The Franklin Files

Update of Search Teams

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Deputies Looking For Missing Girl
CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- Clay County sheriff's deputies are searching an Orange Park neighborhood for a girl who they said has been missing since Monday afternoon.

Deputies said 7-year-old Somer Renee Thompson was last seen in the Grove Park neighborhood. They said the girl's mother called police and said her daughter never returned home from school.

She is described as 3 feet, 5 inches tall and 65 pounds with brown hair in a pony tail. She was last seen wearing a cranberry-colored jumpsuit with pink striped sleeves. She also had a black, pink and white colored backpack with a skull and hearts.

Deputies said the girl was last seen at 2:45 p.m. walking home from Grove Park Elementary School near West Gano Avenue and Debarry Avenue with her sister and friends but separated from them after an argument and ran toward her home.

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New Article - Pic File
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ORANGE PARK, FL -- Police have received hundreds of tips and leads so far for Somer Thompson, who investigators have been searching for since she didn't come home from school Monday.

An Amber Alert was issued for the 7-year-old this morning. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler says this is the longest a child has been missing in Clay County in 22 years.

At a morning press conference, Beseler said the agency has some "very good leads coming in." The agency is now processing those calls. He said there were 50 tips by 9 a.m. today and that by now there were hundreds.

The sheriff also asked for information about a blue sedan seen in the neighborhood 10 days ago. Authorities say the occupants, two men and a woman, tried to lure a young girl into the car.

Beseler would not elaborate further, except to say that the incident happened within a block of where Somer was last seen Monday afternoon. He said that right now there is "no reason to believe that is connected to Somer."

The search area was expanded to 3 miles early this morning, and just before 11 this morning, law enforcement expanded the search to a 5-mile radius. Beseler said there is "no indication" this is an abduction; he also said Somer does not have a history of running away.

Within that radius, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office, are 87 sex offenders, and each is being checked out.

Deputies want people to search everywhere around their homes for the missing girl. In fact, they say several groups organized on their own and are expected to help with the search Tuesday.

Beseler says individuals can also come help with the search. They are preparing flyers that they will distribute across the county.

The little girl hasn't been seen since Monday afternoon. The girl's mother notified the sheriff's office around 5 p.m. that her daughter had not returned home from school.

"Her mother began looking for her, and after about two hours, [she] flagged down a patrol car and reported that Somer did not come home this (Monday) afternoon," said Beseler.

Beseler adds that Somer got into an argument with another child at school Monday, but is not saying the argument was connected to her disappearance.

Thompson is a second-grader at Grove Park Elementary, which remained open today. Police say she is a white female, 3-feet-5 inches tall and about 65 pounds. She has a birthmark on her lower right leg, brown hair and was last seen wearing a cranberry-colored sweatsuit with a longsleeved black undershirt under it. She has no known health problems, Beseler said.

She was last seen at 2:45 p.m. walking home from school near West Gano Avenue and Debarry Avenue. [Map it]

She was with her sister and friends, but separated from them, running ahead towards her home.

The sheriff says they have checked with immediate family members, including the girl's father, who lives in North Carolina.

"We would ask that the public assist us in providing any information that anyone may have about this little girl's whereabouts...she has been missing for about seven hours now," said Beseler late Monday.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, FBI, Orange Park Police Department, Fish and Wildlife, Department of Transportation, St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and numerous canine units from various departments are participating in the search.

Beseler is planning another press statement at 4 p.m.

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Anyone with information on Somer is asked to call 911, the CCSO non-emergency line at (904) 264-6512, 1-877-227-6911 or 1-866-845-TIPS. You also can email cart@claysheriff.com.

Updated Info
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&LanguageCountry=en_US&searchLang=en_US&caseLang=en_US&orgPrefix=NCMC&caseNum=1133666&seqNum=1

Parents Statement
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-20/story/give_me_my_baby_back_pleads_mother_of_missing_orange_park_girl_somer_ren#

Search Info
http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/10/clay-county-authorities-search.html#

Report
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,568636,00.html


Report
http://www.examiner.com/x-3035-Everyday-People-Examiner~y2009m10d20-Amber-Alert-issued-for-missing-7yearold-Florida-girl--Updated