'Person Of Interest' In Custody

A registered sex offender being sought for questioning in the disappearance of a 9-year-old girl was taken into custody by deputies in Georgia on Thursday, officials said.

The sheriff's office in Richmond County, Ga., placed John Evander Couey under arrest because he didn't notify Florida officials that he was leaving the state, a requirement for sex offenders, said Ronda Hemminger Evan, spokeswoman for the Citrus County sheriff's office. She had no details about Couey's arrest but said he would be questioned in the disappearance of Jessica Lunsford.

A spokesman for police in Savannah, Ga., said Couey was arrested by deputies near a Salvation Army in Augusta.

"Our investigators are en route to speak with him," Evan said. She said there is nothing that ties him directly to the case but there are question detectives want to ask him. He is not charged with Jessica's disappearance.

Couey, 46, was described by authorities as a "person of interest" in the search for Jessica, who vanished from her bedroom Feb. 23.

Couey lived near her home before he left for Georgia without telling authorities, officials said.

Authorities said Wednesday they had issued two arrest warrants for Couey — one on a probation violation, the other on his failure to notify them of his move.

Investigators "may take him out of the picture" once they interview him, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said.

Couey's home in Homosassa is about two miles from Jessica's, but he also sometimes stayed with his half-sister who lives within "eyeshot" of her house, Dawsy said.

No one answered the doors Wednesday evening at the half-sister's house and Couey's mobile home in the coastal community 60 miles north of Tampa.

Detectives grew interested in Couey while interviewing all registered sex offenders in the area. They tried to contact Couey five days after Jessica disappeared and discovered he no longer lived there.

When investigators followed up with the half-sister, who lives about 150 yards from the Lunsfords, she denied Couey had lived there. But another relative confided to a detective that Couey had stayed at her home.

The half-sister then said Couey had traveled to Savannah, Ga., knowing authorities were interested in questioning him. Couey left by bus on a ticket purchased for him by someone else under a false name, Dawsy said.

Police picked up Couey on Saturday at a Salvation Army shelter at the request of Citrus officials, Savannah-Chatham County Police Chief Dan Flynn said Wednesday. Flynn said Couey was interviewed for about two hours and released.

Citrus County officials asked them Monday to talk to Couey again, but by then he could not be located.

Couey's criminal record includes arrests for burglary, carrying a concealed weapon and indecent exposure. In 1991, he was arrested in Kissimmee on a charge of fondling a child under age 16. Records don't show how the case was resolved.

During a house burglary in 1978, he was accused of grabbing a girl in her bedroom, placing his hand over her mouth and kissing her, Dawsy said. Couey was sentenced to 10 years but was paroled in 1980 when inmates were serving a small fraction of their sentences.

The father of the missing girl said Thursday he's continuing with his own search for his daughter, and he is convinced she will be found safe.

Mark Lunsford told CBS' The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen, "(In) my heart, I mean, I know my little girl is OK and that she's coming home, and that's just the way I believe it.

"And I think it's just a matter of time."

"I got to make every effort I can to find her, you know? (Police aren't) searching on the ground. They're doing other parts of the investigation. So that's why I kind of took it upon myself to keep looking around here as much as I can, until we cover a wide enough area."

In regards to Couey, Mark Lunsford said: "I've never seen him before. I don't know him. I've never even heard his name."

"I just try to keep in mind what the Sheriff's Department said, you know, that it's just a person they want to question. Kind of take it like a grain of salt," Lunsford continued. "I'm just going to continue with my search efforts this weekend.