Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - DEATH PENALTY: Tot Athena Strand, 7, Found Dead, KIDNAPPED by FedEx Driver.

Episode Date: February 25, 2023

Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty in the death of 7-year-old Athena Strand. The 7-year-old was taken from her family home by a FedEx delivery driver and was dead within an hour of her abduction.  Authorities say a contract FedEx driver who was delivering a package to Strand’s home kidnapped the girl.    Investigators say Strand got off a bus around 4:15 p.m. and was missing from the residence at some point before 5:15 p.m. after an argument with her stepmother.  An hour-long search ensued, but when Strand could not be found, 911 was called.  Dozens of law enforcement and hundreds of volunteers joined the search effort. Police received a tip about the FedEx Driver Tanner Horner. When approached by police, Horner confessed. Police have not said whether Strand was sexually assaulted. Joining Nancy Grace today: Wendy Patrick - California prosecutor; Author of “Red Flags” and NEW “Why Bad Looks Good: Biblical Wisdom to Make Smart Choices in Life, Love, and Friendship;" 'Today with Dr. Wendy' on KCBQ in San Diego; Twitter: @WendyPatrickPHD Scott A. Johnson - Forensic Psychologist (Minnesota), 32 years specializing in addressing sexual predators; Author: "When “I Love You” Turns Violent" and "Physical Abusers & Sexual Offenders" Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) & Lecturer: University of Texas and Texas A&M; Affiliated Faculty: University of Texas Medical Branch Robert Crispin - Private Investigator, Former Federal Task Force Officer for United States Department of Justice, DEA and Miami Field Division; Former Homicide and Crimes Against Children Investigator, “Crispin Special Investigations;" Facebook: Crispin Special Investigations, Inc. Alexis Terezchuck - Crimeonline.com investigative reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Seven-year-old Athena Strand was looking forward to a birthday party and birthday presents, but it didn't turn out the way her family planned. A Fed ex-driver, 31-year-old Tanner Horner, now formally indicted for kidnapping 7-year-old Athena while delivering a birthday present to the home. He is now also charged with capital murder and is facing the death penalty.

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. A Texas FedEx driver now charged in the kidnapping and strangling death of a beautiful 7-year-old little girl he allegedly kidnapped from her Dallas home. He's been formally indicted with murder. And in Texas, that means the state can announce the death penalty will be sought. Now, he has his own story, which I'm sure is a big lie. Once you hear it, I think you'll agree with me.

Tanner Horner, 31 years old, tells investigators he accidentally hit Athena Strand with his truck, that he panicked, grabbed her, and put her in his FedEx car. Fearing what would happen if he told her mom and dad, he strangled her in the truck and dumped her body seven miles from home off of Country Road. She was found December 2. Now, at that time, she was at the home of her dad and stepmom. And I believe the stepmom fully was convinced she was just outdoors playing. Little did she know, the FedEx delivery guy had abducted beautiful little Athena. And in another headline, Athena Strand's father is now suing FedEx and the delivery driver.

He says strangled his daughter dead, claiming the company was negligent in employing him and failing to supervise him. Jacob Strand, Athena's dad, seeking over a million dollars in damages from FedEx. He also names Horner and the contractor that hired him in his new lawsuit. Now, Athena Strand's bio mom has also launched a private investigation into the circumstances surrounding Horner, Tanner Horner, the FedEx drivers, hiring. Horner now held on capital charges of murder and aggravated kidnapping in Wise County, Texas. But how did the whole thing start? Take a listen to our friends at CBS DFW. Search crews have been out here all day long trying to figure out where exactly she is. It's a very wooded terrain, and just a few moments ago I actually saw another group of volunteers with flashlights as they tried to go out trying to find Athena. Now take a look at your screens. This is what 7-year-old Athena Strand looks like.

