HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A DNA advancement led to the arrest in Jennifer Odom’s cold case murder, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis announced Thursday.
Jennifer Odom disappeared after she stepped off the school bus in rural Pasco County on a Friday afternoon in 1993. She was never seen alive again.
Jennifer’s classmates reported that they saw a faded blue pickup truck slowly following the 12-year-old as she walked home on Feb. 19, 1993. However, she never made it to her door.
Six days later, Jennifer’s body was found in an abandoned orange grove after a massive search effort near Dade City. However, her clothes were missing.
About two years later, a couple looking for scrap metal found Jennifer’s backpack and clarinet case.
In Nov. 2016, a person provided information about Jennifer’s case to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. However, detectives never revealed anything about the tip.
On Thursday, Nienhuis announced Jeffrey Crum has been charged with Jennifer’s murder.
Nienhuis said the sheriff’s office was able to connect Crum to the case by using CODIS DNA.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office submitted more than 75,000 pieces of evidence, which were tested and retested as new technology came out. Thousands of leads were also investigated.
Nienhuis said biological evidence in Pasco County was tested in 2015, which gave investigators a full DNA profile. The DNA was then run through CODIS, which is the national DNA database.
“Unfortunately, up until 2015, they had no leads on that particular DNA,” Nienhuis said.
At the time, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was looking through their cases and found the full profile of DNA. FDLE investigators compared the DNA to local DNA to see if they could get any close matches. With the DNA, investigators said they identified the suspect’s son.
In Feb. 2015, a detective contacted a Pasco County detective and let him know they had a very solid lead in a similar case where a girl was getting off a school bus and brutally attacked and sexually assaulted. The girl was left for dead, however, she survived, Nienhuis said.
Investigators said they were then able to narrow the suspect down to Crum.
“The MO’s in both cases were almost identical with the exception of Jennifer, as you know, was abducted and found six days later,” Nienhuis said. “[Crum] quickly became our primary suspect in the Jennifer Odom case.”
After a lengthy investigation, Nienhuis said the facts were turned over to the state attorney’s office.
“We worked very closely with them because we wanted to give them a case that is not only good to make an arrest to make charges but we want to give them a case that’s prosecutable and winnable,” Nienhuis said.
A secret grand jury met on Monday and recommended an indictment of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery for Crum.
“When we evaluate a case, when we make a decision on a case, especially with this significance, we of course, always, always, want to make sure we have the right person,” State Attorney Bill Gladson said. “We also want to make sure we have sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction not just on trial but on appeal. We feel I have confidence that we have the right person and that we have aggravators in this particular case to treat it as a death penalty case.”
Crum is already serving two life sentences for sexual battery and attempted murder for a previously prosecuted case in 2015. He is currently charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery.
