FL FL - Jennifer Odom, 12, Blanton, 19 Feb 1993

[DreamyEye]

I have read reports that one thing they are pretty sure she had but has never been found is a Hooters jacket that belonged to a friend of hers.

Is it just me, or does it seem odd that a 12 year old is walking around with a Hooters jacket?

We did not get Hooters in the Pacific NW until twelve or fifteen years ago, and from what I understand here, they're not as common nor as popular here as they are in Florida. Right after one opened in my area, there was a 'scandal' in my circle because a couple took their 16 year old son to celebrate his birthday at Hooters. A surprising number of people thought it was inappropriate for parents to do that. I never thought too much about a 16 year old boy ... but a 12 yr old girl having one of the jackets does surprise me.

Is there something I'm not undertanding about the Hooters chain? Around here it's considered mildly racy.

 

[DreamyEye]

Well, there are two different sides I see here.

One is that she wasn't interested in him, but had met this guy under circumstances that made her categorize him as something other than a stranger -- church, a store she visited regularly, relative of a friend or neighbor, even a grove worker she saw regularly. Friend. Non-threatening. Possibly somebody she had known for some time.

The other is that she was interested in him but knew that her mother would disapprove. Somebody older, somebody dangerous, maybe somebody off limits because he was married to a relative -- something along those lines.
I don't think it means anything that the kids on the bus didn't recognize the truck -- they would probably remember vehicles they see regularly, but if it looked like a grove worker's truck, would they have thought anything of it?

Bolded by me.

The bolded part is kind of what I'm thinking. Also, she may have had the vague, innocent 12 yr old's understanding of a 'romance'--and it may have meant something far more sinister to the killer.

 

[Astrella613]

I have read reports that one thing they are pretty sure she had but has never been found is a Hooters jacket that belonged to a friend of hers.

Is it just me, or does it seem odd that a 12 year old is walking around with a Hooters jacket?

We did not get Hooters in the Pacific NW until twelve or fifteen years ago, and from what I understand here, they're not as common nor as popular here as they are in Florida. Right after one opened in my area, there was a 'scandal' in my circle because a couple took their 16 year old son to celebrate his birthday at Hooters. A surprising number of people thought it was inappropriate for parents to do that. I never thought too much about a 16 year old boy ... but a 12 yr old girl having one of the jackets does surprise me.

Is there something I'm not undertanding about the Hooters chain? Around here it's considered mildly racy.

I have heard that a lot of people consider Hooters to be a family restaurant. I am not one of them and I did think the jacket choice odd for her age especially that many years ago. When I first heard of Hooters, it was considered scanalous as you said. I am from the North east so maybe in Florida it is different.

 

[Astrella613]

She was discovered on a horse-riding trail among groves of orange and pine trees near Spring Lake, (the place, not the lake) in Hernando county. About 10 miles from her home according to the paper.

Wouldn't that be a big search area? Or do searchers normally do an area that big? I would think it would be smaller unless they had a reason to go that far.

 

[Skully]

I have read reports that one thing they are pretty sure she had but has never been found is a Hooters jacket that belonged to a friend of hers.

Is it just me, or does it seem odd that a 12 year old is walking around with a Hooters jacket?

We did not get Hooters in the Pacific NW until twelve or fifteen years ago, and from what I understand here, they're not as common nor as popular here as they are in Florida. Right after one opened in my area, there was a 'scandal' in my circle because a couple took their 16 year old son to celebrate his birthday at Hooters. A surprising number of people thought it was inappropriate for parents to do that. I never thought too much about a 16 year old boy ... but a 12 yr old girl having one of the jackets does surprise me.

Is there something I'm not undertanding about the Hooters chain? Around here it's considered mildly racy.

I don't think the hooded jacket has baring on the case, so much as it would be identifiable if found. She borrowed it as you pointed out and it is unfortunate that the jacket she borrowed came from a restaurant people think is not appropriate for kids or for kids to wear the merchandise they put out as advertisement for the restaurant. Her family was very much community involved, and about as wholesome as they get. They farmed, they were involved in the 4H clubs, water sking, sewing, church events, all the things that I wish my family had been involved in. The kids were "A" students and Jenny was the involved with the church, and her music, sports, well you get the idea. So I don't think much of the jacket, expect that it was borrowed and I hope someday it turns up. Maybe there will be some evidence that will lead to her killer.

 

[Skully]

Wouldn't that be a big search area? Or do searchers normally do an area that big? I would think it would be smaller unless they had a reason to go that far.