She was last known with her dad and stepmom at her house on County Road 3573 near Cottondale. Here's what happened, according to the sheriff's office. Athena's stepmother called the sheriff's department just after 6 30 last night saying Athena was missing after searching for about an hour. The two had an argument and then Athena's dad wasn't home at the time. Right now officials think Athena walked out on her own. You're hearing it just as everyone heard it at that time. She looks like a little angel. How do you have a fight with your stepmother and then suddenly just disappear from the family home? With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now.

Alexis Tereszek joining us, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Alexis, first of all, this takes place in Paradise, Texas. And from what I understand, that's about 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth. What can you tell me about Paradise, Texas? Well, it is in Wise County, and you're exactly right. It is northwest of Fort Worth and Dallas, Arlington. It's considered part of the Fort Worth-Dallas metropolitan area. It is a small area. It's just a county that's only about 70,000 people. Even though it's near these really big cities, it's a much

smaller community. 70,000 people. Straight out to Robert Crispin joining us. Private investigator. Also, former Federal Task Force Officer for U.S. Department of Justice, DEA, Miami Field Division. No lack of business in Miami.

Former homicide, crimes against children investigator. Now at Crispin Special Investigations, and you can find them at crispininvestigations.com. Robert, 70,000 people in the big scheme of crime that's still considered a small town. Now listen, I grew up on a red dirt road, literally much, much smaller population. But when you're talking about suspects, you can take out, I mean, statistically, women, you can take out, I mean, statistically, women. You can take out everybody younger than, let's just say, 10. You can take out everybody statistically older, 70 or older, and then what you've got left out of 70,000. In the big scheme, Crispin, that is a small suspect pool, especially when you're looking at an area that's over an hour drive in traffic from a big city. You'd think you're in a safe community, right? You would. But what that 70,000 does is it really gives you the

opportunity to narrow things down versus being in a population of several million in a city. So it really helps the investigators narrow down, especially in the area where this happened, being, I believe it was somewhat rural. You're going to have witnesses and you're going to have stuff that's going to point you pretty much directly to your suspect pretty quick versus something happening in downtown Miami. Well, I mean, talk about pointing to a suspect. To Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags and a new book, Why Bad Looks Good, Biblical Wisdom to Make Smart Choices in Life, Love, and Friendship. She's at WendyPatrickPhD.com and you can hear her on Today with Dr. Wendy KCBQ.

Wendy, when a child goes missing and step-mommy is the only one at home with the child, the first place you look is step-mommy. You separate her from everybody else and you hone in on the questions because as minutes go by when a child is missing, every second counts. Children that are abducted are usually killed within three hours if it's a stranger abduction. So the first thing you do is you get a stepmommy and put her on the hot seat. Exactly right. You start at the very core of where the child went missing, and then you work outward.

So you're right. It would start with the stepmom. It would begin to expand to the next door neighbor. And it would very slowly and methodically go from there because you're right. It is within the first three hours. So that would be exactly where you would start. And you'd want to get that testimony while it's fresh. You'd want to get that interview so you'd be able to then move confidently to see who else could have been in the area.

And with a small town, you'd think it's more likely somebody saw something. Yeah, you know, and I'm curious, Alexis Tereshak, you've given me the gist of the area, but I need to know, do they live in an apartment complex? Is it a single family dwelling? Was there a gate around it? Because I remember the case of Isabella Solis, You and I covered that together. Isabella was taken out of her home by a stranger to her. He tangentially knew the family, but I kept looking at the entrances and exits to her home, and they had a huge wall, remember, that attached to the side of the house

in the front on the sides and went all the way to the back and joined. I mean, you'd have to jump over the wall and she was much too small to do that. So any intruder, I mean, how do you get into the home? So I need to know about the timeline, what happened that day just before she disappears, what time did she disappear, and what, if anything, do we know about the structure, Alexis Tereszczuk? So she came home from school about 4.15. And so if you think of 4.15, it's getting dark at 4.15 now. It's just before sunset, really, which is right around 5.

So she goes in her house. She finds out, this is what her mom has said. She goes in the house. She finds out her dad is not there. He has left to go on a hunting trip. Apparently, she was a little upset about this. She probably likes dad and wants to spend some time with him.

