http://www.hernandotoday.com/news/MGB8K7D1ZJE.html
Cold case assignment: Jennifer Renee Odom
By CHRISTI STEVENS
cstevens@hernandotoday.com
Published: Feb 21, 2006
BROOKSVILLE — Who knows what Jennifer Odom would be like today.
She would be 25 years old now and might have a family of her own. Maybe she would have graduated from college and started an exciting career. Perhaps she would be traveling the world.
Thirteen years ago her future seemed as bright as the sun. That was until someone snuffed out that light and left her Pasco County family with more grief than time can heal.
But on Tuesday, they publicly shared their pain when they spoke to the media about Jennifer’s murder and what life has been like knowing her killer was still out there somewhere.
The family’s statements were part of a media blitz organized by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office with the hope of stirring new leads in the cold case.
Sunday was the 13-year anniversary of Jennifer’s death. In that time, a task force organized to find her killer has checked out more than 6,000 leads, but none led to the killer.
Jennifer was 12 when she disappeared Feb. 19, 1993, after getting off her school bus just 200 yards from her family’s home in St. Joseph near Dade City. Then on Feb. 25, 2003, her body was found by a couple strolling by a pine forest along Powell Road in Hernando County.
Almost immediately, authorities were searching for a blue pickup truck that children on the school bus saw in the area of Jennifer’s disappearance, but even those accounts were conflicting. So was every other lead.
Detectives never revealed the cause of Jennifer’s death.
Sheriff Richard Nugent started off Tuesday’s news conference and said, “Recent events have placed this investigation as a top priority for law enforcement.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently joined the task force and sent people from its Behavior Analysis Unit to put some fresh eyes on an old case.
Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Maurer, who is in charge of the major crimes unit, did most of the talking at Tuesday’s news conference. He showed a short video full of photos from Jennifer’s short life.
He said the task force has a renewed intensity thanks to the FBI, which helped local authorities narrow down a list of suspects and come up with a profile for the killer.
“We have focused our investigation on a smaller group of persons of interest,” Maurer said.
Physical evidence collected in the case has been sent to the FBI to be tested again because of all the recent advancements in forensic science.
Maurer said the task force is hoping someone with information about Jennifer’s killer will come forward, particularly now that so much time has passed.
“She was a young girl that was tragically murdered and she shouldn’t have been a victim at all,” he said. “And somebody knows something.”
Dressed in a smart business suit, Jennifer’s mother, Reneé Converse, walked to the podium at the sheriff’s office Tuesday and took a deep breath. As soon as she began to speak, her voice cracked and she started to fight back tears.
“Nothing will bring her back, but anything we can do to bring us closer to a resolution would be wonderful,” she said.
Clark Converse, Jennifer’s stepfather, joined his wife and made a public plea for anyone with information in the case to contact the task force.
Maurer said the task force has a new hotline and there’s a new Web site on the case at www.hernandosheriff.org/jennifer.
He said investigators are hoping that someone will know about some items last seen with Jennifer, but were not found with her body. Those items include a white, hooded Hooters sweatshirt, a brown and yellow purse and black boots.
“There are still pieces of the puzzle that are missing,” Maurer said.
Mr. Converse said finding Jennifer’s killer will bring the family a little peace and ensure there are no more press conferences in the future.
“If we don’t have to go through this part of it for the rest of our lives, it will be a blessing,” he said.
His wife added, “Maybe we’ll save another child.”
Michelle Sample, Jennifer’s friend and the last person to see her alive when she got off the bus that day, was there Tuesday and recalled the sadness she has felt ever since.
She never imagined she was waving goodbye to her friend for the last time, she said.
Now she holds her own son a little tighter. She said she still thinks of Jennifer every day.
“I have a child now and I think about him a lot, about everything that happened and keeping him safe,” she said. “It’s scary to think that this person is still out there.”
Reporter Christi Stevens can be contacted at (352) 544-5271.
WHAT?! 
