'Person of interest' in Somer Thompson's death drew early scrutiny

ORANGE PARK — The man authorities call "a person of interest" in the death of Somer Thompson was brought to the attention of the Clay County Sheriff's Office shortly after the 7-year-old's body was found in a Georgia landfill, 50 miles from where she disappeared on Oct. 19.

Because of child pornography on a computer left at his stepdaughter's home, Rod Buchanan went to the Sheriff's Office as soon as he noticed Jarred Mitchell Harrell's car in his parents' driveway and realized how close their house was to Somer's.

Harrell, an unemployed 24-year-old restaurant worker, has not been charged in Somer's death, but he was arrested Thursday in Mississippi on 29 counts of possession of child pornography.

Harrell once lived with Buchanan's stepdaughter and her fiance at an apartment a few miles away from Somer's neighborhood, Buchanan said.

According to both Buchanan and the Clay County Sheriff's Office, the couple discovered in August that Harrell was stealing from them and told him to leave. He left his computer, so they turned it on, curious.

"Our kids saw stuff that nobody should ever have to see," Buchanan said.

Buchanan's wife, a nurse, contacted a deputy, and they turned the computer over to authorities.

Fending off criticism about why his agency did not arrest Harrell immediately after the pornography was discovered, Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler put out a news release Friday afternoon saying such investigations require a painstaking process to link the images to a suspect.

Authorities still aren't saying what evidence ties Harrell to Somer Thompson.