So she then, there was apparently an argument with her stepmom about this and stepmom didn't see her for a little while. So 415. Wait a minute. Right there. What do you mean? Stepmom didn't see her for a little while.

What does that mean? Well, the stepmom has said that there was they had an argument. She didn't say what kind of argument it was, but that then she didn't see the little girl. So I guess she thought she went into her room in her house. Maybe she sent her to her room, but she just said she didn't see her for a little while. So then she made dinner and she went to get Athena for dinner and she went to her room, couldn't find her, looked around the house and couldn't find her. And that's when she started to get panicked.

We also know, Alexis Tereshak, this is a single family home and it's about 200 yards away from the street. Two hundred yards. That's two football fields away from the street. So what person is going to come all the way up the driveway and drive back in there, get to the home, get the girl, and leave without being noticed? Another thing, I'm going to go to Scott A. Johnson, forensic psychologist joining us out of Minnesota, 32 years in the business. You can find him at forensicconsultation.org author of multiple books Scott Johnson thanks for being with us isn't it true that a known a tried and true parental technique is when your child throws a fit or is angry at you, you let them cool off, right? Let them go to their room,

let them color, do their homework, you know, until they get hungry and come ask you for something. But long story short, a cooling off period. We even suggest that to parents. In fact, that's in the written letter of the law when you are discussing a crime of passion. If the perp has a cooling off period and returns and commits a murder, it's not in the heat of passion because there has been a quote cooling off period. In other words, for the passion to subside, you're not angry anymore. So it's recognized in the black and white letter of the law. So certainly it would apply in this case. The stepmom let the little girl go to her room. Correct. She did the right thing. So let the child calm down and be heard and just let it dissipate. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Okay, to you, Alisa Teresich, do we have any idea how long the stepmom and the daughter were separated before stepmom becomes concerned? It was only about an hour. So as I said, she got home about 4.15. About 5.30, the stepmom realized that that's when she went to look for her. And so she looked and looked. It took her, she was looking for her for an hour. I don't want to say that she waited an hour because she didn't. She was looking for her.

And as you can see from some of the photos and the video from the scene it's the property is wide she probably could have walked all the way down to the mailbox she was looking around for her looked at the house maybe behind the house that there's a play area but she was looking for her for an hour and that's when she called police and again with that i don't find that unusual wendy patrick because um i've told you this story before when John David went missing in a baby's or a superstore. I grabbed Lucy like a football and started running to the front door, which was all glass, because I immediately feared that someone had taken him out. And that was the obvious exit. Screaming, my son is missing.

Help me. And, you know, I was looking all around the store before I even could dawn on me to call 911. So I find that perfectly normal. Yeah, I remember that story, Nancy. And, you know, it is normal. And it's especially normal if it's a large property. I mean, if you've got a long way to look, if there are a number of places she could

have walked to, even on the property, you know, even if it's dark, and especially perhaps if it's dark, should probably look a little more closely. It's not unusual. And, you know, Alexis did a great job of specifying. It's not a delay where she sat and just wondered what she should do. She was actively looking. Can you even imagine going upstairs to get your stepdaughter for dinner and she's gone? I mean, just that thought. I know, Nancy, you know what that feels like. Your heart just races. And so this mom probably didn't even have a concept of time as she looked through her property, unfortunately, unsuccessfully to find this little girl.

She immediately calls 911 following a search for the little girl. Take a listen to Nick Starling, CBS. When I asked Sheriff Lane Atkin if someone could have possibly taken her, he told me all options are on the table at this point and they will leave no stone unturned. Now several dozen search crews have been out all day in the air and on foot trying to find this little girl. Usually you find the child close to the house, under the house, in the attic, in the laundry, under the bed. Usually that's what happened, but it didn't happen this time. So then the next thing is you look around the house and then you've got to expand that as time goes on. You know that sinking feeling, that feeling like, okay,

they're here. They got to be here. You look under the bed. You look in the closet. You look behind the shower curtain. Then you go out in the yard. You look in the car, and that feeling that sinks in when you've run out of places to look. Let's hear what Sheriff Lane Aiken has to say. And that search, for the most part, was that area of the house, inside the house, under the house, and then the immediate area in that six-acre track where they live. But they weren't able to locate the child.

