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People Magazine Investigates' new season is all set to cover the brutal assault and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who became the victim of a twisted criminal after she was kidnapped from her bedroom in her Homosassa home. The case, which dates back to 2005, still remains one of the most chilling incidents that the quaint town has ever experienced.
This case is the subject of the latest season of People Magazine Investigates. The episode, titled The Boogeyman, will delve deep into whatever happened with the innocent 9-year-old girl. The episode is set to air at 9 pm EST and the synopsis for the same reads:
"The Lunsford family's lives turn upside down when someone snatches nine-year-old Jessie from her bed in the middle of the night. Authorities scour the area looking for her when they discover a dark truth -s she is closer than they ever realised."
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Ahead of the episode, let us go over the chilling details of what happened to Jessica Lunsford.
Who was Jessica Lunsford and what happened to her?
At only nine years old, Jessica Lunsford had barely seen enough of the world. She was born to Mark Allan Lunsford and Angela Bryant on October 6, 1995. Her parents divorced shortly after her birth and she stayed with her father and grandparents in Homosassa, Florida.
Like every normal kid of her age, Jessica got into her bed on the night of February 23, 2005, but no one saw her alive again. Authorities looked for nearly a month before they finally discovered the remains of the child. Jessica was found buried in a plastic bag about 150 yards away from Lunsford's residence.
Authorities soon determined that Jessica Lunsford had died from suffocation due to a lack of oxygen inside the plastic bag. It was also determined that the child had been assaulted before she was killed.
As the police continued investigating, they found out about John Couey, who lived at a mobile home across the street from the Lunsfords. One of the leads in this case reportedly came from Couey's niece, who informed the police of Couey's history of assaulting women.
The home belonged to Dorothy Dixon, Couey’s sister, and she allegedly only allowed the police to search parts of the trailer. This gave a breakthrough in this case as the police managed to locate his and Jessica’s DNA on a blood-stained mattress in the house. This was enough to arrest and charge Couey.
What happened to John Couey?
After getting arrested, Couey confessed to assaulting and murdering Jessica Lunsford. He claimed that he went to the Lunsford residence to steal but Jessica saw him there. He convinced the girl to come out with him and took her to the trailer. There, he kept her alive for three days before he put her in a plastic bag and buried her alive.
The jury later convicted him of all the charges against him and he was handed out the death penalty. However, before the state would execute him, he passed away from natural causes.
People Magazine Investigates will cover this case in further detail when it airs at 9 pm EST on ID.