The couple that found her, were not searching that area at the time. They searched the previous weekend at Spring Lake and this weekend they were walking the horse trail and found her.

 

[Astrella613]

The couple that found her, were not searching that area at the time. They searched the previous weekend at Spring Lake and this weekend they were walking the horse trail and found her.

Thanks, I found out that the search area was 60 square miles.

http://www.hernandosheriff.org/unsolved/Odom/

 

[Skully]

Thanks, I found out that the search area was 60 square miles.

http://www.hernandosheriff.org/unsolved/Odom/

Thanks, I forget where all the info is. So would that mean they started with the bus stop and we 15 miles in each direction? The case and backpack would be about 22 miles out from her home as I recall, so maybe the cloths are at the bottom of another dump site.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

This is the video of the first 6 miles of our drive....

Video # 1 on Vimeo

...
at 37 seconds you can see the truck tracks on the road that Jen would have been walking on. So the trucks in the groves would have come out one side made a upturn on the road and then proceed to go down the other side of the grove to continue to pick and harvest the oranges.

at 45/1:24 seconds you can see the main trailer to remove the oranges from the area, and take them to wherever they may had been taken to.
i WONDER where they were taken after leaving the area?
Who owned those groves at the time?
At 2:12 you can see the man putting oranges in the bag.
Notice how close to the road he is.

At 2:19 you can see the back of a truck.
It seems to be a similar type of truck that would have been used back at that time. In fact if you remove the fence it would appear to be the same today as back then.
Jennifer would had been accustom to seeing these trucks come in and out of the groves during harvest time. They would had not made her feel concerned about seeing them on the road as she walked home. She was used to seeing them. And having one follow her as reported, would not had caused her any alarm on that day, because she was used to seeing them, being around them.

IMPORTANT QUESTION!
They were open that day yes, and harvesting the oranges.
Or for one reason or the other, where there no collecting Oranges that-day??

When the kids reported seeing the truck following her, for right now i would say the truck came out of the grove after she passed it, and was following her up the gravel road as she walked home. No one reported that they seen the truck turn onto the road from the main road and then proceeded to follow her. Its my hunch right now from watching the video, that the truck was already inside the groves on one side facing the road Jen was walking on, when she passed i8t, the DEMON came out the grove and followed behind her, and that is what was seen by the kids on the bus.

Conclusion of video.
I don't recall anyone whom may had been working that day in the groves give a report to LE about what they seen or heard that day.
Anyone working on that grove for any exte3nded period of time, would have known when Jen got home, when the bus arrived etc.
They had to be accustom to hearing the bus stop there each day, they had to hear the squealing sounds of brakes as the bus stopped there each day to let Jen off. they had to hear the bus door open, and kids yelling if the bus windows were down etc.
That place was a quite place, so these sounds i mentioned would have been easy to hear.
Yet i don't know of any reports by LE that reported any of the workers in the groves heard anything related to this case????
Where Jen was walking, she was close not only to the groves but the workers also. And it would have not been uncommon for her to stop and chat with some of the workers as she walked to the house from the bus drop.


From watching this video.
I would speculate that on that day. When Jen got off the bus and started walking down the gravel road, she passed a truck that was already parked inside the grove waiting on her. When she passed the truck, the truck came out and started to follow her up the road. that is what the kids on the bus seen.
she was not alarmed because she had seen those trucks come in and out of the groves during harvest seasons many times as she walked home from the bus drop.
She was taking from a orange grove, and found in a orange grove. A TRUCK WITH LADDERS, probably to ladders about 5 feet in length that could be connected, depending upon the height needed to do a job, such as picking oranges etc.

But my other question i would like to have answered, is if it was business as usual that day, and there were persons working there that day at that time. And if there were, and no one reported anything to LE about what they seen or heard. Why is that?????

As close to the road as they were working, if they were working that day, no one heard or seen anything unusual.
I don't believe it if that is the case.

wanted to add.
In my 2 and a half years here, this is one of the most extraordinary videos i have seen as far as a reenactment.
It is as if, one went back in-time and filmed things as it was, and then brought it to the future which is now for us to see.
One of the best reenactments of events i have seen!

Normally i would edit misspelled words etc.
but i am leaving the 8 and 3 as is.
it could be 8 and 3 or 83 or even 8+3=11?
8311?