Later on in the night, we had THP who came to help, and multiple local PDs joined in and helped us in the investigation and and the search and in the night time we had dps 101 helicopter dps 101 and four pds air one that were there and they had thermal imaging helping to locate heat signatures on the ground but they didn't find anything other than than wildlife rabbits hogs and some deer no indication that there was any human activity. They're doing everything right at that point after thermal imaging helicopters and bringing in the Texas Highway Patrol to help. They take another step to find this little girl. Take a listen to the sheriff. Local law enforcement as well as Rescue One, Search and Rescue 1, had their canine teams. And those canine teams worked throughout the night in the darkness until the early morning hours

trying to pick up a track, a trail. They picked up a short trail that just kind of circled around the house and then headed back over toward 21, 23. Two different dog teams ran that track out, but still, we didn't find Athena. Okay, Robert Crispin, they're doing everything right. Did you hear what the sheriff said about the dogs? They bring in the dogs,

they go around and around and around the house, and then that's it. That would suggest she didn't leave the house. Correct. They would have picked up on that scent and they would have went somewhere with that scent with those dogs. Those dogs are fantastic, which immediately is going to make them jump to that child was removed off that property,

hence taking this case farther. Or the child is somewhere on that property since the dogs aren't indicating she left. Another thing, could you explain what the thermal helicopters do so the thermal imaging is in other terms called FLIR forward looking infrared and what it does is it it projects down onto the ground or in the air wherever to pick up heat from a body heat from someone you see it now on Fox News all the time when you see a lot of the illegals coming across the border. It's nighttime and you see a bunch of white images walking through a very dark wooded area. So the thermal is going to pick up on the body heat and it's going to tell you if there's a child lost.

They use it a lot for children that are lost in the wilderness or people that are lost in the wilderness. In this case, they're looking for maybe the child wandered into the woods and got lost or is bedded down somewhere. That thermal imaging or that FLIR is going to pick right up on it and it's going to hone in where that kid is. It's very amazing technology. And what about the fact that there is a six acre track for them to search? Six acres of wooded land. It's going to be very difficult. Well, the helicopter is great because it can cover such a large area. And that flur, they can dial it in to within a few feet or they can go out a little bit wider and start to do a grid pattern and fly back and forth, which is why you see helicopters flying in circles or up and down or back and forth. They're doing a grid search and they're they're projecting that flora onto the ground.

And they're going to pick up things such as a deer. They're going to pick up a rabbit. They're going to pick up a duck. They're going to pick up anything that is emitting heat, and it's going to lock onto that child. And it didn't. And, of course, to a special guest joining us, forensic psychologist Scott A. Johnson out of Minnesota,

why is it that children, when they are faced with an argument with their parents, they may go hide? Why do they hide? Well, they're sorting it out in their head. You know, why is mommy or daddy angry at me? Or maybe they're angry at mom or dad for being angry at them. And I think it's just hiding makes things better at the time. I guess it's just hiding makes things better at the time. I guess it's just a human nature. The next thing cops are doing now, the sheriff tries to piece together a timeline.

Remember, at this juncture, if stepmommy is not involved and daddy's not involved, that means this is a stranger abduction. In stranger abductions, overwhelmingly, the child is killed within three hours. So what's the timeline? Listen to Sheriff Lane Aiken. At about 4.15, a seven-year-old, Athena Strand, stepped off her school bus, arriving home like she does almost every day at County Road 3573 in Paradise. At about 6.40 p.m. that same day, Wise County Sheriff's Office dispatch received a 911 call

from Athena's stepmom reporting that Athena was missing. Within about 14 minutes, we had deputies, EMS, volunteer fire departments there, and there was a search that commenced just right away. You know, as far as I can see, Alexis Terescha, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, they wasted no time. As soon as they got the call from the mom, they did their own all-out search. They brought in thermal imaging, as you heard Robert Crispin describing, FLIR. They brought in dogs. They're doing everything, and they're doing it quickly.

