She's Home Now

Saturday, March 19, 2005


HOMOSASSA, Fla. — The news this small community always feared finally came Saturday: Police had found the body of 9-year-old Jessica Marie Lunsford, more than three weeks after she disappeared from her bedroom.

Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said Jessica's body was found during an overnight search near a mobile home close to the house where she lived with her father and grandparents. A registered sex offender confessed Friday to the kidnapping and killing and told authorities where to look for the missing girl.

Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, visited the search scene shortly after sunrise. Later, he slowly walked up to a throng of reporters and cameras.

"Everyone heard me say, time after time, that she would be home," Lunsford said, his eyes hidden behind dark black sunglasses. "She's home now."

...John Evander Couey, 46, confessed to kidnapping and killing Jessica after taking a lie-detector test Friday in Georgia, Dawsy said.



...At a news conference late Friday from Ohio, the girl's mother, Angela Bryant, repeatedly made the same vow: Couey, she said, "will pay."

"This man's hurt too many people," she said through tears. "He's hurt too many children. And one of them is my daughter. He took her life from her and she didn't deserve it. He will pay."

Jessica, a third grader, was last seen when she went to bed after attending church. She was discovered missing the next morning, with the door unlocked and her stuffed animal gone. The clothes she had laid out for school were still in place, and her shoes weren't missing.

...Detectives grew interested in Couey while interviewing all registered sex offenders in the area. They tried to contact Couey at his home in Homosassa five days after Jessica disappeared and discovered he no longer lived there.

...Authorities said Couey left Florida on or about March 4. He was arrested in Augusta, Ga., on a probation violation for failing to notify officials that he was moving, a requirement for sex offenders.

Couey has an extensive criminal record that includes 24 burglary arrests, carrying a concealed weapon and indecent exposure. In 1991, he was arrested in Kissimmee on a charge of fondling a child under age 16. Records don't show how the case was resolved.

During a house burglary in 1978, Couey was accused of grabbing a girl in her bedroom, placing his hand over her mouth and kissing her, Dawsy said. Couey was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was paroled in 1980.
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There is something wrong with a penal system that allows repeat offenders back into society.

Of course, Couey is responsible for his unspeakable crime. However, if the system permits these monsters to be released, it is responsible for closely monitoring them.

Did anyone in law enforcement who was aware of Couey's record really believe he was rehabilitated?

Letting these animals loose to prey on children again, as they are likely to do, is unconsionable.

Because Couey's punishment was inadequate, because he was trusted to live among the good people of society, a sweet nine-year-old is dead.

Now, as Jessica's mother said, Couey will pay.

He will never hurt another child.

The question becomes: Why did Jessica have to die to achieve that end?

God rest Jessica's soul and may her parents find comfort in their faith.