On Thursday, officials announced an arrest in the case of 12-year-old Jennifer Odom, a Florida girl who vanished near a bus stop 30 years ago.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that Jeffrey Norman Crum, 61, has been charged with kidnapping, murdering, and sexually battering the victim, officials said during a press conference. Crum is already serving two life sentences for another decades-old rape case in Pasco County.
It was Crum’s arrest in Pasco County case, police said, that made him a person of interest in Jennifer’s case, which helped renew the investigation.
“The M.O.s in both cases were almost identical, with the exception of Jennifer as we know was abducted and found six days later,” Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said.
Jennifer was last seen on February 19, 1993, as she exited a school bus in northeastern Pasco County. Fox 13 reports that although she only had a 200-yard walk home, she was abducted before she reached her door.
At the time, the only thing law enforcement had to go on was the blue truck, which was seen by some of Jennifer’s classmates. Despite a massive hunt for the truck, the case eventually turned cold as leads were explored and exhausted.
Six days after her abduction, Jennifer’s body was found on horse riding trail in Hernando County. Police said she was physically attacked and murdered around 10 miles from where she was taken.
Nienhuis said investigators utilized a DNA familial searching, which enabled law enforcement to identify Crum, by comparing DNA from the crime scene with that of family members.
Investigators said that Crum led the victim to an abandoned house, where he hit her head with a blunt object, crushing her skull and part of her brain.
“All of us, especially those of us in law enforcement, can think of Jennifer as our sister, our niece, our granddaughter, and realize, man, this is a tragedy beyond tragedy,” Nienhuis said.
Hernando County Commissioner John Allocco added that the arrest can bring closure for the family and community.
“I can’t express the magnitude of the closure that this brings to her family, her friends and to this community and the communities around Florida and around this country,” he said.
Jennifer was a seventh grader at Thomas E. Weightman Middle School, and a clarinet player in the school band. Family said she was also a barefoot water-skier, achieving impressive rankings in tournaments. She routinely took on the role of the skier who climbed to the top of human pyramids in the water.
Meanwhile, Crum remains behind bars without at the Hernando County jail.
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[Feature Photo: Family Handout]