They also, very important, nail down the timeline. They're doing everything right so far. And they even had people on horses searching because it's not an urban area, so they're searching all around thinking maybe she got lost, but if somebody took her, maybe they're still close enough that they can find them and get her back safely from them. They absolutely took this very seriously. They did not think that she had run away at all. They were very worried about her.

The minutes tick by in the search. And then there is a break. Take a listen to Sheriff Lane Aiken. And we want to send our condolences out to the family of Athena Strand. Her body was recovered about two hours ago, maybe three, six miles that direction. 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's a Texas Ranger in front of her, and there's a Texas Ranger behind her.

This community does not like losing our children, and we can see it because of all the people who came out and helped us throughout this ordeal. The stepmother is doing everything she can to find Athena. The bio dad is gone. Of course, he turns around and comes back, but he's gone at the time of the disappearance. There's no indication of a forced entry. There were no visitors in the home, no relatives, no next-door neighbors came over.

Take a listen now to our friends at WFAA. Sheriff Lane Aiken of Wise County told us that law enforcement got a tip Friday regarding little Athena that they knew a FedEx driver had been in the area of Athena's house in rural paradise around the time she went missing, but the tip and investigative work leading them to 31-year-old Tanner Lynn Horner, the driver of that FedEx truck, who was delivering a package to Athena's home. He was taken into custody on Friday and gave a confession to investigators, per the sheriff, telling them where he dumped Athena's body. It was found roughly six miles southeast of Boyd. Investigators believe she died within an hour of being abducted.

Again, in the last days, the dad of seven-year-old Athena Strand is suing FedEx and the delivery driver who strangled his daughter dead, according to him, claiming the company was negligent in employing him and failing to supervise him. Authorities were led to her body by a tip, a tip about a FedEx delivery person. It's every parent's worst nightmare. I was recently writing another book, and it's called Don't Be a Victim. And when I was researching Don't Be a Victim, I did a whole segment, a whole chapter on how to stay safe at your home. And I wrote on and on about what to do if a delivery man or a repairman comes to your home that you don't know. I don't mean Cousin Eddie that can fix your fridge. I mean anybody that comes to your home, whether it's the pizza guy, the painter that's going to paint the back of your house, the delivery guy, the electrician, how to take steps to protect yourself.

And, you know, when I wrote the book, I was thinking about mostly women living alone or with their roommates gone that find themselves alone and faced with the prospect of letting an unknown male into the home or female. And I keep thinking about the stepmom. Probably in the kitchen. Fixing supper. Thinking Athena was back in her room, cooling off from their argument about dad taking a hunting trip. And somehow, according to what we know now, Athena was no longer in her room. She had been kidnapped and killed. I'm just imagining stepmom, you know, making the pasta or whatever she was making and setting the table.

And when she goes to get Athena for supper, she's gone. Take a listen now to our friends at KXAS, our Cut 7. The body of seven-year-old Athena Strand has been found. A Wise County Sheriff, Lane Atkin, announced late last night that Strand was kidnapped by a FedEx driver. That driver, he says, was doing a delivery at Athena's home at the same time Athena left home after an argument with her stepmother. Sheriff Atkins says she was likely killed within an hour after she was

kidnapped. Her body found southeast of Boyd, about 10 miles from where Athena was reported missing. To Alexis Tereshak, so did the little girl we think go outside? Did she never go back to her room? She did go outside. I don't know if she went back to her room first or not, but she did go outside when the truck was there. Robert Crispin, it's just

too much to take in. Your child goes outside to play and you have to worry that the FedEx guy is coming up the driveway. I mean, I tell my children when a delivery person comes, don't open the door. Do not open it. And we specifically, like in the book, have a window by the door so you can look out and see who it is. Don't open the door. But a seven-year-old child isn't thinking like we think,

Crispin, and she's already out there. She's not in the home and she's outside when this FedEx driver pulls up. Not in a town of 70,000 people. I guarantee you everybody sleeps with their doors open and their cars left unlocked. Innocence of a seven-year-old probably saw the truck coming up and was excited to run out and say hi and get the package for their parents. That's the sad part or the irony of all this. So back to you, Alexis Tereschuk. Alexis, I wanted to ask you about the tip. Apparently, it was a neighbor in the community, in the neighborhood that saw a FedEx driver. What do we know was in the tip?

