Two days after being reported missing, a 7-year-old Texas girl was found dead. A FedEx delivery driver has been detained in connection with her death, according to investigators.
Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, was detained on kidnapping and murder charges after confessing to the girl’s death and providing the location of the body, according to Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin. Athena Strand’s body was discovered on Friday.
Horner was held in custody on a $1.5 million bond on Saturday. A lawyer who could represent him in court was not listed in the prison’s records.
A tip, according to the sheriff, helped detectives find Horner, who they believe delivered something to the girl’s house just before she vanished, Akin said at a late-night news conference on Friday.
Akin, who declined to speculate on a possible motive for the crime, claimed that Horner was not acquainted with the girl’s family.
We really can’t discuss the confession’s specifics, but I will say that Horner has made a confession, Akin added.
The girl was reported missing on Wednesday by her stepmother from the family’s home in the neighborhood of Paradise, which is on the western outskirts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
According to Akin, her body was discovered close to Boyd, a community with a population of roughly 475 people, and about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) southeast of Paradise.
FedEx cooperated with investigators, according to James Dwyer, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office.
In a statement, FedEx indicated that it is assisting the criminal investigation team.
The statement reads, “Our sympathies are with the family of Athena Strand during this most trying time.” Words are inadequate to express our shock and grief at this awful tragedy.