THE ABOVE ALL MOO AND SPECULATION ON MY PART.
NOTHING POSTED AS FACT UNLESS OTHERWISE KNOWN TO BE.
​

 

[Skully]

Mr. TT,

Thanks for the post, and this is why, (all the reasons you list and observations) that I think this person was a worker. The video is taken 1/31 so you can see that 1/2 of that grove is done. I think the grove was picked and he came back because no one would think anything of his truck sitting there. I think he pulled be side her, and used a gun to get her into the truck with her stuff. He could have just went back into the grove, and exited out the far end of it onto Jassamine road down to St Joe and onto Lake Iola and then to the horse trail. I do believe since there was nothing in the grove to indicate a crime scene, he must have killed her in the truck or he had a place very close to the grove but rented it. It could have been the last day he was staying there and after the crime, he left town to go to another location to work other field, maybe GA.

But this is all speculation on my part.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Mr. TT,

Thanks for the post, and this is why, (all the reasons you list and observations) that I think this person was a worker. The video is taken 1/31 so you can see that 1/2 of that grove is done. I think the grove was picked and he came back because no one would think anything of his truck sitting there. I think he pulled be side her, and used a gun to get her into the truck with her stuff. He could have just went back into the grove, and exited out the far end of it onto Jassamine road down to St Joe and onto Lake Iola and then to the horse trail. I do believe since there was nothing in the grove to indicate a crime scene, he must have killed her in the truck or he had a place very close to the grove but rented it. It could have been the last day he was staying there and after the crime, he left town to go to another location to work other field, maybe GA.

But this is all speculation on my part.

How i wish LE was here right now to answer questions.
Such as the following.
1. Are the two orange groves connected?
are they owned by the same person?

2. The long trailer that the oranges were put in.
Was there a trailer such as this own by the same person at the other grove where she was found?

3. Was there someone in a supervisory position that went back and forth to each site removing oranges, and or taken persons there to work? Such as the same person whom moved the long trailer from the road Jen was on, would they have been connected to the other place she was found?

4. IS THERE ANYTHING, REGARDLESS OF HOW MI-NEUT IT MAY BE, THAT CONNECTED THESE TWO PLACES!
FROM WORKERS, OWNERS TRUCKS , LONG TRAILER TRUCKS ETC....ANYTHING AT ALL!!!
​

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Okay, here is the next 6 miles, one more video and we will be done. Let me know what you think.



Video # 2 on Vimeo

At 7:58 you pass two blue trucks.
One on the right, and one on the left.
Which tells me you were taking the correct path/route the demon took.
Traveling along with the video, as if i was the demon and doing the driving with a young girl beside me.
Was disturbing.
​

This was no random drop site. This place was known about in advance. And so was the place she was taken from! Jennifer, speculating of course, was taken by someone whom knew about both sites. Jennifer was targeted by someone, and not just selected. It could have been someone, whom over the few years before this, watched her grow up some, as she attended school and rode the bus to and from. And would have know about, had connections with at one time etc, with the place she was taken from and found at.

THE ABOVE ALL MOO AND SPECULATION ON MY PART.
NOTHING POSTED AS BEING FACT UNLESS OTHERWISE KNOWN TO BE.
​

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Final Video,..
Video # 3 on Vimeo

quote...The spot where Jennifer’s body was found is marked by flowers and a cross...End of quote.

If you was able to find/see the cross. If it is still there, it was the spot.
I believe you did in fact find it, regardless if you got out and looked for it or not.

Thanks for posting the videos.
They were/are very much appreciated.
​

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Mr. TT,

Thanks for the post, and this is why, (all the reasons you list and observations) that I think this person was a worker. The video is taken 1/31 so you can see that 1/2 of that grove is done. I think the grove was picked and he came back because no one would think anything of his truck sitting there. I think he pulled be side her, and used a gun to get her into the truck with her stuff. He could have just went back into the grove, and exited out the far end of it onto Jassamine road down to St Joe and onto Lake Iola and then to the horse trail. I do believe since there was nothing in the grove to indicate a crime scene, he must have killed her in the truck or he had a place very close to the grove but rented it. It could have been the last day he was staying there and after the crime, he left town to go to another location to work other field, maybe GA.

But this is all speculation on my part.

Yes, but i wonder about the case and book bag being found about 2 years later or so.


And that leads me to ask LE this question.

When they were found, did they appear to be recently tossed out. Or did they have the appearance they had been weatherized for the length of time she was missing?

If they were in appearance as being recently tossed out.
Then perhaps around the anniversary date of the abduction the DEMON decided it was time to get rid of his trophies he kept of her. Because of the approaching date or thereafter of the killing, or and because of some new interest in the case at the time, he became concerned about being discovered. But instead of burning them, and ridding of them forever, he decided to just toss them out to be found perhaps. So he could read and or hear about it in the papers/TV.

