Jeffrey Norman Crum murdered Jennifer Odom, 12, and abandoned her body in an orange grove, authorities said. (Mugshot of Crum: Hernando County Jail; image of Jennifer: Hernando County Sheriff’s Office)
After 30 years, Florida authorities say they know who abducted a student, murdered her, and abandoned her body in an orange grove in 1993.
Jeffrey Norman Crum, 61, faces a count each of murder in the first degree, kidnapping, and sexual battery of a victim 12 years of age or older, records show. Deputies and prosecutors in Hernando County, Florida, claim he is the person who brutally killed Jennifer Odom, 12.
Crum, a convicted sex offender, was already in prison on a life sentence for two counts of sexual battery with a weapon or force. He is currently being held without bond at the Hernando County Jail.
“Crum was previously convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2019 in Pasco County for sexual battery of a 17-year-old girl that occurred on January 16, 1992,” prosecutors wrote. “That case had very similar facts and circumstances to this case.”
Authorities previously said that Odom was abducted after she stepped of her school bus in Pasco County on Feb. 19, 1993.
“It was reported that she may have been followed by a full-size faded blue pickup truck which was observed traveling slowly behind her as she walked toward her home from the bus stop,” the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said in 2022.
She was found dead six days later in a Hernando County orange grove. Her bookbag and and clarinet case turned up almost two years later in a rural area in western Hernando County, deputies said.
In light of Crum’s prior conviction and new case, authorities fear he may be responsible for other crimes. They released a picture of him from 1993, asking that anyone who recognized him from the 1980s and 1990s to contact them.
“We urge anyone who had interactions with this individual, has information on other crimes he may have committed, and/or may have themselves been a victim of Jeffrey Crum, to reach out to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and speak to our Cold Case Unit, (352) 754-6830,” deputies wrote.
Jeffrey Norman Crum in 1993. (Image: Hernando County Sheriff’s Office)
A Facebook user asked where Crum lived in the 1980s and 1990s. Deputies said it was in northern Pasco County.
“One case may have found its resolution today, but there are many more still searching for answers,” they wrote. “If you remember this face, this man from the 1980’s or 1990’s, and have information to share, please call today.”
Speaking The Tampa Bay Times in 2018, Jennifer’s mother, Renee Converse, recalled how her daughter sat in the backseat of the school bus. That way, Jennifer and Converse, who was driving to work, could see each other until their routes diverged.
“She would always wave goodbye to me,” Converse said.
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