Man Held In Fla. Missing Girl Case

A registered sex offender being sought for questioning in the disappearance of a 9-year-old Florida girl has been taken into custody.

The Citrus County sheriff's office said deputies in Georgia arrested John Couey. A spokeswoman for the Florida sheriff's office said deputies arrested the 46-year-old sex offender because he didn't notify Florida that he was leaving the state. Sex offenders are required to do so.

Jessica Lunsford vanished Feb. 23 from her bedroom in her family's house in Homosassa, about 60 miles north of Tampa.

The spokeswoman said investigators are on their way to question him.

Couey lived near the Lunsford family, has an extensive criminal history including fondling a child under the age of 16 and left the area around the time Jessica went missing.

Jessica had known Couey, according to County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy.

Officials had been trying to contact Couey since Feb. 28, but had been unable to track him down recently, despite being in contact with his relatives.

He voluntarily went to police in Savannah, Georgia, and was interviewed. But by the time he was wanted for another interview Monday, he couldn't be located.

Dawsy said at a press conference Wednesday that a relative of Couey's told officials he had not lived at the Homosassa, Fla., residence at which he was registered as a sex offender. Upon a second visit to the residence by officials, the relative changed the story, admitting that Couey had lived there.

Couey is thought to have gone to the Savannah area and have used a bus ticket that was intentionally not in his name.

The father of the missing girl said Wednesday he is convinced she will be found safe as investigators searched for a "person of interest" in connection with the girl's disappearance.

Mark Lunsford said Citrus County sheriff's detectives have told him little about their investigation and nothing about the man they are seeking, but he remains confident.

"I truly believe my daughter is alive and is coming home," Lunsford told reporters.

Couey's criminal history, according to the Citrus County Sheriff's Department, includes: burglary, carrying a concealed weapon, indecent exposure, and fondling child under the age of 16.

Most notably, Dawsy said, in 1978, Couey was convicted of executing a burglary while residents were home. Officials are drawing comparisons to the Lunsford case, because in this burglary, Couey entered a child's bedroom, put his hand over the child's mouth and fondled the child.

A statement issued earlier Tuesday by the sheriff said that "red flags" were raised in an FBI polygraph test given March 4 to the girl's grandmother, Ruth Lunsford, regarding two of her responses. But investigators were unable to determine what, if anything, she might know about Jessica's disappearance, the sheriff said.

"I'm not sure it wasn't stress-induced," Dawsy said. "We have totally not been able to rectify one of the answers she gave or why we got this type of response."

He declined to elaborate.

Reached Tuesday by telephone at the family's home, Ruth Lunsford, 73, said investigators have told the family nothing.

"I have no idea what they are talking about. I'm sorry, I'm under a lot of stress," she said. She told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday that she doesn't remember what she was questioned about.

No concerns were raised in polygraph tests given to Mark Lunsford, 41, and the girl's grandfather, 72-year-old Archie Lunsford, Dawsy said.

The reward for Jessie's safe return and information of her whereabouts had grown to $115,000. Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Hampton, who grew up in Homosassa, donated $25,000.