Sex and Tampa Bay

I usually keep my Mark Lunsford snark to myself. Yes, the guy went to court rocking the above outfit (dead daughter’s picture on his tie and baseball cap) but it isn’t like he asked to be in the spotlight. What happened to his daughter is a tragedy that nobody should have to go through.

But now that he’s announced plans to sue the Citrus County Sheriff’s Department for not doing enough to find his missing daughter, I feel the need to speak up.

The crux of Lunsford’s case is that the police botched the investigation by not zeroing in on Couey more quickly. Part of his argument is that the police wasted precious time in the first few days looking at the family.

Look, the police play the numbers. When a child goes missing it usually involves the family or a close relative. Stranger abductions are very rare. If the Police department hadn’t cleared the family before looking at outside suspects they wouldn’t have been doing their job!

Another charge in the suit involves the police not searching the trailer Couey was staying in earlier. The problem is that the police lacked probably cause to do a search right away. We do still have Constitutional Rights. Furthermore, if the police had come in and searched without the proper cause then all the evidence they would have found would have been thrown out. John Couey’s confession was thrown out at his trial because of police misconduct. What Lunsford is proposing would have meant more evidence would have been inadmissible and Couey could have been let free.

At the end, we have to question why the family is bringing this case now. They claim it isn’t about the money or they would have sued 3 years ago. But it can’t be about wanting to change police procedures either, or they wouldn’t have waited this long. If they really thought that the police were screwing things up so badly they would have had the suit in court right away.

No, what this is about is grief. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child, especially to murder. But from my own experience with grief I know that closure is a myth. There isn’t anything that ever heals that loss.

I suspect the Lunsford family is starting to realize that. They probably thought that once John Couey was convicted and sentenced to death it would relieve some of the pain. It didn’t. Now, they probably think that suing the Sheriff will give them the justice that will heal the pain.

It won’t.

The Sheriff’s department isn’t responsible for this. Neither is God, or the parole board, or the other people in the trailer. This all lays on the hands of John Couey. But even his death won’t take away the pain of the Lunsford family. Just as this lawsuit won’t.

The biggest irony is that in the off chance that the Lunsford family does win the suit (I don’t think that will happen, but let’s play “what if”) it will be taking away funds from an already underfunded and overworked force. Taking money away from the Sheriff’s department will lead to more criminals getting away and people getting hurt.

Hopefully the Lunsford family will reconsider the suit. Focus on keeping Jessica’s memory alive through good works and charity, not focusing on the circumstances of her death.