Somer Thompson [RIP]

There's a Jacksonville girl who needs some help today. An Amber Alert has been called for 7 year-old Somer Thompson of Orange Park who was last seen walking home from school yesterday afternoon. Florida and Georgia eyes on the lookout and prayers going out for Somer, please.

Heavy coverage over at news4jax:

Twenty-four hours after a 7-year-old failed to come home from school, helicopters, bloodhounds and mounted deputies had joined a least 100 law enforcement personnel and an untold number of citizens in a massive search for the girl.

An Amber Alert was issued Tuesday morning for Somer Renee Thompson, who was reported missing from her Grove Park neighborhood of Orange Park about 4 p.m. Monday.

By Tuesday afternoon, after following 80 leads and searching several square miles of Orange Park with no sign of Somer, investigators were increasingly concerned for her welfare.

"She is definitely endangered and we do suspect foul play," Clay County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Dan Mahla said at a 4 p.m. briefing.

Somer is described as 3 feet 5 inches tall and 65 pounds with brown hair in a pony tail with a red bow. She was last seen wearing a cranberry-colored sweatsuit with pink stripe on the sleeve and pants. She also had a black, pink and white backpack with a skull and hearts. She may be wearing a white hat and scarf.

Deputies said the second-grader was last seen at 2:45 p.m. walking home from Grove Park Elementary School near West Gano Avenue and Debarry Avenue with her twin brother and her sister. Authorities were told she ran ahead of them after "a childhood squabble" with her twin brother.

When Somer wasn't home by 4 p.m., her mother called police.

"We're hoping for the best, but we're working as if it is a crime scene," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said Tuesday morning. "Time is of the essence. Every moment that goes by is not in our favor. That's why the push is so hard."

Beseler said deputies were out all night using infrared cameras and dog teams to search the wooded areas. Beseler said when deputies finished interviewing the 58 registered sex offenders within three miles of where Somer disappeared; they expanded the search to a five-mile radius.

UPDATE:
Texas Equusearch is there this morning.

UPDATE II:
Here's a video interview with the father and a brief article. He's a disabled vet living in Somer's former home in N. Carolina and is wheelchair-bound.

UPDATE:
A body was found in the landfill. Poor baby:

Clay County authorities report that the body of a small child was found in a landfill near Folkston, Ga., where Orange Park's garbage is dumped.

"We hope and pray that it's not the body of Somer, but the garbage that was in that area was collected from Orange Park," Beseler said.

Seven-year-old Somer Thompson disappeared while walking home from school Monday afternoon. A massive search of Orange Park has been under way since Monday evening.

Clay County detectives found the body about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at a the Chesser Island Landfill in Charlton County.

"This was just a hunch -- a standard investigative practice -- and discovered what we feared we were going to find," Beseler said.

Beseler announced the grim news at an afternoon news conference that was delayed for about 20 minutes because of a "major development."

Gov. Charlie Crist was on hand hoping to rally efforts to find Somer and the Justice Coalition was set to announce $30,000 reward for Somer's safe return.

Instead, that reward will be for information for the capture and conviction of whoever is responsible for the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for putting that small child in the trash.

Hopefully they've found the crime scene and will soon catch the monster who did this:

Authorities investigating the death of Somer Thompson are seeking evidence in a vacant house and surrounding property, including a full Dumpster, at 1080 Gano - the area where the 7-year-old was last seen, said Mary Justino, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office.

The house was damaged in a fire a about three months ago, Justino said. The owners of the house have given deputies permission to go on the property. A neighbor said three men had been living on the property before the fire and it was being refurbrished.

Two Florida Department of Law Enforcement vans are at the scene, as well as Clay investigators. The street has been roped off with yellow police tape. Authorities began convening at the scene across from the Orange Park Athletic Association's ballfields around 3:30 p.m.

Somer disappeared at that location about 2:45 p.m. Monday while walking home with her brother from Grove Park Elementary School, which is less than a half mile away from the current activity. Her body was found Wednesday in a Folkston landfill. Justino said the medical examiner in Savannah positively identified Somer through dental records.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said he believes Somer was abducted and murdered on the way home from Grove Park Elementary School. He indicated there were no suspects and warned area residents to be on guard.

"There is a child killer on the loose," Beseler said at a 7:15 a.m. news conference. "I fear for our community until we bring this person in."

Justino said investigators are still seeking five registered sex offenders or predators whom they haven't talked with within a five mile radius of where Somer disappeared. Another 70 or so have checked out.