possible. She was 12, so she would have been hard to keep in a truck and drive. I would think he had help. He drove and the other person snatched her. Of course this is just my imagination of how someone could take a 12 yr old in broad daylight with witness very close, (school bus and kids). Any thoughts on this case???? I want to see if I can post a map of where she was taken and where she was found along with the places the items were recovered. As soon as I get the psychical address, I will post it. Wonder if we could get some others here to help us sleuth this case???? Do you think we would be allowed a Dream/Vision thread since they (Hernando SO) had one person do a reading already???? I think that is great they were so open minded to do this.

I am still looking for the unsolved mysteries episode, and the Americas Most Wanted episode to use as visual aids.

Any Visual aids in these cold cases are very Welcomed.

As are any original photos taken at the time the crime was committed. Your comment about the room with the stacks of files from LE on the case excited me. How i would love to spend a week or so in that room!

I wish they would release some of those files, since the case has gone cold.
And I look forward to seeing your MAP!!!!!!!!!
As far as the dream thread, i really don't know how that works. Perhaps asking a mod would give you the answer.
I am not very good at sleuthing, i rely on information posted by others mostly, before posting my thoughts on cases.

I give credit to the officer whom went outside the box in his investigation to try and solve this crime. Its not often, an LE investigator will use methods as he did, to try and solve a crime such as this. If Jennifer was my daughter, I to, would want them to do anything that may help solve this crime.

I wont have any thoughts on this case until i see the videos. And/or be able to read any official LE documents on this case.

I do know they had some POI. And one they took to a GJ, but the GJ failed to indict with the evidence given to them. Others were determined to either be in jail at the time, or out of state during the crime.

The fingerprint in the purse, could have been a schoolmate?

Uncertain if it was the killers print.

But just speculating on that.

...OT...
Interesting.
I replied to your post, number 21.
And your post, number 16 showed up also in the reply?
That has never happened to me before?
Remember the numbers 1621, and or 2116.
And your icon is beautiful!
Reminds me of a Mona painting.
 
Mr TT,

I did request a dream thread, will have to see how that pans out. If you read through the time line it names the two POI that they looked at, but neither one fit the bill. Both deceased now. That print holds the key, but the person must be very smart to never have been arrested on anything over time to connect them to her. I would think there is DNA also in this case.

I would love to see the videos as well. Hope others will come on board and join us. We have some really good sleuths here.:dance:
 
hope this link works, it is a story on Cherie Morrisette and her killer being caught after 10 years due to DNA. She was killed in 1996 in Jacksonville. I hope they checked this guy out.



http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505EFDF1E31F934A25750C0A9609C8B63



sniped


10 Years After Girl's Murder, DNA Link Results in Arrest
By STACEY STOWE
Published: March 17, 2006



For almost a decade after her body was found in a Florida river, there was no suspect in the death of Cherie Morrisette, 11. But the police here announced on Thursday that a New Britain man would be charged with her rape and murder after a DNA database linked him to the crime.

The man, Robert Shelton Mitchell, 43, was arraigned in Superior Court in New Britain on Thursday and charged as a fugitive from justice from Jacksonville, Fla. He was held on a $5 million bond, awaiting extradition to Florida, where he will be charged with first-degree murder and capital sexual battery, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police.

When he was questioned by detectives from Florida on Wednesday, Mr. Mitchell confessed to raping Cherie, said Chuck Mulligan, a spokesman for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office in Florida. Mr. Mulligan added that Mr. Mitchell was ''being elusive and denying that he had anything to do with her murder.''

On Dec. 2, 1996, Cherie left her apartment in Mandarin, on the south side of Jacksonville, after arguing with her sister, 12, over washing the dishes, Mr. Mulligan said. Six days later, her clothed body was found in the St. Johns River, 13 miles away. An autopsy found no signs of foul play. But forensics testing found evidence of semen, and detectives classified the case as a homicide, Mr. Mulligan said.

Over the years, Florida detectives tried to use DNA from Cherie's body to solve her murder but it was not until last year that a DNA profile was developed by the Biology Laboratory of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The profile was sent to the nationwide DNA bank, where it matched Mr. Mitchell's sample, officials said. Florida detectives received the results about a week and half ago and flew to Connecticut on Tuesday, Mr. Mulligan said.

Mr. Mitchell, in prison in 2003 after being convicted of sexual contact with a 13-year-old in Windsor Locks, had given a DNA sample to the Connecticut sex offenders' registry, Sergeant Vance said. The Connecticut Forensics Laboratory entered the sample into the nationwide data bank. At the time of the killing, Mr. Mitchell lived in Middleburg, Fla.

