Sheriff: Somer Thompson's body found in landfill
Authorities have tentatively identified a body found in a landfill as that of 7th year old Somer Thompson, a north Florida girl who disappeared on her walk home from school, the sheriff in charge of the case said Thursday.

Sheriff Rick Beseler said Thursday that the identification was
based on clothing on the body and a birthmark that matched the girl’s.

The partially covered body of the child was found in a Georgia landfill near the Florida state line, after investigators followed garbage trucks leaving the neighborhood where the child disappeared Monday.


Beseler said at a news conference he still fears for the community until a suspect is apprehended. He wouldn’t talk about what evidence police have recovered, or whether investigators believe the crime was committed by one or more people.

An FBI forensic unit is helping process evidence from the landfill.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation planned an autopsy Thursday.

The landfill is in Folkston, Ga., about 48 miles from where the girl disappeared.

Somer vanished on her mile-long walk home from school in Orange Park. She was squabbling with another child, and her sister told her to stop. The girl got upset, walked ahead of the group and wasn’t seen again.


Orange Park is a suburb of Jacksonville just south of Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The area where the girl disappeared is a heavily populated residential area with homes, apartment complexes and condominiums.