Which would mean he did in fact live in the area, and had three connections to the specific areas of interest.
1. where she was taken
2. where she was found.
3. where the case and book-bag was found.

add-on...
Perhaps the case and school bag was discarded because they would have been easily recognize by someone whom was visiting.
The case big and balky, and the school bag looked like a girls bag.

But the jacket , a hooters jacket easier to explain or hide.
Not sure about the boots? But nothing of these two would have stood out, if someone was visiting, as the case and school bag would have. Perhaps this demon had no kids, lived alone. And anything he kept of hers for trophies, he decided to get rid of that that would had been seen as belonging to a child and or female child. But child regardless.

addon2
Perhaps the case and book bag was tossed going from and to orange groves that day?
He made a detour along the route between two, to discard the items?
Or left early that morning, or later that night to discard before the day began, or after the day was over?
​

 

[Skully]

I am pretty sure Mr. TT that the two groves are not owned by the same person. I am also pretty sure that the Grove on Jim Denney was done and there were no workers or at least by 3 pm. But, the demon had to know both places in order to have pulled off the kidnapping and dispose a body in a well populated area.

He had to know:

When she got off the bus
No one around at 3 pm in broad daylight
No parents home
He was safe to drive that drive and not get stopped or his truck remembered again in daylight.
It didn't matter that his truck was seen at either the grove/driveway entrance
or the horse trail (not reported there) but it was a huge risk.
Knowledge of the area a must

We know the way she was left was a message of disregard for her, her family, her life
The way she died, was violent, angry and personal
He had to have strength

Here are my ????

Cloths not with backpack, or body? Why not just get rid of everything together?

Didn't take the necklace with the charms?? This would have been something to keep (small, very personal, and who would ? it)

If the case was found 2 years later, why wasn't it buried underneath 2 years of stuff? So how long was it there, or just dumped as you too ask.

No CODIS match on the print or any DNA?

The truck is never seen again, at least in this area. I think he got rid of it, sold it, or painted it, or left it in another state.

So again, I feel this is someone who was in her area for a while, watched her,maybe had a crush on her. He was invisible to the people around him. He may have borrowed the truck or traveled out of state. He rented. He was a bit off. Leaning towards married, but not living with the family all the time, this allowed him to keep the backpack and case without notice. I believe he was a drinker, abuser, fights, or had a hard time keeping a job due to temper. If married, she was abused, to the point if she suspected anything he did, she would not tell. I do feel he came and went in this area, back and forth. I think he also hated people who had any kind of money or income, solid life, family ties, the things he did not have.

 

[DreamyEye]

I'm blown away by the way you two know the ins and outs of this case, Bern and Mr. TT! Thank you for your thorough minds and all the details you have shared on this thread. Amazing.

Hooters jacket:

Well, to me it could be meaningful. I was probably fourteen when I filched my first cigarette from my parents--and that's also when I first "rolled" my skirts while away from home. Some of us girls were not allowed to wear mini skirts ... so when we got away from our parents, we'd "roll" our skirts way up. (I was once ratted out by a neighbor lady who saw me waltzing around the neighborhood with my skirt hiked way up! She did not allow her daughters to wear minis and knew that I wasn't allowed to wear them either ... so in no time she was on the horn, blabbing all to my Mom.)

So here is what I get from the factor of the Hooters jacket in Jennifer's case:

She did not have one of her own, but had borrowed one from a friend. I am thinking her family likely would not have bought her such a jacket or encouraged her to wear one, and thus she had to borrow one.

Her friend having one indicates that other families may have been more permissive than Jennifer's family. So Jennifer may have been around other kids who were close to her in age, but who were also more "worldly."

If Jennifer was a normal kid, she was likely interested in appearing to be in fashion, and 'in the know' about the adult matters of the world. I can't think of any kid who hasn't wanted to 'grow up fast' and appear to be very mature. I think it's a normal part of growing up.

But sometimes when a young kid-esp a girl-tries to act more grownup, it gives out a false signal to some people. Some people will see it as evidence that she really is mature and knows all about the ways of the world.

It seems to me that when I was around Jennifer's age and a little older, I got a few lectures from my own mother to be aware of the signals I might be giving off to boys and men--and it might not even be my fault at all, but I had to be aware that some males would see me giving off signals and figure I was "asking for" something.