And why did the neighbor, why did that stick out in the neighbor's mind? I believe that the neighbor had seen the FedEx truck and it was around the same time and that it was very close to the house. And so they thought, well, maybe something had happened there. Everybody knows, you know, FedEx has the tracking on the truck and that that would be the reason that they would be able to trace it very quickly. And then they could get the cell phone of the driver and find out where it was. I don't know if the neighbor went into that much depth, but you're absolutely correct, Alexis Tereshchuk. A neighbor happened to remember seeing a FedEx truck.

For all we know, stepmom didn't even know a package had been delivered. We don't know if it was dropped at the mailbox or dropped on the front porch. She may never have even seen the FedEx delivery guy. But I want you to take a listen to what the FBI says happened. Joining us at Fox News. Listen, when you look at the digital evidence that's out there and you can you combine all these different things. It is very easy to track somebody. If you have a combination of a visual identification of what vehicle was, if they have a tracking device on that truck.

And if the individual who kidnapped the girl has a cell phone on her. I'm not sure if the seven-year-old had one on her, but the phone companies, in cooperation with law enforcement, especially in an emergency circumstance, they have the ability to track a phone. And it's pretty easy to figure out where it was. It's just a click of a button. It just has to have legal approval.

Straight out to Robert Crispin joining us from CrispinInvestigations.com. So what happened? How did they track him by his phone or by the FedEx truck tracker? And how does that work? So Nancy, these FedEx trucks all have GPSs. Somewhere along the line in this investigation, it started to move very quick and they were probably able to determine what driver dropped that package off and they probably went right straight to FedEx and they were able to find out where is that truck get the history of it because GPS is you can go back in time and you can do a playback and you can do a certain time you can you can search between 1 and 5 o'clock it'll tell you exactly where that truck is and I

guarantee you they probably went and did that and that put that truck in that driveway at that time and it all started to come together then they were able to go find the truck identify their driver and start to move this case forward then we can start doing cell phone work i.e his cell phone the electronic digital leash that we all carry every single day that reports to towers. There's hundreds of towers everywhere and each tower has an address. Some are on private property, some are on businesses, and your phone as you're talking and driving is going to bounce off these towers. If you drive from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, you're bouncing off 10, 15, 20 different towers and each one of those towers have an address. So i can track you or anyone can track

you moving up an interstate moving through a neighborhood digital evidence the best evidence it brought him right to mr fedex man Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Little Athena Strand, just seven years old, kidnapped and allegedly strangled by a FedEx driver outside of Dallas. Strand vanished from her dad's home there in Wise County. Her body found two days later horner 31 telecopsy accidentally hit strand with his truck then panicked and in his panic strangled her dead i don't believe that for one minute if he really hit her. He should have called 911. It sounds like top mom Casey Anthony's bogus story that Kelly drowned in the backyard pool and instead of calling 911, her dad just decided to put her in a trash bag and throw her in a swamp. Does not make any sense. Why? Because it's not true. Dr. Kendall Crowns, Chief Medical Examiner,

