Sunday, April 17, 2005

The body of Sarah Lunde, a missing 13-year-old Florida girl, was found very close to her home Saturday, authorities said.

Lunde’s body was found by a search-and-rescue dog in an abandoned fish farm about a half-mile away from her home, according to David Gee, sheriff of Hillsborough County. Lunde had been missing since last Sunday from her home in Ruskin, a town to the south of Tampa.

Gee said the body had a green cast on one arm, just as Sarah did. “The green cast is apparent,” he said. He also stated that the body had been in the water for a long period of time, and that an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of Lunde’s death.

“The family is very distraught,” Gee added.

According to CNN, David Onstott, 36, was charged late Saturday night with first-degree murder Gee said. “He is the defendant.”,Onstott confessed to the murder.He was arrested on Tuesday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Aside from a 1995 sexual assault charge, Onstott is said to have been sighted at Lunde’s house hours after Lunde disappeared, and grabbed a half-empty beer bottle as he left. This could possibly link him to the numerous beer bottles found around the area, which, it is rumored, will be subjected to DNA testing. Onstott was also arraigned on Thursday on charges of not registering as a sex offender and is currently being held in the Hillsborough County Jail. Although his bond was set at $250,000, sheriff’s spokesman J.D. Callaway stated that since no bond was set on a Michigan drunk driving warrant Onstott is also being held for, there is no bond set on him for his various other charges, so Onstott is being held without bond for the moment.

This case is now the second such case in a month. Jessica Lunsford‘s body was found in Citrus County, north of Tampa, after she had been missing from her home for three weeks.

Convicted sex offender John E. Couey, who had been living near Lunsford’s home, was arrested and charged with her murder after he confessed.