Brainstorming....

Man arrested in 12-year-old's disappearance
Sheriff says murder charges are warranted; suspect says he knew girl, denies hurting her.

Authorities Wednesday (Last) linked a 39-year-old Indianapolis man to an Eastside girl who vanished on Christmas Eve, arresting him on preliminary charges of kidnapping and murder. Jeffrey A. Voss, of Indianapolis, was held in the disappearance of 12-year-old Christina Tedder, Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson said. Christina vanished Friday evening after she left her apartment in the 7000 block of East 10th Street to walk to a nearby Shell gas station.

The Sheriff's Department offered few details Wednesday evening as to why Voss was arrested, what connection he might have had to Christina, where Christina's body might be or whether she might still be alive.

But Anderson said he was "confident" that Voss was responsible for Christina's disappearance and that murder charges are warranted.

"With the vast amount of probable cause that our detectives have brought forth, I'm confident that we have the right person," Anderson said at a hastily called news conference at the sheriff's office in Downtown Indianapolis.

Deputy Chief Herman Humbles said the evidence suggests that Christina was killed, but he declined to elaborate.

Anderson said, "Let's not forget for one moment the tragedy this arrest suggests."

He and other officials said more details would be made public as authorities sift through clues and evidence.

Authorities said Voss was not cooperative. On Wednesday evening, Voss told reporters he knew Christina and her family but denied any involvement in her disappearance.

As several deputies escorted Voss in handcuffs out of the Sheriff's Department, he said: "I did not hurt that little girl. I did not do anything to her."

Voss was arrested at the sheriff's office after questioning Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. Records reveal he has a criminal history: He was released from prison in November 2002 after serving sentences in several Indiana counties, including Marion County, for armed robbery and criminal confinement.

Formal charges and an initial hearing are pending.

Christina's mother, Michelle Tedder, and father, Guillermo Mendoza, have slept or eaten little since the girl's disappearance and have appeared drained by anxiety.

Tedder spent the evening in her apartment on East 10th Street. She refused to speak to reporters, at one point calling police to order the media away.

Mendoza, who doesn't live with Christina and her mother, expressed profound grief at the news.

"It was like somebody pulled my heart out of the chest," he said. "It's a terrible feeling -- there's a part of me missing. Right now, I'm very empty inside. I've got my son holding me together, but my little girl, she was my life."

Christina's disappearance set off a frenzied search in the neighborhoods surrounding her Eastgate Terrace apartment complex and left her family to contemplate the worst. In the first days, searchers battled bitter temperatures and the remnants of last week's snowstorm.

The case also sparked a public debate over the decision by authorities not to issue an Amber Alert after Christina was reported missing.

The alert system, implemented in Indiana in 2002, is activated only when evidence exists that a child younger than 18 might have been abducted or might be in peril. When she first disappeared, there was no evidence that Christina had been kidnapped or was in danger, police said.

Police on Sunday arrested another Indianapolis man, 42-year-old Vince Cooley, a convicted child molester and neighbor of Christina's, for failing to report a change of address to his probation officer. Authorities named Cooley a "suspect" in the case earlier this week but backed off Tuesday. Cooley was sent to prison Tuesday for violating his probation.

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"I often say and tell people that children are our flowers. And there are a lot of weeds out there that want to snuff them out. So today my heart goes out to the family and the friends.''  Sheriff Frank Anderson, announcing that the body of 12-year-old Christina Tedder,  missing since Christmas Eve, had been found.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said today (1/4/05) the man accused of the Christmas Eve slaying of a 12-year-old girl is eligible for the death penalty.

Jeffrey Voss, 39, was on probation for armed robbery in Putnam County when police say he strangled Christina Tedder to death at a home in the 10500 block of Folsom Drive. Committing a murder while on probation is an aggravating circumstance that makes the crime eligible for the death penalty.

"Capital punishment ought to be reserved for the worst of the worst and he is a prime candidate," Brizzi said. "He's a sociopath."

Voss was charged with murder, three counts of criminal confinement and obstruction of justice.  Prosecutors currently want to have Voss imprisoned for life without parole.  Brizzi said he will make a decision on seeking the death penalty after speaking with the victim's family.

Ok, this sadistic SOB just gave me a great idea to save taxpayers a bunch of money (and go towards paying off this outrageous national debt).

In my plan, if one confesses (please note Shana) and there is hard evidence to prove that fact, it is an immediate waive of any appeals and that person is given one week to tend to finalization of personal affairs.  Then an artery is injected with a syringe full of air (causes the heart to stop), end of story. 

Hey.. since one is going to die.. we don't even need to swap needles after use (think of how long one needle would last, too).

I'd vote for it...

Cat