Tarrant County, there in Texas, Lecture University, Texas, Texas A&M, and Faculty University, Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Crowns, thank you for being with us. No problem, Nancy. Happy to be here. Dr. Crowns, I know that you have done literally thousands of autopsies. Is it different when you have to perform an autopsy on a child? Well, children autopsies are always unfortunate. You know, it's emotionally a little bit more taxing, but you still follow the same procedures and you have to come to the answers so you can get the information necessary to help law enforcement find out who did what or figure

out what happened. Would you say, Dr. Crowns, that when you have a stranger-on-stranger child abduction, not when a family member or relative murders a child, but stranger-on-stranger, the motive is usually sex, a sex attack on the child. Yes. Typically, when it's an unknown individual picking the child up, there's a sexual motivation to it. Guys, I want you to hear more from our friends at KHOU. Police say Tanner Horner, a contract driver for FedEx, was delivering a package to the Strands' home in Wise County when she was abducted. Authorities believe Athena was killed only an hour after she was taken. The video shared with our sister station, WFAA, that you're seeing right now,

shows investigators surrounding that truck in Paradise yesterday afternoon. Authorities say Horner has confessed to taking and killing Athena, and they do not believe that he knew the family. He's currently being held in Wise County Jail on a $1.5 million bond. This little girl was likely sex assaulted and murdered within one hour. This beautiful little life ripped from her family

and murdered. Statistics show stranger-on-stranger abduction of children result in a murder overwhelmingly within three hours. It brings to mind a mother, Erin Runyon, and her gorgeous little girl, Samantha Runyon, and the killer, Alejandro Avila. Take a listen to our cut, 24 Hour Friends from Fox 11. Little Samantha Runyon was taken from her front yard in Stanton, kicking and screaming. Please ask your captor to let you go.

We love you. She is my seal, little Linda. Please let her go. We won she is my seal little linda please let her go we won't sleep neither will you alejandra avila an accused child molester who had beaten earlier charge a few years prior dumped samantha's body the next day after he took her abused her and killed her avila now sits on death row for what he did to sam. Another case where the child, and there are so many, is murdered within a very short time after the abduction. Straight out to our special guest, Scott A. Johnson, psychologist.

What is the thinking? Why murder the child? And why so quickly after the abduction? Well, there's probably two main reasons. One, of course, is to avoid detection. And the other is likely simply I'm done using the child. They're done with the child. So there's no point in keeping them.

So it's like the child is like an empty McDonald's coffee cup. You just throw it away. You used it. Now you get rid of it. You know, Nancy, this is Wendy. Another reason could be that a 7-year-old is verbal. A 7-year-old is old enough to provide a suspect description, to provide the vehicle.

You know, this isn't a 3-year-old, so perhaps that's also a motivation sometimes in, let's say, older children, older being 7 or older than that. She would have been able to describe her as salient. To think every time the FedEx comes to your house, you've got to worry about your children. You know, how many times have I been walking or jogging, sometimes with one or both of my twins, and I see a truck going slowly behind us or in front of us, I'm like, uh-uh, get off to the side.

Let mommy see who this truck is. Because they're going so slowly and I don't like that. That's abnormal. And then I see it's a FedEx truck or an Amazon truck. I'm like, oh, never mind. It's FedEx. Come on. Everything's okay.

Not in this case. Take a listen to our cut 16. This is Ray Wallace, WFAA. The company also says contract drivers have to go through a criminal history background check through a third party. Horner does not appear to have a prior criminal history. Authorities say Horner confessed to taking and killing Athena and is currently in the Wise County Jail on a $1.5 million bond. As to the why behind what Horner allegedly did to Athena on Wednesday, that is something we don't know yet. It's been a really, really tough few days. It hurts our hearts to know that that child died.

And more from special agent with the FBI from Fox. And interestingly enough, when I was looking at the FedEx page a minute ago about what it takes to become a contractor there, there are some things that they have some hoops they have to jump through. is that if you have a felony or any other record or you're on probation or have been on parole, they're okay with that as long as it's been a year since those things passed. Now, that's very interesting to me because, you know, in this country, if you've done something and you're a felon, you probably have a record of doing things. And as we see with this alleged report from this other individual, this person had a history potentially of and most likely of doing these violent things. So that's a woman who says a woman who claims that he raped her when she was 16 years old. We don't know the disposition of that case. That's right. This guy that FedEx hired has

claims in his background that he is a rapist. Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. While Tanner Horner doesn't appear to have a prior criminal record in Tarrant or Wise Counties, sex assault claims have been made against the 31-year-old. 23-year-old Shea Marie from Texas claimed in multiple Facebook posts that Horner allegedly raped her when she was 16 years old. In one of her posts, Marie shared a screenshot of a text conversation between her and Horner's then-girlfriend. Marie wrote that Horner, quote, got her drunk with the intention of having sex. Shea writes she was nearly blackout drunk when Horner raped her. A friend of Marie said in a social media post that Marie did report the rape to law enforcement.

