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Scope of tragedy emerging slowly, painfully

By GREG HAMILTON
Published April 10, 2005

The prospect is too horrible to imagine: Jessica Lunsford may have been alive and held captive while deputies searching for her stood mere feet away, being scammed by people protecting her abductor.

The terrified Homosassa 9-year-old may have been stashed away inside a rundown mobile home a stone's throw from her own family's house while hundreds of volunteers scoured a 6-mile circle around the neighborhood searching for her.

This innocent child may have been assaulted and murdered virtually in the shadow of the sheriff's mobile command post, which sat humming in front of her home.

No one in any position of authority is saying for certain that any of this is true, and the possibility is based solely on statements that John Couey, who has been charged with murder in this case, has made to authorities since his arrest.

Couey at first said that no one else in the house at the time knew that he had kidnapped Jessica or that she was being held in the house, court documents show. But they also note that a timeline he later gave to investigators "leaves open the possibility" that Jessica may have been alive when authorities came knocking on the door looking for her.

Couey has hardly been a model of consistency in his statements to police. Speaking after Couey's March 17 arrest, Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said, "John Couey admitted to taking Jessica and subsequently taking her life." Then, in court on Monday, Couey pleaded not guilty to the same charges.

Authorities have said that at times, he has been vague and confusing in his comments. However, Couey was absolutely correct in one piece of information that he shared with investigators: The location of Jessica's body.

If it turns out that Jessica indeed was alive for several days following her abduction, it will call into question the actions of law enforcement during the earliest stages of what developed into the most intense missing person search in Citrus County history.

Dawsy so far has been tight-lipped about the investigation and no explanation has been given as to why none of the forensics experts, including highly trained search dogs, were able to pick up a single clue to Jessica's whereabouts. Investigators may feel disinclined to address such matters, but they are valid questions and the public deserves answers.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that any scrutiny of law enforcement's actions should be secondary to an examination of the roles played by Couey and the other adults who shared the mobile home with him.

Twice, deputies went to the house and spoke to people there about Jessica. Both times, the people inside chose to withhold from deputies any mention of Couey in order to protect him.

At the time, deputies had no idea who Couey was or his connection to the case. One of his housemates, however, knew that Couey was a wanted man because of a probation violation. Had he given Couey up at that time, deputies would have searched the house for Couey, who admitted that he was inside hiding from the deputies.

That search might very well have saved Jessica's life.

As if to add further outrage to this case, the State Attorney's Office has dropped the obstruction charges filed earlier against Couey's housemates, saying that "Florida does not have a statute which makes it a crime to lie to a police officer in all situations."

The state also does not require a person to tell authorities the whereabouts of a sex offender, so the housemates were not obliged to give up Couey to the police. At least, not legally. Morally is another matter.

State Sen. Nancy Argenziano is working with other legislators to craft a measure to address these and other gaping holes in the legal system through which sexual predators have been able to avoid a full accounting for their actions.

On Friday evening, she went toe-to-toe, via a cable news channel, with a defense attorney who challenged a provision of the bill dealing with penalties for harboring sexual predators.

She adroitly defended the legislation, skewered the "slick New York attorney," and warned potential sexual offenders that Florida will no longer be a haven for those who seek to harm children.

While such positive developments are playing out in Tallahassee, back in Citrus County the community is bracing for even more terrible news as the heart-breaking details of Jessica's final days and hours slowly emerge.

Greg Hamilton can be reached at 860-7301 or e-mail at hamilton@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:39:14]