Fla. town, family say goodbyes to slain girl

State and Nation

Discussion

October 26, 2009

Anonymous The News Courier Mon Oct 26, 2009, 08:58 AM CDT

ORANGE PARK, Fla. (AP) — The family of slain 7-year-old Somer Thompson is preparing to lay the child to rest, a week after she vanished in north Florida on her way home from school.

A viewing was scheduled in the Jacksonville suburb of Orange Park on Monday night, followed by a Tuesday morning funeral. After the final services, mourners plan to launch thousands of purple balloons.

Somer will be laid to rest in a private burial and graveside service later Tuesday.

Authorities have investigated some 1,200 leads in the hunt for Somer’s killer but have not named a suspect. Her body was found in a south Georgia landfill two days after she disappeared. Investigators have not said how she died.

Text Only

State and Nation

Sinkhole shuts down westbound I-20 in Alabama
Westbound traffic is being routed off Interstate 20 in eastern Alabama because of a sinkhole that's formed in the highway in Calhoun County.

February 10, 2012
Embalmer takes speech case to Mass. high court
Troy Schoeller admits he could have chosen his words more carefully when he talked to a reporter about bodies he worked on as an embalmer at a funeral home.

February 10, 2012
Los Angeles school reopens amid sex abuse scandal
The teachers union president assailed the reassignment of teachers as a stunt, about 100 parents and students blasted the move, and some of the new teachers needed a bit of help from their charges.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
APNewsBreak: Powell had 'incestuous' images
Authorities say the images depicted "incestuous" sex and were disconcerting enough that they prompted a psychologist to recommend that Powell undergo an intensive psychosexual evaluation.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
NYC sewage plant to offer Valentine's Day tours
It may not smell like a rose but a New York City sewage plant is offering tours for lovers on Valentine's Day.

February 10, 2012
Mississippi bill renames Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America
State Rep. Steve Holland says the measure aims to mock anti-immigrant legislation that he finds mean-spirited and insignificant.

February 9, 2012
AG: Mortgage deal offers relief to Alabama borrowers
The deal also puts a stop to many of the bad behaviors that contributed to the mortgage mess in Alabama and across the U.S.

February 9, 2012
States, Feds to announce mortgage settlement
February 9, 2012
Unemployment aid applications near a 4-year low
February 9, 2012
Remlap woman dies after struck by car after crash
February 9, 2012
More State and Nation Headlines