Marie wrote Horner kept touching her, stroking her legs inside and wouldn't stop. Marie said Horner wouldn't give her his address so she could leave and wouldn't leave the room so she could change. Marie says Horner kept asking what he did wrong. Finally, Marie got a hold of a friend. She ran in the bathroom to hide until her friend and her friend's mother could come pick her up. In a November 2017 Facebook post,

Marie writes, Friendly reminder that Tanner Horner is a rapist. And in another from just last September, Marie wrote that Horner got her drunk to take advantage of her. Yet here he is, driving up the driveway of that six-acre plot and sitting right there. Right there is seven-year-old Athena outside playing. It's not the first time a FedEx delivery person has been accused of a sex felony. Take a

listen to our friends at Crime Online. Last year, a FedEx delivery man in New York was accused of rape and sexual abuse involving several teenagers. He allegedly scouted his victims while driving his route in Dutchess County. Joshua Ginyard, 30, was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of criminal sexual act, and forcible touching. WABC reports Ginyard was accused of picking up the girls in his delivery truck, giving them marijuana, and assaulting them. In August, another FedEx driver in New York was charged with murder and arson after an elderly woman's body was discovered after a house fire. 24-year-old Anthony Dotson of Yorkville drove a route near the woman's body was discovered after a house fire. 24-year-old Anthony Dotson of Yorkville drove a route near the woman's home. In March, a FedEx driver in Connecticut was accused of breaking into a Bridgeport home holding a woman and her children hostage. Warrants say Tyrek Herbert,

20, had approached the woman while she was taking a walk and introduced himself as a FedEx driver. The next morning, while the woman was making breakfast, Herbert knocked at her door, pointed a gun at the woman, and forced his way inside. Herbert ordered the woman to get on the floor. When the woman screamed in Spanish for her children to run to a neighbor's house, Herbert began shaking his head and hugging the victim, telling her, ma'am, I'm sorry, I got the wrong person. Then he left. The Post reported that weeks later, Herbert forced his way into a college student's home and raped her. Nearly a year ago, a FedEx delivery driver in western North Carolina

was charged with breaking into at least 11 homes before being captured on surveillance video. Investigators found several pieces of jewelry and two guns in the driver's FedEx vehicle. You know, when I see the FedEx driver pull up the driveway, I usually go get a cold water, bottle of water to give to them and welcome them looking forward to whatever package they're bringing. It's not safe.

And it's not safe for your children. If you think you're invincible, you know your children are not. This stepmom could have no idea what was going to befall Athena that day. From Cherish Periwinkle to Jessica Lunsford, children are killed within a few hours after they're kidnapped by strangers. Alexis Tereschuk, where does the case stand now? Though he is in custody, he has been arrested and the police have said that he confessed. They will not release the details of confession, but they said he absolutely confessed and that is how they have charged him with her murder. Take a listen now to our friends at KXAS. The grand jury indicted Tanner Horner on two charges, capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. That makes this a potential

death penalty case. Bethina Strand's mother released this statement through the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office. It reads, I would like to thank the Wise County Grand Jury for their role in this process. Hearing the facts and circumstances of my seven-year-old daughter's kidnapping and murder was undoubtedly very difficult for them. I want them to know that their work is deeply appreciated. Prosecutors want the death penalty in this case if he is convicted. Reminder to everyone, this occurred in Paradise, Texas, where the death penalty is absolutely in force. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Goodbye, friend.