On February 19, 1993, Jennifer Renee Odom stepped off her school bus, waved goodbye to her friends and walked home. That was the last time she was seen, authorities said.
More than 30 years after Odom was killed, deputies have identified a suspect in connection with the 12-year-old girl’s murder in Pasco County, Florida, about 35 miles from Tampa, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said at a press conference Thursday.
Jeffrey Norman Crum, 61, was identified as the suspect after biological evidence tested in February 2015 gave detectives a DNA profile. When the Florida Department of Law Enforcement compared the DNA profile to local DNA profiles, they got a match: Crum’s son.
Crum, who has been charged several times throughout his life, is currently serving two life sentences for attempted murder and sexual battery in a similar case in Pasco County, Nienhuis said. A Florida grand jury recommended an indictment of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery, state attorney for the 5th Circuit Bill Gladson said at the press conference.
“I have confidence that we have the right person,” Gladson said.
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Odom’s book bag, clarinet were found years after her body was located
On February 19, 1993, Odom was walking about 200 yards to her home when children on the bus said they saw a “faded blue pickup truck slowly following Jennifer as she walked home,” the sheriff’s office said on its website.
“Jennifer never made it to her door,” the sheriff’s office said.
The abduction led to a county wide effort as law enforcement and hundreds of volunteers searched for Odom in Dade City, Florida.
On February 25, 1993, two volunteers were searching an abandoned orange grove in Hernando County, Florida, when they found Odom. However, her clothes, including a red sweater and Hooters jacket, were not found, the sheriff’s office said.
On January 5, 1995, a couple hunting for scrap metal in Hernando County found Odom’s book bag and clarinet case.
“I think every one of us, especially those in law enforcement, can look at Jennifer as our sister, our niece, our granddaughter and realize that, man, that is a tragedy beyond tragedies,” Neihuis said.