Fla. Police Quiz Sex Offender About Girl

A registered sex offender named as a “person of interest” in the disappearance of a 9-year-old girl was questioned for a second time by police Thursday after he was arrested in Georgia, police said.

John Evander Couey, 46, who lived near the home of Jessica Lunsford before leaving Florida, had been questioned by police in Georgia over the weekend, and “he is getting more and more interesting to us as time as goes on,” Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said.

Authorities called him a “person of interest” in the case, though he has not been charged, and sheriff’s spokeswoman Ronda Hemminger Evan said there was nothing that tied him directly to Jessica’s disappearance on Feb. 23.

“Couey is being cooperative with us, and he is answering our questions,” Dawsy said. “We’re building a rapport with the gentleman.”

Couey was arrested Thursday near a Salvation Army shelter in Augusta, Ga., because he didn’t notify Florida officials he was leaving the state, a requirement for sex offenders. He had a first court appearance scheduled for today and could return to Florida quickly if he waived the extradition process, Dawsy said.

Couey’s home in Homosassa is about two miles from Jessica’s, but he also sometimes stayed with his half sister who lived within “eyeshot” of her house, Dawsy said.