Expand / Collapse search
☰

Jessica Lunsford's disappearance: Citrus County sheriff reflects on murder case 20 years later

By
Published  February 24, 2025 9:55pm EST
Citrus County
FOX 13 News

20 years later: Remembering Jessica Lunsford

FOX 13's Jordan Bowen reports on Monday, marking the anniversary of Jessica Lunsford's murder after she was abducted by a known sex offender in Homosassa. Lunsford's murder sparked significant changes in Florida's legislation and spurred similar legislation in 42 other states.

The Brief

    • It's been 20 years since 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was abducted and murdered by a known sex offender in Homosassa.
    • The known sex offender convicted of killing her was found living in someone's home across the street, but never registered his address.
    • The case sparked major changes in legislation and inspired similar legislation in 42 other states.

INVERNESS, Fla. - Monday marks 20 years since 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford disappeared. A known sex offender was found guilty of murdering her, and the case has gone on to spark major changes in legislation.

"It was a case we never thought would happen in Citrus County," Citrus County Sheriff David Vincent said.

Pictured: Citrus County Sheriff David Vincent. 

READ: Cold case cracked: Murder suspect arrested in 1997 beating, stabbing of Tampa man

The backstory:

The 9-year-old girl disappeared exactly 20 years ago on February 24, 2005, from her home in Homosassa.

"This couldn't happen to one of our students here in Citrus County," Vincent said. "I just remember that being the overwhelming sense those first couple of days and then as you're day two into it, day three, you're starting to yeah, there's something more nefarious happening here."

Pictured: Jessica Lunsford. 

John Couey, a known sex offender, was found guilty of the crime, but it took weeks of searching before he was brought to justice. He was living in someone's home just across the street from the Lunsford family, but never registered his address.

Follow FOX 13 on YouTube

The people harboring him there were later charged. This led lawmakers to pass the Jessica Lunsford Act, which strengthened monitoring and penalties for convicted sex offenders. It also led to more protection in schools.

Pictured: John Couey. 

"At the time, they thought the suspect in this case was a contractor at her school at some point. And they thought that that might have been a nexus at one time. So put some legislation in there to protect our kids at school, making sure that all of those people working within that close proximity to children had proper screening," Vincent said.

Big picture view:

Now, 20 years later, a Tree of Life plaque hangs in the lobby of the Citrus County Sheriff's Office in honor of Jessica. Each leaf represents a group or department who helped in the case.

The Tree of Life that hangs at the Citrus County Sheriff's Office to remember Jessica Lunsford. 

Vincent said he'll never forget how much the community rallied together to bring justice to the Lunsford family.

MORE: Lakeland police trainee accused of stealing from Walmart

"That famous picture of her with her pink hat on and the purple dolphin that she cherished, know her stuffed animal? I think you can see that, that innocence in a child, just a sweet kid that just did not deserve what happened to her," Vincent said.

Jessica's Law has gone on to influence similar legislation in 42 other states, and it also led to the creation of "Jessie's Place" – the children's advocacy center serving Citrus County.

Couey later died in prison while awaiting his execution.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered through an interview with Citrus County Sheriff David Vincent. 

WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: 

STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:

Citrus CountyCrime and Public Safety