ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Chubby-cheeked Somer Thompson was last seen alive walking along the sidewalk in front of a vacant house, and authorities said Friday that they’re searching for someone who saw what happened to the 7-year-old after that.
Her teary but resolute mother warned her daughter’s killer: “We’ll get you.”
The day after the child’s body was identified, authorities said they had ruled out all 161 registered sex offenders who lived within 5 miles of Somer’s home. Despite pursuing hundreds of leads, police have not made an arrest.
Investigators sifted through evidence from the vacant house and the Georgia landfill where her body was discovered Wednesday. Investigators had followed garbage trucks there, about 50 miles away from her neighborhood in suburban Jacksonville.
Somer vanished while walking home from her elementary school Monday afternoon. The vacant house is on her route through a heavily populated neighborhood, and witnesses last saw the girl alive in front of it.
She had become upset as she walked home with other children Monday and ran ahead of the group.
However, no witnesses have come forward to say they saw Somer attacked or abducted, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Mary Justino.
An autopsy has been completed and investigators know how Somer died, but authorities won’t disclose their findings or details about the body.
Somer’s mother, Diena Thompson, appeared red-eyed on all three network TV shows and said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that investigators will catch her daughter’s killer.
“We’re coming for you,” she said. “We’ll get you, and hopefully justice will be served.”
