Re: FedEx driver accused of kidnapping, murdering 7-year-old Athena Strand in North Texas

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In article <smseti$o6b$4...@news.dns-netz.com>
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> ...Another Democrat baby killer.
>




“It hurts our hearts to know that that child died, so much so that
she is on her way now to the medical examiner’s office and there is
a Texas Ranger in front of her and a Texas Ranger behind her,” the
sheriff said, getting emotional at times during a news conference
shortly after 10 p.m. The sheriff would not speak to any possible
motive in the kidnapping and murder. He said investigators don’t
believe that Horner knew Athena or her family. “I spent quite a bit
of time with the family,” Akin said. “They want you to know that …
they appreciated the fact that we care so much. They’re devastated.
They’re angry because of what happened — a precious child taken from
their lives.

Horner’s social media accounts say he has been an Uber driver, is a
musician and graduated from Azle High School. He does not appear to
have a criminal record in Tarrant and Wise counties.


Uber said Saturday that Horner has not driven on the app in months
and that he has been banned from the platform. His bond his been set
at $1.5 million. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.



Who is Tanner Horner, suspect in kidnapping, murder of Texas 7-
year-old Athena Strand?



Athena’s disappearance has rocked this rural community northwest of
Fort Worth. Hundreds of volunteers have assisted with the search
over the past two days, and the case has attracted national
attention. Earlier Friday, during an afternoon news conference, the
sheriff said authorities had scaled back the search for the child
and were focusing more on the investigation. The sheriff remained
hopeful that Athena would be found, but the tone of the update
sounded grim. Late in the day, a large number of law enforcement
appeared to zero in on County Road 4599 between Boyd and Cottondale,
less than 10 miles from Athena’s home. Officers appeared to be
searching in a ditch but authorities cleared the scene and left
about 7 p.m. without saying whether they had found anything, WFAA
reported. Athena’s body was found a few miles from that site, the
sheriff said. He said that Horner mentioned more than one location
during his interview with investigators, and law enforcement
searched those sites.



At the press conference at 2 p.m. Friday, Akin said, “Hopefully, we
can find Athena and bring her home alive and well, but it’s all
about the possibilities and we have to look at everything.” A
thorough search of a five-mile radius on Wednesday and Thursday
found no trace of the missing child. The sheriff said earlier Friday
that the investigation had not yet turned up evidence of foul play
or an abduction. Watch a livestream of the 2 p.m. update from our
content partners at WFAA below.



The girl’s stepmother reported Athena missing to the Wise County
Sheriff’s Office at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, after the family had been
looking for her for about an hour, Akin said. Akin said that
Athena’s stepmother and father, who she was staying with in the
North Texas county, have been cooperative with the investigation, as
has her mother, who lives in Oklahoma. Akin said at Friday’s news
conference that Athena arrived home as usual on the school bus about
4:15 p.m. Wednesday. The stepmother told investigators that she and
the child “had a little bit of an argument,” which was not unusual
and that the girl walked away, the sheriff said. “Athena got upset
and she walked away, as she has done in the past” but her stepmother
said that she “expected she would come back,” Akin said. But
Athena’s stepmother told the sheriff’s office that she went to her
stepdaughter’s room about 5:30 p.m. and she wasn’t there, the Wise
County Messenger reported. The stepmother was the only adult at the
house when the girl disappeared, according to the sheriff’s office.
Her father was driving to south Texas to go deer hunting and was
somewhere south of Fort Worth when his wife called him to say Athena
was gone, Akin said. Athena was last seen at her father’s home in
the 200 block of County Road 3573 in Paradise. Akin said he was not
aware of any previous calls to the home. Deputies and other first
responders arrived at the rural property about 14 minutes after the
911 call and conducted an initial search inside and under the house
and all over the six acres owned by the family, the sheriff’s office
said. They searched until 4:30 Thursday morning and then returned at
7 a.m. for an expanded search, Akin said. The Texas Department of
Public Safety issued an Amber Alert for Athena on Thursday
afternoon, describing her as endangered. The Amber Alert said “law
enforcement believes the child’s safety and health are in danger.”
Authorities searched both outdoors and inside all buildings in the
immediate area. Athena “wasn’t dressed real warmly,” Akin said
Friday afternoon. “... The longer it goes, the more concern we
have.” The Texas Department of Public Safety, FBI, U.S. Marshals
Service, and other area police and fire departments assisted in the
search and investigation. Hundreds of volunteers from the community
were involved Thursday “walking shoulder to shoulder through the
brush” in coordinated patterns, Akin said. Authorities said
volunteers were not needed Friday and that they should not continue
to show up unless they were requested by the county’s emergency
management office. The searchers used helicopters with thermal-
imaging cameras, drones, horses, dogs and ATVs. “From the very
beginning, it was a search accompanied by an investigation,” Akin
said Friday afternoon. “It’s now transitioning to an investigation
accompanied by a search.” After the tragic conclusion of that
search, Akin said, “We’re just sad it didn’t end the way that we
hoped that it would end. It’s one of the toughest investigations
I’ve ever been involved in because it’s a child. Any time there’s a
child that dies, it just hits you in your heart. You compare that
child to your own children when they were at that age.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article269528862.html