''He picked her up when she left her apartment,'' Mr. Mulligan said. ''We believe it was a crime of opportunity. He wasn't stalking her.''
 
We now have a Dream/Vision thread for Jennifer Odom! It is located in the parking lot. So please feel free to move posts that apply or post any thing about dreams you may have had about Jennifer or this case.

Thank you Kimster for the thread:angel:
 
Mr TT,

I did request a dream thread, will have to see how that pans out. If you read through the time line it names the two POI that they looked at, but neither one fit the bill. Both deceased now. That print holds the key, but the person must be very smart to never have been arrested on anything over time to connect them to her. I would think there is DNA also in this case.

I would love to see the videos as well. Hope others will come on board and join us. We have some really good sleuths here.:dance:
I to would like to know if they have a DNA profile, even if there has been no match so far. Just to know they do have the DNA identity of the killer perhaps, is a good thing.

As far as the print/prints i have seen both in articles. One mentions print was found, and another will mention prints? I would like to see the LE document, that states which of the two is correct?

Even though they are open on this case, they are still very much tight lipped about certain things, which is understandable.
That is why I am still looking for, hoping to see the unsolved mysteries episode. It will take us there, where the crime occurred and show us things. It will show us what LE officials speculate may have happened on that day! And with that, and knowing if they do or don't have a DNA identity on record and if it was a print or prints found inside the bay, we can try and help fill in some of the blanks.
 
Mr TT,

I couldn't find the 48 Hours program on the site, but they had the latest articles to 2006. After reading them, the case and clarinet were found together and that was in 1995. So nothing new since then :(
 
My theory for today:

One person

I was thinking about Jennifer and her walking home after school and the fact she had a backpack, clarinet with case and a purse. If she had the backpack on, her purse on her shoulder and she was carrying the case, a person approaching her to get her into that truck or car, most likely knew her. Here's way; he is driving, so to get her in the car or truck he had to stop and force her in and then keep her in the car as he tries to shut doors, drive the car and get away at 3pm, risk someone seeing him or hearing him or her (screams). The chances of her dropping one of those items is high in a struggle. So for this theory I will say he knows her. What if he offered to give her a lift, just to her door, as he is going to the house or that way for some reason, and she gets in. Now if you are wearing a backpack with school books and supplies, I would think you would maybe slide it off to sit in a car or truck, and maybe toss it into a back seat along with the clarinet case. Most likely she would set it in the front seat in between them for the ride to the house, but let's say she put in the back seat because he asked her too. So she has her purse with her. So we know she didn't get to the front door as it was locked, so what happened? Did he say he had to pick something up that he forgot, it will only take a second and we will be right back? Maybe it was at his home, or work place, or a school. I say this, because, if she knew him or trusted him enough to get into the car or truck, she may have felt safe enough to go for that short distance to go get that tool or item he has to get. This would explain no struggle or items left at the road leading up to the home. This would also make me think he took her to a secondary location and disposed of her body at a third location. I got to thinking why were her cloths not found with the backpack and the case? I think when they got to the secondary location, he asked her to come in. She got out, leaving the backpack and case in the car and took her purse into a home, or building. She was separated from those items. When it was time to clean up he may have gathered the cloths, shoes and purse, and put them in a bag or tossed them into a dumpster. He then took her body to a separate location. If the backpack or case were in the back seat, he may have noticed it at a later time and drove to a dump site and tossed them. He didn't take her jewelry as any kind of keepsake, so I think he would have disposed of the cloths too, just as he did the backpack and case, I just think they were over looked in all the excitement of getting rid of the body and trying to get rid of any evidence of her being there. There is the possibility that he used two different vehicles too. The truck could have been what he picked her up in but put her in a trunk of a car to dispose of the body. This would explain forgetting about the case and backpack. The truck described is old and may not have had a back seat or cap on the back, so how do you transport a body unsee? So that is why I think he used a car to get rid of the body. I don't know if Pasco county has a different dump site than Hernando back in 1993 but if the cloths were tossed into a dumpster or trash, they could be in a different dump site than where the case and backpack were found. Also, if she knew him, and this was an old truck, he could have been much younger, not being able to afford a nice car, not able to get dates with girls his own age; things like that.
 
I have always felt that Jennifer was abducted/killed by someone who knew her or her family. The family lived in a rural area, its uncommon (not impossible) that a sexual preditor goes looking for a child in a rural area.