I don't know if girls get lectures like that anymore, but I got a few of them in the mid and late 60s.

I'm thinking that whoever did this terrible crime to Jennifer was expecting her to think and behave like a young woman when actually she was still an innocent little girl ... and this could have been a cause of some of the anger that has been mentioned.

I also remember someone mentioning that orange was a significant color. If I'm not mistaken, aren't Hooters jackets usually orange in color?

 

[DreamyEye]

I went back through the thread. The Hooters jacket was white with orange embroidery.

 

[Skully]

I think it is important to go back in time and know the culture around the area in order to pin point who may have been in the area and capable of doing this. I was living up North, way up North, in the outskirts of the city. Very different than here in FL. There was a huge contrast of culture, believes, income, and advantages just between the grove and the Jim Denny road. But there was also an opportunity with the rural-ness and Isolation that comes from living in an area that is farmed. Jenny's mom did have that talk with her, about what to do if a stranger tried something, she told her to drop the books and run. So I have this feeling, she either had a gun on her, or she knew the person well enough to except a ride to the house. A ruse can't be ruled out either. But either way, she gets in with all of her stuff. I agree the jacket may have been something she wanted to ware to look more grownup. She was very pretty, she dressed really nice and she was smart, involved in lots of activities and had a good solid home life. So the jacket always spurs a comment when read about. It doesn't fit, does it?

 

[DreamyEye]

I think it is important to go back in time and know the culture around the area in order to pin point who may have been in the area and capable of doing this. I was living up North, way up North, in the outskirts of the city. Very different than here in FL. There was a huge contrast of culture, believes, income, and advantages just between the grove and the Jim Denny road. But there was also an opportunity with the rural-ness and Isolation that comes from living in an area that is farmed. Jenny's mom did have that talk with her, about what to do if a stranger tried something, she told her to drop the books and run. So I have this feeling, she either had a gun on her, or she knew the person well enough to except a ride to the house. A ruse can't be ruled out either. But either way, she gets in with all of her stuff. I agree the jacket may have been something she wanted to ware to look more grownup. She was very pretty, she dressed really nice and she was smart, involved in lots of activities and had a good solid home life. So the jacket always spurs a comment when read about. It doesn't fit, does it?

This is excellent information about the local area and the customs. I can see where there would be a lot of difference in cultures between the grove owners and the people who worked in the groves.

I read somewhere that Jennifer's stepfather was somewhat new to her, which makes me wonder whether the orange grove was from her mother's side of the family or her stepfather's? Had Jennifer lived in that location for a long time, and would she be familiar with the local customs? It was mentioned that she had to walk past her grandmother's house, so that makes it sound like the family had been established in this area for some time.

I don't know what to make of the jacket. It doesn't surprise me that a girl of Jennifer's age would want to wear one. I guess what is sticking in my mind about it is this: Such a jacket would likely be highly prized by the girl who owned it. While I know that kids do swap around clothes quite a bit and consider it no big deal in most circles, there are always special items of clothing that a kid takes better care of, and it seems that a Hooters jacket would be such an item. Back in the day, I might have been willing to lend a Tshirt or pair of jeans, for instance ... but not the formal gown I wore to my first prom. The gown I might lend to a very close friend (or might not!) But lending it to anyone would be a big deal to me.

So the fact that the other girl lent the jacket to Jennifer makes me think 1) the other girl was a very close friend of hers; and 2) Jennifer probably had a very particular reason for asking to borrow it--and she likely explained that reason to the owner of the jacket.

Sure, she could have asked to borrow any old jacket from someone if she had been cold, but we are talking about Florida here; and Jennifer also had her own sweater. It seems unlikely that she needed both a sweater and a jacket. And I'm wondering if the killer was making certain assumptions about Jennifer based on the Hooters jacket--and then got mad when he realized he had taken a lot of risks to pick up (essentially) a little girl.

BUT! The fact that Jennifer had borrowed the jacket at all makes me wonder whether she had been groomed by someone encouraging her to 'act like a grownup or older girl.' To me, the jacket may be a give-away to the possibility that Jennifer knew the person and was in a sense set up to be picked up after leaving the bus.

 

[Astrella613]

I think the Hooter's jacket was like a sweat shirt jacket, not a heavy one and it does get cold in Florida in February. She had on a white turtleneck, a red sweater and a zip up Hooter's Jacket. DreamyEye, do you mean that you think she may have had a kind of date with someone? Have you read anything on if they know who lent her the jacket and if it was just for the day or was it longer?