A 61-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with a cold case investigation into the 1993 murder of a 12-year-old girl in Florida.
Jeffrey Norman Crum has been charged with murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery in connection with the death of Jennifer Odom, according to Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis. It’s unclear at this time if Crum has hired a lawyer or filed a plea. Jennifer was last seen leaving her school bus in 1993 in northeastern Pasco County and going toward her home.
Also Read: Who is Neelam Gill? Model spotted with Leonardo DiCaprio on his yacht in Sardinia
Her body was discovered six days later with proof of trauma along horseback riding tracks off Powell Road in Hernando County, indicating that she had been “brutally attacked and murdered,” as police stated at a press conference.
After Jennifer’s death, a manhunt was initiated for the culprit, which was first centered on the driver of a blue pickup vehicle that some of Jennifer’s classmates claimed to have seen at the location after she got off the bus.
Investigators have since examined “dozens and dozens” and “maybe hundreds of items” they thought were connected to her death. But despite their best efforts, many of the hints and leads turned out to be false.
After years of following up on leads, Nienhuis said that a breakthrough was made possible by biological evidence taken from a girl who had been “horribly attacked” and sexually molested 13 months before Jennifer’s death and found at a crime scene.
Also Read: Too Hot To Handle Season 5: Are Alex and Elys still in a relationship?
In 2015, the biological material was subjected to a DNA examination, which allegedly identified the 61-year-old Crum as the case’s main suspect.
After this discovery, detectives spent years interviewing witnesses to compile evidence against Crum. Although authorities declined to provide many specifics regarding the evidence discovered in the case, they claimed that he was familiar with the region where Jennifer was abducted and killed and that he owned a blue truck.