For example, another case from this area that happened several years ago; Elisa Nielson. Larry Eugene Mann was convicted of killing her, she was abducted walking to school late from a dentist appt. She was walking in Palm Harbor on a busy road, aprox 1 block from her school.

I live in west pasco, there are some strange strange people that wander the streets all hours. I sit on my porch and they dont bother me (I keep the screen locked lol). I just cant imagine that this perp found Jennifer and got her to get in his truck without her objecting in broad daylight unless she knew him or knew of him.

I wonder if they have run the finger print recently.
 
I agree, I sat the other day and tried to visualize how this went down and the only way I see her going without a fight is she either knew the person well enough to go willingly or there were two people that day and she was just ambushed and put in the truck. But there would have been some sign of struggle. I don't if the print has been run since 2006 or not. I read that they sent out DNA to be run in 2006. Do you know where she was found, on what road? I wanted to post a map of the locations that she was taken to where her stuff was found and her location?

Thanks
 
I'll have to check google archieves to see where she was was located. I remember it was an orange grove in a different county near the western part of the co I believe. I remember pulling it up on mapquest when Jessica Lunsford disappeared.
 
I know she was found in Hernando, in an orange grove, but I thought it was Lake Lindsey road???? I also heard that the items found were behind Oak Hill Hospital but it was before the hospital was built. I don't know where she was taken from, the road name. I wanted to do a google maps with pins for each place just to see the distance and areas. 41 and Lake Lindsey are about the same as they were back in 1993 I am told.
 
If she knew and trusted her killer, I am trying to think who she would be inclined to be that trusting with and yet the family doesn't know them or LE hasn't tied them into this in some way. At that age, I would have trusted a teacher, another parent of a friend or classmate. I would have trusted maybe an older boy who drove, if I liked him. Definitely some one from church, or a coach from school. Neighbors that were close to me, maybe someone who did work around the house for my parents, like on the cars, or yard work, something like that. These wouldn't be stranger to a young girl if they were people you had contact with and your parents liked them or trusted them. I know they looked into everyone who owned a older blue pickup truck, but none of them led anywhere. If she had a boy interested in her, would she keep that to herself or would she confide in a best friend? I think she would have at least mentioned if a older boy liked her, one that drove. She was in lots of sports and an honor student so she came into contact with lots of people I would think..... :waitasec:
 
I do now have locations on a map of where she was taken from, to where her body was found to where her backpack and case where found. So my list changes on who could have been around that day. The areas are not near each other, and from what I know of it, you would have to know where she lived; I don't see someone just stumbling upon this girl walking home. In the dream/vision thread, I stated he had been down that road before, I am more convinced of that now.

Delivery person
Bus driver
Mail carrier
Tow truck driver
Emergency person
Real Estate person
Contractor

These are all people who would have to know the areas around them if they work any of these types of jobs. 1993 we didn't gave GPS for cars, we were still using maps. I don't think we had Map Quest either. So if you did any kind of job like the above you could spot a girl getting off a school bus and follow her up a long road to her home. Most of these people would have a flexible time frame for work. Most of jobs would allow you to be out at 3pm and driving around and have flexable time to pickup a person and then later dispose of a body, and swing around to a dump site and toss out evidence.

Mr TT where are you?
 
continued...

Lawn cutting, tree trimming
Road workers
A recent visitor of a neighbor or friend not normally in the area
Meter reader
Trash pick ups

All could have known the areas but still has to be someone that knew Mom and dad worked and Little sister came home later. Someone she may have trusted to get into a truck or there were two people and she had no choice. Still nothing dropped or left behind as if a struggle occurred. So I still feel someone stopped with the ruse of giving her a lift to the house.

Feels like I am just blogging to myself here, but I really want to get my thoughts out. I still hope someone who has that little doubt, that suspecting of a person, that nagging feeling, will read here and call LE or tell someone about that "feeling". He may have called off work that Friday or came home with scratches but said it was from work, but you had a "feeling". :waitasec:
 
School busstop at intersection of Jessimine/Jim Denny Rd.

Jennifer's body was found in an abandoned orange grove in southeastern Hernando County off Powell Road in the Spring Lake area.
The crack in the case was in 1995, when Jennifer's missing book bag and clarinet case were found near Oak Hill Hospital in Weeki Wachee, almost 13 miles away from where Jennifer was found.

Bern, Oak Hill Hosp. was not there in 1993?
 
I don't think it was there in 1993, but reports recaping the story, later on as the years went by, my be using it as a landmark. I think there was a dump site behind it, before they built the hospital, but I can check.
 

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