State News

Person of interest in child's homicide in custody

Clay County Sheriff Rick Besseler said Thursday that Jared Harold, 24, is a person of interest in the abduction and murder of Somer Thompson.

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ORANGE PARK, FLA. — Authorities have named a person of interest in the death of a 7-year-old Florida girl.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Besseler said Thursday that Jared Harold, 24, is a person of interest in the abduction and murder of Somer Thompson.

Harold is charged with 29 counts of possession of child pornography, Besseler said. Authorities found the child porn on a computer he left behind at the Clay County home he used to reside in.

Harold was arrested in Meridian, Miss., and was being held under a $1 million bond.

Somer vanished on her mile-long walk home from school in Orange Park, Fla., a suburb of Jacksonville, in October. Her body was found two days later in a Georgia landfill.

She lived in Orange Park with her mother. The girl's father, Sam Thompson, lives in Graham, N.C.

Authorities have not said how Somer was killed, but did say the death was a homicide.

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